AI - it's been a long, long time coming

AI the film opens in the UK today. AI the technology - standing for artificial intelligence - is taking much longer to deliver on expectations. Pia Heikkila puts advances in AI into perspective.

Steven Spielberg's latest blockbuster AI is with us. The movie tells a story of a little boy robot who embarks on a journey to become a real human being. And of course it features the latest in animation and computer graphics.

Popular fiction was fascinated with artificial intelligence long before computers were even invented. Many writers and filmmakers bravely journeyed to the future and tried to offer a glimpse of what might become of humankind. Despite the plethora of fictional narratives, no-one in the real world has come close to developing the equivalent of a fully functioning brain.

One of the most difficult things about AI is its definition. Scientists have been working with intelligent machines since the 1940s, but public interest in the research has been mostly focused on human embodiments, as Mr Spielberg might tell us.

Decades ago British scientist Alan Turing developed the Turing Test, consisting of a series of questions presented by a person to a machine and a human at the same time. If the questioner cannot differentiate between human and machine answers the machine is deemed intelligent.

Charles W Bailey, an AI researcher at the University of Houston, reckons intelligent computers must be able to reason with humans.

He said: "Humans know a great deal about the world, and they take this knowledge for granted when they think and communicate. Ideally, we want computers not only to mirror our extensive contextual knowledge of the real world, but also to have much more in-depth information at their disposal about virtually any subject."

Most AI enthusiasts suggest any self-repairing machine today, such as a photocopying machine, could be a precursor to an intelligent robot. Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines, said: "Any system which can perform decisions in real-life situations that would be otherwise performed by a human can be considered an intelligent machine."

Kurzweil claims that by 2010 humans will be interacting with machines on many levels, using them as teachers and personal assistants. He says in less than 30 years the lines between humans and machines will be blurred. "By 2030, virtual reality will be created inside our nervous system by nanobots which are blood cell-sized robots, travelling through the capillaries of our brains and communicating wirelessly with each other and with our neurones. There will not be a clear distinction between biological people in virtual reality and artificial people."

But the world today seems far away from this Kurzweilian vision. Companies are constantly touting breakthroughs, but there are just a handful of technologies whose sole purpose is to bring humans closer to machines.

Most sci-fi fantasies have concentrated on the intelligent machine's human appearance. An intelligent machine is often described as a robot and these walking and talking piles of steel have become the physical embodiment of artificial intelligence. But these machines hardly look or function like humans.

Robots are already capable of construction, manufacturing, fire fighting and other dangerous and difficult work. Let's not forget they are currently being used to search for victims amid the rubble of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Three small robots carry cameras and specialised sensors that can detect body heat or coloured clothing. They move to areas too dangerous for people or search dogs.

On another level, AI-capable machines almost certainly won't be communicated with using a keyboard. Robin Gear, analyst at Ovum, said: "Language processing would ideally allow a user to talk directly to the machine."

Yet natural language processing technology has received much criticism. It lacks maturity. Bob Brennan, CEO of Synapse Solutions, a Cambridge-based company which is developing machine intelligence technology, reckons natural language is inevitable in the evolution of technology. "Users want to be able to communicate with a machine in their own native tongue, to teach the machine to do things on their behalf rather than the other way around."

Many e-tailers are currently looking into deploying AI-based technologies to find out more about shoppers' behaviour. Some websites already feature a digital assistant to help shoppers choose model, colour, size and so on. One of the most well known digital personalities was Miss Boo, the 3D animated character on the failed Boo.com website. And then there's Miss Boo's more primitive cousin, the infamous talking MS paperclip. And you can add search engine butler Jeeves to that list.

Gaming is another area where AI will play its part. Already some games 'learn' from player behaviour, but things are set to go further than your average Tomb Raider scenario. Machines can be built to beat humans at logical dilemmas. Chess is an obvious example. Four years ago world champion Garry Kasparov lost to IBM's Deep Blue computer (a customised RS/6000).

But perhaps we're really much further away from AI than we like to think. Creating or imitating life without involvement of the human body remains merely a fascination, the stuff of fiction and the silver screen. Maybe it stems from the human desire to play god, maybe from a fear of the unknown. Who knows?

If AI enthusiasts are to be believed, intelligent machines will wait in the wings for their turn in the evolutionary process. True AI may mean widespread machine-to-machine communication, and little programming by humans. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, computers are just obedient servants for humans. Maybe advanced AI will mean that changes. Maybe that's what Spielberg is getting at.