Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (abbreviated AI) is a program designed to make informed decisions based on prior experiences.
There are multiple kinds of artificial intelligence. AIs capable of human-level cognition are referred to as artificial general intelligence (AGI), whereas those that surpass human capabilities are called artificial super intelligence (ASI).
Contemporary, real-world AIs are classed as artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), as they’re only capable of operating within a limited set of parameters. This includes machine learning and recognition systems, neural networks, and generative AI.
In popular culture
In real life
The development of AGI is a commonly stated goal of AI companies such as OpenAI.
ANIs are already in widespread use. This includes as digital assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa platforms; generative models such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion; and machine learning systems like IBM Watson and Wolfram Mathematica.
The present day use of ANIs and the potential development of AGIs are often controversial due to their potential for misuse by bad actors and risks associated with allowing them to operate without sufficient oversight.
In media
Disembodied artificial general intelligences are a staple of science fiction media.
They are frequently depicted as antagonists that are malevolent towards humans, such as HAL-9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, AM in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, or Agent Smith in The Matrix franchise.
Others may be helpful, such as Zora in Star Trek: Discovery, EOS in Thunderbirds Are Go, and JARVIS in Iron Man films and comics.
Others still may be entirely neutral, making decisions without regard for humans, such as the Magi from Neon Genesis Evangelion and V’Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Where the setting allows, a frequent trope is for artificial intelligences to interact via the use of holograms, such as the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager and Cortana in the Halo video games.
In the robotkin community
AI-identifying robotkin may describe being without a physical form, like being inside a computer or being a hologram.
Though most robotkin tend to technically fall under the definitions of an AI housed within a mechanical body, the term is most often used with this definition in mind.