At the end of 2022, the big data model ChatGPT developed by OpenAI came out, which aroused great interest in artificial intelligence from all walks of life. There are many supporters and opponents. my country's Baidu, Huawei, Alibaba and other technology companies have invested a lot of resources in the field of artificial intelligence and have achieved preliminary results. Since the new development of artificial intelligence has challenged human abilities and cognition in many aspects, society has a great sense of crisis and unpredictability about the impact artificial intelligence will have on mankind. The development of artificial intelligence is not only about its capabilities and prospects, that is, what it can do, but also about how humans use it. The emergence of ChatGPT makes people feel like they are facing a powerful enemy is a good example.
From the perspective of development, artificial intelligence is a relatively traditional field. It is not an emerging thing as some people think. It is just that it did not attract such great attention from society in the early stage. As early as the summer of 1956, the term "artificial intelligence" was formally proposed at an academic conference held in Dartmouth, USA. This conference was also regarded as a symbol of the birth of artificial intelligence. From this point of view, the development of artificial intelligence has a history of nearly 70 years, but the development speed has been fast and slow during this period, and the directions in different periods are also different. Although the development of artificial intelligence in our country is a little late, it is not too late. Since the late 1970s, research and applications related to artificial intelligence have begun to appear in the academic field in our country. A large number of scholars have carried out research on artificial intelligence in our country. The development of the field of intelligence has made indelible contributions.
To know the present, we should learn from the past, because the past will not lead to the present; only by knowing where we come from can we know more clearly where we are going. "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence in China: From 1979 to 1993" co-authored by Lin Jun and Cen Feng follows the order of chronological evolution, focusing on the main historical events and figures, blending people and events, emphasizing the truth with vivid writing style. It shows the early development process of artificial intelligence in China. This book will help artificial intelligence researchers in the new era and the public better understand the early development context of the field of artificial intelligence in my country. It will also enable the general public to deepen their understanding and understanding of artificial intelligence and avoid following others' opinions and following the crowd.
Starting from using computers to solve mathematical problems, different later research directions such as pattern recognition, expert systems, computing theory, computational vision, intelligent computers, robots, audio-image-text combination, intelligent speech, natural language processing, and artificial neural networks formed the basis from 1979 to A simple picture of the development of artificial intelligence in my country in 1993. The two authors conducted a detailed review of the above aspects in the book. Below we will select some nodes in the book for a brief introduction.
The artificial intelligence research promoted by commercial institutions now focuses more on commercial applications, but the earliest batch of artificial intelligence scientists in my country were mostly mathematicians and logicians. After the birth of computers, they combined computers with their own research, and more Use computers as tools to solve real-world problems in research. For example, mathematician Wu Wenjun used computers to prove machine theorems and created the "Wu method". But Wu Wenjun always believed that he was a mathematician, and machine theorem proof only served mathematical research. He believed that what he was studying was "mathematical mechanization", not "artificial intelligence", so that some scholars invited him to teach in artificial intelligence seminars. When giving an academic report, he declined the invitation.
Early development of artificial intelligence in my country
Artificial intelligence is an interdisciplinary research field involving many disciplines such as computers, mathematics, psychology, logic, simulation recognition, and systems engineering. This nature of artificial intelligence also requires scholars from different fields to invest in it or make contributions in a certain aspect. In Qian Xuesen's book "Engineering Cybernetics", there is a lot of content about artificial intelligence, neural networks and image recognition, but Qian Xuesen did not regard artificial intelligence as his important work to study. Another interesting example is also mentioned in the book. Herbert Alexander Simon was an important social science scholar in the 20th century. He was very friendly to our country and admired Chinese culture very much. He named himself Sima in Chinese. Congratulations. In 1994, Sima He was appointed as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His achievements in the field of artificial intelligence are truly jaw-dropping! In 1975, Sima He won the Turing Award, the highest award in the computer field, for his many contributions in the field of artificial intelligence. However, at this time, he felt that the computer field was too unchallenging, so he went to study psychology, so he won another degree in the field of psychology. Three important awards: the American Psychological Association's Outstanding Scientific Contribution Award, the American Psychological Foundation's Psychological Science Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Psychological Association's Lifetime Contribution Award; of course, he did not give up his old profession of economics, and won the 1978 won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
In March 1986, my country launched the “National High-Tech Research and Development Plan”, also known as the “863 Plan”. In the "863" plan, one of the topics in the information field is intelligent computers, code-named "863-306". Through in-depth research on the topic of intelligent computers, our country has made progress in high-performance computers, intelligent interfaces, intelligent applications, etc. A batch of major research results. What is more valuable is that this has cultivated a large number of talents for the development of artificial intelligence in our country and laid a relatively solid talent foundation. Today, my country can occupy a place in the field of global artificial intelligence, and the "863 Project" is indispensable. For example, when there was a shortage of talent and funds at the time, researchers overcame difficulties and developed the supercomputer "Shuguang-1", which significantly narrowed the gap between China and the world's advanced level in this field. Later, in the "Shuguang-1" supercomputer "Dawn 1000" was launched on the basis of "Shuguang 1000", laying a solid foundation for Sugon's commercialization.
At present, the artificial intelligence we know seems to be promoted more by commercial institutions, but in fact, basic research by universities and scientific research institutions has laid a solid foundation for the development of artificial intelligence. In the development of artificial intelligence in my country, some universities and research institutions have played a very important role. Peking University, Tsinghua University, Jilin University, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China, Harbin Institute of Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. are all playing a very important role in artificial intelligence. Made a very big contribution. For example, when preparing to build the State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Technology and Systems in the 1980s, scholars such as the "Four King Kongs" from the Computer Department of Tsinghua University, the "Four King Kongs" and the "Four Little King Kongs" from the Department of Automation worked together to create Today, Tsinghua University has laid the foundation for excellence in the field of artificial intelligence. For another example, Harbin Institute of Technology proposed the concept of "audio-text", which uses computers to perform intelligent calculation and recognition of sounds, images and text, making Harbin Institute of Technology the leader in this field. Carnegie Mellon University has a global leading edge in the field of artificial intelligence. Kaifu Lee once compared Harbin Institute of Technology to Carnegie Mellon University in China. The importance of Harbin Institute of Technology in the field of artificial intelligence is evident.
In the early days of the development of artificial intelligence in my country, another interesting background is that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, due to ideological constraints, the term artificial intelligence was considered to be idealistic and ideologically problematic in our country. Therefore, Widely criticized. Many people think "How can a machine be intelligent?" Therefore, a debate needs to be carried out on philosophical and ideological grounds. This has also led many researchers to use the term "intelligent simulation" instead of the term "artificial intelligence", which is less likely to cause misunderstanding.
Throughout history, human society has experienced many disruptive technological changes, which have significantly affected the direction and process of human development. At present, artificial intelligence is undergoing vigorous development. This technology is likely to change the structure and operation of our society, trigger revolutionary changes in a wide range of fields, and have far-reaching social, legal, philosophical, moral and spiritual levels. Influence. In the future, what will be important is how to guide artificial intelligence to play a positive role and avoid its negative impacts. We may not be able to reject artificial intelligence, but we must prepare for the advent of the artificial intelligence era and better adapt to the impact that artificial intelligence will bring to us.
Big event
Tonight at 20:00, Mr. Cen Feng, the author of "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence in China", will be a guest in the Turing Community live broadcast room, leading us to decipher the code of the development history of China's artificial intelligence, and read history at the turning point of history!
Scan the QR code to make an appointment for the live broadcast, see you at 8pm~
