Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Part I: Introduce you to what’s happening in Artificial Intelligence Part II: Give you an appreciation for the big picture  Why it is a grand challenge Done

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Part I: Introduce you to what’s happening in Artificial Intelligence Part II: Give you an appreciation for the big picture  Why it is a grand challenge Done

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy

Developmental Psychology  Study of psychological changes that occur in human beings as they age  Originally concerned with infants and children  Also includes adolescence and more recently, Aging  Studies change across a broad range of topics  Motor skills  Problem solving abilities  Conceptual understanding  Acquisition of language  Moral understanding  Identity formation

Developmental Psychology  Key questions  Do children think in a different way to adults  Or do they simply lack the experience of adults?  Is development gradual - accumulation of knowledge  Or does it take big jumps - step from one way of thinking to another?  Are children born with innate knowledge  Or do they figure things out through experience?  Is development driven by the social context  Or by something inside each child?

Developmental Psychology  A number of areas can be studied in Developmental Psychology  Example: educational psychology, social psychology  We focus on Cognitive Development (We are cognitivists)  Focus on Piaget’s theory  Why is it interesting for AI?  As early as 1950 Turing proposed  Build a child AI, rather than an adult  Teach it what it needs to know  Why build a child?  Easier than adult because he knows less

Jean Piaget  Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on August 9, 1896  Took an early interest in nature, especially the collecting of shells  Became interested in Biological Adaptation  …Led to interest in human intelligence and knowledge surely the highest form of biological adaptation

Genetic Epistemology  Genetic doesn’t mean Genetic Algorithm  Genetic means studying the origin  Where it comes from  Epistemology means “theory of knowledge”  So Genetic Epistemology is  A theory of where knowledge comes from What Is It About?

Genetic Epistemology Highest form of biological adaptation What Is It About?

 The first thing Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults Piaget’s Observations

 The first thing Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults Piaget’s Observations

 The first thing Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults Piaget’s Observations

 The first thing Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults Piaget’s Observations

Why does a helium balloon go up? Q

Because there’s a gas inside, when there’s a lot of gas it’s heavy, it’s very strong and then it flies. A Why does a helium balloon go up? Q

Why does a large boat float? Q

Q Why does a small pebble sink to the bottom? But a small chip of wood floats… Q

Why does a large boat float? Q Why does a small pebble sink to the bottom? But a small chip of wood floats… Q Why does a large piece of wood float? Q

 Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults  But he also noticed something in common  When they have a contradiction…  Gradually they change their world model  Come up with a new way to explain what they see  They are creative in conjecturing new models  Just like a scientist discovering laws of physics  Key point: Children CONSTRUCT their own model of the world.  Intelligence is about having a function that can  Take on board new data  Construct a theory of the world which fits the data Piaget’s Theory

 Piaget noticed: Children’s way of thinking is really different to adults  But he also noticed something in common  When they have a contradiction…  Gradually they change their world model  Come up with a new way to explain what they see  They are creative in conjecturing new models  Just like a scientist discovering laws of physics  Key point: Children CONSTRUCT their own model of the world.  Intelligence is about having a function that can  Take on board new data  Construct a theory of the world which fits the data Piaget’s Theory CONSTRUCT

Piaget “Just as the main functions of the living being are identical in all organisms but correspond to organs which are very different in different groups, so also between the child and the adult a continuous creation of varied structures may be observed although the main functions of thought remain constant.”

Piaget’s Theory – How It Works

Cognitive structures Continuous creation Cognitive functions Organise + Adapt Invariant – nucleus in infant Piaget’s Theory – How It Works

Cognitive structures Continuous creation Cognitive functions Organise + Adapt Invariant – nucleus in infant Constructivism Piaget’s Theory – How It Works

The progress of development Variable ages + much overlap old habits reappear Show how little is known initially Gain insight into functions used Piaget’s Observations

Sucking and grasping reflexes Respond to stimuli For play/practise Reflex preserves itself by repeating Schema: S-R-S Stimulus-Response-Stimulus In the beginning: Reflex ( 0  1 months )

