AI Artificial Intelligence Learning and Reading Human Symbols Part 1

People have been working on Artificial Intelligence for years. No, not to create HAL 9000 or Skynet. Well, hopefully not. The goal is to create programs that are better at analyzing data, helping us to make better decisions.  One of the primary obstacles to that goal is being able to recognize the meaning of symbols. Why should that be so hard? Program various symbols and their meanings into the algorithm and everything should be fine. Right? Wrong. There are some symbols that should be very easy to handle, such as a STOP sign. Program the meaning of the word ‘stop’ and the color and shape of the sign and your automatic car will now be able to stop when it is supposed to. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? You’d think it would be. Yet, STOP signs have been known to be used as décor as well, or be included on a storefront, or used to say something other than ‘stop at the intersection’. For an automated car trying to navigate busy city streets, this is an extremely daunting task. It has to be able to