The Big Event

 This blog post discusses the man Mark Zuckerberg and his ambition to make a personal robot.

Mark Zuckerberg, Getty Images, Public Domain.

On January 27, 2016, Mark Zuckerberg stepped onto the platform with the big boys in the tech industry, indicating his big entrance into the AI scene. What did he say that was so controversial?

 “My personal challenge for 2016 is to build a simple AI -- like Jarvis from Iron Man -- to help run my home and help me with work.”

So this isn’t super radical for a brilliant mind like Zuckerberg. Great innovators are the ones who seek to do the impossible. But that isn’t the big issue. It was what was said later in his Facebook post.

“We should not be afraid of AI. Instead, we should hope for the amazing amount of good it will do in the world. It will saves lives by diagnosing diseases and driving us around more safely. It will enable breakthroughs by helping us find new planets and understand Earth's climate. It will help in areas we haven't even thought of today.”

This is extremely against the majority of the technology innovator’s opinions today. Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk have all expressed deep concerns about the evils that could come from autonomous robots walking the streets, ‘Ex-Machina’ style.

However, the greatest limitation, Zuckerberg details, is robots lack common sense. Imagine trying to teach your son how to throw a Frisbee. Even in the early years, all you have to do is exaggerate your arm motion, wind back, and toss the Frisbee. The capacity to learn by pulling from prior knowledge is extremely beneficial.

How about making the perfect guacamole?

A human could use trial and error, adding avocado, salt, pepper, etc. to taste, and then repeat. However, a robot would need to be programmed with a proprietary set of criteria to match before it could be tested. What a pain!

Imagine hearing a song one key above where it should be played. An AI would need an extremely long, detailed set of vocabulary and algorithms to discern what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, whereas the human ear sends the signals to the brain and transmit it within milliseconds.

The capacity to freely learn is what discerns robots from AI – for now.