Author: Mamadou Sakho

To:            Prof. Jason Ellis

From:       Mamadou Sakho

Date:        10/6/2021

Subject:    Expanded Definition of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The goal of this document is to research and define Artificial Intelligence. What it is? How does it work? The term which is of concern here is AI or Artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence has been defined in various ways depending on the context it has been used. For example, the meaning given to it in the context of a computer system is different from the meaning in a human context.

 The term Artificial Intelligence is defined in various ways. For example, according to Merriam Webster, “Artificial Intelligence is an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence [1].” In order words, Artificial Intelligence refers to the fact machines are programmed in a manner that they can do work that humans do such as making coffee, cooking, etc. According to Oxford English Dictionary, “Artificial Intelligence is the capacity of computers or other machine to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour [2].” To rephrase it, Artificial Intelligence is the programming of computers or machines to demonstrates movements or acts associated with human beings. Both of these definitions have more similarities than differences because they both define Artificial Intelligence as machines acting like humans. By looking at the Etymology of the term in question here, Oxford English Dictionary provides useful information. For example, in Anglo-Norman and Middle French artificial means” skillfully made or contrived, brought about by human skills or intervention (1267 in Old French).” In classical Latin, it means” artificialist made or contrived by art (used by Quintilian in rhetorical context, translating ancient Greek).” However, Merriam Webster only provides information about when it was first used in the meaning provided above which is 1955.

Reference:

[ 1]    “Artificial Intelligence,” Merriam-Webster. [Online]. Available: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artificial%20intelligence. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].

[2]        “artificial, adj. and n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, September 2021, www.oed.com/view/Entry/11211. Accessed 4 October 2021.

From: Mamadou Sakho

Date: 9/29/2021

Subject: Expand Definition term: Artificial Intelligent or AIs.

The goal of this memo is to expand the definition of Artificial Intelligent or AIs. I have long wanted to research more about AIS. The reason why I chose it is that AIs are becoming more and more part of our society. A country like Saudi Arabia even gave citizenship to an AI named Sophia. Such a status previously was guaranteed to human beings only. Therefore, society starts to consider AIs as part of us. To compare and contrast the definition from different sources, I have visited three different sources. The first source is the Oxford English dictionary which gave me valuable information about when the term first appeared in official documents. However, it did not give me the definition I was looking for. The second source is Merriam Webster. This latter provided me with few recent articles that show when the term was first used. Merriam Webster has the definition that is more relevant to the research I am trying to conduct. The third source is Gale Ebooks which has a definition close to the one provided by Merriam Webster. Therefore, my best option out of all the three sources will be Merriam Webster since it gave me a definition close to what I was looking for. Doing research on the term “Artificial Intelligence” will help me and anybody who would like to know more about AIs. Can AIs replace humans?