The future of deep learning, according to its pioneers

This article is part of our reviews of AI research papers, a series of posts that explore the latest findings in artificial intelligence. Deep neural networks will move past their shortcomings without help from symbolic artificial intelligence, three pioneers of deep learning argue in a paper published in the July issue of the Communications of the ACM journal. In their paper, Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun, recipients of the 2018 Turing Award, explain the current challenges of deep learning and how it differs from learning in humans and animals. They also explore recent advances in the field that might provide blueprints for the future directions for research in deep learning. Titled "Deep Learning for AI," the paper envisions a future in which deep learning models can learn with little or no help from humans, are flexible to changes in their environment, and can solve a wide range of reflexive and cognitive problems.