Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the term that was coined to mean thinking in machines. The basic premise behind this term is the ability of a machine or computer to be able to learn and think independently without the use of a programmer or controller. Over the years, the debate has raged about whether or not this could ever become a reality. Many believe that ‘thought’ is a process that only humans can achieve because it requires the chemical processes that take place in the brain of humans and have thus far never been duplicated. The other side of the coin is the overall advancements in the field of technology and computers that seem to point to the fact that anything could be possible if the time is there to make it so. Whether or not this is true can only be told by time but there have been some advances in the field of artificial intelligence that seem to be pointing towards the possibility of actual machine based thought.
There are some ethical dilemmas that this type of concept would create. For instance, if a machine could be taught to think, what would stop them from taking over for the worlds work force and thus making humans obsolete? Then there is the emotional concepts that are in demand. It is known that most of the human emotions are creations from within ourselves, which is why some researchers say that not everyone has the ability to love or feel sympathy. Now, when you add that to the concept of artificial intelligence you can see that a machine would not be able to think in these terms. So there would be a lack of emotion in every facet of this concept and should the time come when machines were to replace us then you would note the lack of emotion from everyone.
Hollywood has done its best to make the world believe that artificial intelligence in its highest form is already possible. This has its good and bad qualities. While it does foster a healthy interest in science and discovery it can also lend itself to the less than moral uses of such technology. This will all be a mute point once the discovery is made and there is thousands of people the world over that are researching this very concept. Some of the newest advancements are actually aimed at improving the quality of human life and thereby make themselves very useful.