Evolutionary program and artificial intelligence

Faith & Science Conversation
1

I am not a software programmer by any means but wonder if someone can help me out with this question. If you were designing an evolving (learning) artificial intelligence software program what is the first rule(s) that you apply to the format of the program?

2

Hi Scott, I am a software developer by trade, but I do not understand what you mean by “applying a rule to a format.” Could ypu restate your question? Thanks, Chris

3

The first AI type programs written in the 1950s played checkers and chess. Two algorithms to play the games were loaded into the program, played each other, and as one of the authors put it, a neutral third part of the program compared the performance of the two algorithms. The losing algorithm was revised or replaced, and gradually the computer became good enough to beat human champions. Humans wrote and revised the algorithms in these early experiments, but I have read where more recent programs just make random changes to the algorithms, and quickly get better results than humans could get.

4

Hi Chris,

Thank you. Sorry programming is so foreign to me. What I am trying to get at is how would you go about writing a self learning program or system? What would be the format or rules that you would need establish for this? What would it look like?

5

Hi Larry,

Thank you. Yes along those lines how are they doing this learning? What is the criteria for testing a change in the algorithm? I wonder what are the formulas that they use to describe this function?

In a sense what these programs are doing is essentially what life does through evolution.

6

If you really want evolution, you will want to budget a certain amount of processing time to creating intentional errors in the operating system processes.

If the system recreates itself perfectly with every refresh… anything novel or surprising may well disappear before it can be promulgated to the next generation , to help or hurt the next generation in an uncertain future.

7

AI development is also being developed in hardware, where circuits rewire randomly and then improvements are selected for.