Computational evolution leads to smarter AI

Every five years, computers become 10 times cheaper – something that has been happening since 1941. This is according to professor Jürgen Schmidhuber, director of the Artificial Intelligence Initiative at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and scientific director of Swiss AI Lab IDSIAI (Istituto Dalle Molle di Studi sull'Intelligenza Artificiale). Schmidhuber this week delivered a keynote presentation on the future of self-improving artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks at the second Global AI Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The professor's AI lab's deep learning neural networks based on ideas published in his paper, the "Annus Mirabilis" in 1990-1991, have revolutionised machine learning and AI. According to Schmidhuber, who is known as the father of modern-day AI, technology has advanced so rapidly over the years that PCs today are significantly cheaper than they were in the past.