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Concept
Synthetic intelligence
Summary
Synthetic intelligence (SI) is an alternative/opposite term for artificial intelligence emphasizing that the intelligence of machines need not be an imitation or in any way artificial; it can be a genuine form of intelligence. John Haugeland proposes an analogy with simulated diamonds and synthetic diamonds—only the synthetic diamond is truly a diamond. Synthetic means that which is produced by synthesis, combining parts to form a whole; colloquially, a human-made version of that which has arisen naturally. A "synthetic intelligence" would therefore be or appear human-made, but not a simulation.
The term was used by Haugeland in 1986 to describe artificial intelligence research up to that point, which he called "good old fashioned artificial intelligence" or "GOFAI". AI's first generation of researchers firmly believed their techniques would lead to real, human-like intelligence in machines. After the first AI winter, many AI researchers shifted their focus from artificial general intelligence to finding solutions for specific individual problems, such as machine learning, an approach to which some popular sources refer as "weak AI" or "applied AI."
The term "synthetic AI" is now sometimes used by researchers in the field to separate their work (using subsymbolism, emergence, Psi-Theory, or other relatively new methods to define and create "true" intelligence) from previous attempts, particularly those of GOFAI or weak AI.
Sources disagree about exactly what constitutes "real" intelligence as opposed to "simulated" intelligence and therefore whether there is a meaningful distinction between artificial intelligence and synthetic intelligence. Russell and Norvig present this example:
"Can machines fly?" The answer is yes, because airplanes fly.
"Can machines swim?" The answer is no, because submarines don't swim.
"Can machines think?" Is this question like the first, or like the second?
Drew McDermott firmly believes that "thinking" should be construed like "flying".
Official source
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