Artificial Intelligence Ushers in Human-Centric Engineering Discipline

In "Artificial Intelligence – The Revolution Hasn't Happened Yet," University of California at Berkeley professor Michael I. Jordan injects such a note of caution. "The idea that our era is somehow seeing the emergence of an intelligence in silicon that rivals our own entertains all of us --enthralling us and frightening us in equal measure," he writes. "Whether or not we come to understand intelligence any time soon, we do have a major challenge on our hands in bringing together computers and humans in ways that enhance human life." Tools have played a critical role in the evolution of humans since our ancestors first developed stone tools a few million years ago. "We shape our tools and they in turn shape us," observed noted author and educator Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s.