20 Questions
Have you ever played the handheld game 20Q and wondered how it works? It's a pretty ordinary looking plastic orb that's sold in most toy stores, but no matter what you think of, it seems to miraculously read your mind (by asking you just 20 questions) - which makes it quite extraordinary!
Like me, you probably thought it was a cheap parlor trick. In actuality, it isn't. Turns out 20Q uses a form of artificial intelligence called neural networks to figure out what you're thinking.
The computer program not only asks for input, but also has the ability to draw its own conclusions on how to interpret the information you provide. With every game played, it develops more knowledge and learns, and like an actual human brain, it builds synaptic connections from the information it receives.
In fact, the online version of the game, which garners far more playtime than individual 20Q games (which sometimes get neglected in the toy chest), has developed about 10,000,000 synaptic connections - and the more games 20Q plays, the smarter it gets.
What's more stunning is the program can learn and adapt. For example, if the player was thinking of a "horse" and answered "No" to the question "Is it an animal?," the neural network would still guess correctly, despite being told that a horse is not an animal.
In effect, 20Q is not only good as guessing things, but it also can read between the lines and ignore irrelevant information. Furthermore, it is not bound by emotional biases or other human frailties, and in some ways can serve a human "lie detector" test.
Just think of all the conflicting and competing information that we get inundated with during the day. What if a program like 20Q could cut through the clutter and tell us what people are really thinking? And what if it told us what people's true motivations were, even if they told us otherwise. It's both an exciting (and scary) thought.
Today, a lot of needless arguments arise because people simply can't read minds. But what if computers can?
On a personal level, there would no longer be an excuse for not doing something because you didn't know what someone was thinking - that would certainly help guys out on the dating (and marriage) front.
From a business standpoint, the human psyche (which remains a black box) would be open for the public to see (and possibly exploit). And unlike Mel Gibson from the movie "What Women Want," you wouldn't need to paint your nails, dress up in pantyhose, and get struck by lightening.
In essence, it would be a heightened form of reality - and all it would take is for you to answer 20 questions...
Ready for question #1?
Like me, you probably thought it was a cheap parlor trick. In actuality, it isn't. Turns out 20Q uses a form of artificial intelligence called neural networks to figure out what you're thinking.
The computer program not only asks for input, but also has the ability to draw its own conclusions on how to interpret the information you provide. With every game played, it develops more knowledge and learns, and like an actual human brain, it builds synaptic connections from the information it receives.
In fact, the online version of the game, which garners far more playtime than individual 20Q games (which sometimes get neglected in the toy chest), has developed about 10,000,000 synaptic connections - and the more games 20Q plays, the smarter it gets.
What's more stunning is the program can learn and adapt. For example, if the player was thinking of a "horse" and answered "No" to the question "Is it an animal?," the neural network would still guess correctly, despite being told that a horse is not an animal.
In effect, 20Q is not only good as guessing things, but it also can read between the lines and ignore irrelevant information. Furthermore, it is not bound by emotional biases or other human frailties, and in some ways can serve a human "lie detector" test.
Just think of all the conflicting and competing information that we get inundated with during the day. What if a program like 20Q could cut through the clutter and tell us what people are really thinking? And what if it told us what people's true motivations were, even if they told us otherwise. It's both an exciting (and scary) thought.
Today, a lot of needless arguments arise because people simply can't read minds. But what if computers can?
On a personal level, there would no longer be an excuse for not doing something because you didn't know what someone was thinking - that would certainly help guys out on the dating (and marriage) front.
From a business standpoint, the human psyche (which remains a black box) would be open for the public to see (and possibly exploit). And unlike Mel Gibson from the movie "What Women Want," you wouldn't need to paint your nails, dress up in pantyhose, and get struck by lightening.
In essence, it would be a heightened form of reality - and all it would take is for you to answer 20 questions...
Ready for question #1?
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