Sucking and grasping reflexes Respond to stimuli For play/practise Reflex preserves itself by repeating Development Search improves Accommodates to new objects Discerns stimuli for special modes Sign recognition improves In the beginning: Reflex ( 0  1 months )

Thumb sucking Grasping Circular Reactions ( 1  4 months )

Thumb sucking Grasping: 1. Reflex, with interest 2. Grab object and suck hand 3. Carry object to mouth 4. Grab object when in view Suddenly realise hand and vision are in the same world 5. Intentional motion of hand Circular Reactions ( 1  4 months )

Repeat interesting spectacle Interrupted grabbing Reconstruct whole from visible part But does not retrieve if completely hidden Remove obstacles to perception Objects have no other side Image at disposal of action Repeating Discoveries ( 4  8 months )

Repeat interesting spectacle Interrupted grabbing Reconstruct whole from visible part But does not retrieve if completely hidden Remove obstacles to perception Objects have no other side Image at disposal of action Bridge: actions dissociated from end result Repeating Discoveries ( 4  8 months )

Explore object properties Chain actions to achieve goal Intention; find means; apply actions Objects have other side Search for vanished objects A not B error Failure to modify action Intelligent Coordination ( 8  12 months )

Explore object properties Chain actions to achieve goal Intention; find means; apply actions Objects have other side Search for vanished objects A not B error Failure to modify action Bridge: dropping objects Intelligent Coordination ( 8  12 months )

Adjust actions using feedback Stick Support Really trying to understand the world Succeeds on A not B Fails covert displacements Limited construction of reality Experimentation ( 12  18 months )

Planning becomes covert Combining action sequences Experimentation Succeeds in covert displacements Imitation to represent Difficulty  old magic forms reappear Representation ( 18  24 months )

Play and Imitation Fails seriation tasks Does not know conservation Language - preconcepts Transduction instead of induction/deduction Preoperational (2-7)

Play and Imitation Fails seriation tasks Does not know conservation Language - preconcepts Transduction instead of induction/deduction Preoperational (2-7) Because there’s a gas inside, when there’s a lot of gas it’s heavy, it’s very strong and then it flies. A Why does a helium balloon go up? Q

Knows conservation Can manipulate concrete objects mentally Cannot manipulate abstract relations Edith fairer Lily; Edith darker Susan Cannot accept assumptions Concrete Operational (7-11)

Knows conservation Can manipulate concrete objects mentally Cannot manipulate abstract relations Edith fairer Lily; Edith darker Susan Cannot accept assumptions Concrete Operational (7-11) Formal Operational (11+) Can manipulate abstract relations Can entertain non-concrete hypotheses

Incremental construction Repeating work on a new plane Implicit representation of concepts Only pay attention to what makes sense Development driven by conflict General Themes

Piaget “Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from inventing it himself.”

Commonsense is Not Intelligence Not sufficient

Commonsense is Not Intelligence Not sufficient Structure not function

Commonsense is Not Intelligence Not sufficient Structure not function Not necessary

Commonsense is Not Intelligence Not sufficient Structure not function Not necessary Function can build structure

Construction of Reality

Comparison with Darwin  Darwin looked at all the various forms of life and asked  where did they come from?  He saw a common mechanism…  which could have given rise to all the varieties of life we see today.  Many complex forms of life…  could evolve out of very simple forms of life  by a relatively simple mechanism  Piaget looked at all the various forms of mental activity  in humans of all ages  saw a common mechanism which could have given rise to them all  Complexities of adult human mind…  could grow out simple forms in infant’s mind  a relatively simple set of innate structures and functions.  Darwin was concerned with the origin of species  Piaget was concerned with the origin of mind

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory  Some people contradict Piaget’s theory  But beware! They lie!  Considerable controversy in the field  Results to corroborate Piaget’s theory  And results to contradict his theory  And results to contradict the contradictions  And …  Psychology has a lot of conflicting results  A science in its infancy, just over 100 years old  (Compare Physics)

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy