As AI technology advances, there is a need for strong AI with self-awareness, rather than weak AI that performs simple tasks. Strong AI is an AI that has a sense of self, reason, and emotion, and should be able to understand and judge situations like a human. This requires technological advances in developing complex reasoning through machine learning, genetic algorithms, and creating new models that can mimic emotions.
Everything from driverless cars, AlphaGo, and fingerprint scanners to the robots you see in movies that think and act on their own are machines powered by AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly advancing, becoming deeply embedded in many areas of modern society, and its applications are becoming increasingly diverse. Many of the smart devices and automated systems we use in our daily lives are designed based on AI, and their purpose is to make our lives easier. However, fully autonomous robots that can think and act on their own, as seen in movies, are far from what we have today. This is because real-world AI is mainly limited to processing data and fulfilling a given goal. To understand this, we need to take a closer look at the types of artificial intelligence and how the technology is evolving.
First, let’s take a look at the difference between weak and strong AI, which is the biggest difference in the development stage of AI. Fingerprint recognition machines and driverless cars belong to weak artificial intelligence. Weak AI is AI that doesn’t have an identity and can only do what humans program it to do. It’s an algorithm designed for a specific purpose and only used to solve a specific problem or task. For example, AlphaGo, as we know it, is an example of a weak AI, designed as an algorithm that specializes in playing the game of Go. While it excels at this specific task, it is completely useless in other contexts outside of Go. In this way, weak AI is optimized for a specific task and is used for a limited purpose, like a tool.
AI can be subdivided into general AI and general purpose AI. Generalized AI simply specializes in a specific field. For example, sorting through spam emails or finding cancer cells in medical images are examples of generalized AI. General-purpose AI, on the other hand, is more advanced and has the ability to learn. It can learn from watching someone else cook a dish it’s never cooked before and imitate them, or it can take over and perform simple tasks. General-purpose weak AI is the initial step on the path from weak to strong AI. This is where machine learning and deep learning technologies become important, as they require the ability to learn new information and adapt to situations beyond simple repetitive tasks.
On the other hand, beings such as the Terminator, the robot in iRobot, and Jarvis in Iron Man are strong artificial intelligences that act with self-awareness. AI is an artificial intelligence that has a sense of self and can make its own decisions and actions. The goal is to have a level of intelligence similar to that of a human. These AIs, which include not only rationality but also emotions, have autonomy, which means they can make decisions and react to situations without specific instructions. The main difference that distinguishes strong AI from weak AI is the presence of a sense of self, which allows the machine to act based on its own goals and judgment.
Developing strong AI requires a level of reason and emotion similar to humans. While many people don’t question the need for AI to have reason, the need for emotion is highly debated. While reason is essential for analyzing data and making judgments, emotion is necessary to go beyond simple analysis and understand the complex social and emotional context of humans. Current AI is increasingly capable of making data-driven analyses and judgments, but it is still difficult to mimic complex human-level emotional states. For example, AIs such as chatbots and virtual assistants can mimic basic emotions, but they don’t actually feel them – they just react to them. However, the interaction of reason and emotion can lead to better decisions, so it is argued that both are needed to develop AI.
The necessity and possibility of developing AI is being debated in academia and industry. If we can develop strong AI, it has the potential to bring about major changes in human society. Especially in the fields of healthcare, education, law, and the environment, AI’s ability to make sophisticated decisions that exceed human judgment is expected to be of great social value. For example, in an aging society, AI can improve the quality of healthcare by making medical judgments and diagnoses with greater accuracy and efficiency. In addition, AI analyzing and making decisions to address environmental issues can contribute significantly to a more sustainable future.
In order to advance from weak AI to strong AI, we must first develop the rational judgment capabilities of current weak AI to a much higher level. Expert systems can process large amounts of data and help us understand different situations in different contexts, but they are still far from the higher-level thinking of humans. Machine learning, or the ability to create rules on their own to analyze new data, gives computers the ability to think more flexibly. Along with this, genetic algorithms can be a powerful tool. Instead of looking for a specific answer, genetic algorithms focus on finding the best answer among possible alternatives, mimicking the way humans adapt to different situations.
Endowing AI with emotions is also a major challenge. Human emotions are so complex and subjective that simply programming them to respond to certain emotions in different situations has its limitations. Currently, emotions are mimicked in a way that allows the AI to mimic a certain emotion depending on the situation, but this is not a true expression of emotion. To develop emotionally embedded AI, we need to deepen our understanding of the human emotional system and study models that reflect the various elements of emotion. When emotions are endowed to A.I., it can elicit more human-like responses, which makes communication between humans and A.I. more natural.
If we endow weak AIs with reason and emotion in the above ways, we may one day be able to create strong AIs. If this technology is perfected, AI will become more than just a tool, but a companion that can collaborate with humans to solve various problems. With further technological advancements, it is likely that strong AI will no longer be a distant future, but a reality.
