Checking the AI hype against reality

From IBM's chess-playing supercomputer to self-driving cars Artificial Intelligence (AI) is frothing up towards the crest of the hype cycle. With remarkable progress around big data, better algorithms and deep neural networks now available, politicians and academics alike fret about the possibility that robots will take control and human intelligence will become an artifact of a slower, more arcane era. Before you brace yourself against the onslaught of non-humans, consider this: AI is still a toddler, technologically speaking. Hype blossoms on misinformation, and what many outsiders call AI today is really machine learning, which is a subset of something much bigger. While machine learning powers now-familiar devices like Netflix recommendations and Nest's self-programmed thermostat, the AI industry as a whole has a long way to go before robots replace people on a large scale.