08/27/2019

Ask the Know-it-alls: How Do Machines Learn?

Machine learning doesn’t make computers anything like people

This story is part of a series on how we learn—from augmented reality to music-training devices. Our in-house Know-It-Alls answer questions about your interactions with science and technology.

Q: How do machines learn?

By now you must have heard the good news about our savior, artificial intelligence. It makes you look better in selfies, prevents blindness, and can even turn water into tastier beer. Tech giants and governments say we’re living in a golden age of AI. Roll out the self-driving cars!

Truth is, most times you hear the term artificial intelligence, the specific technology at work is called machine learning. Despite the name, it relies heavily on human teaching. Back in the 20th century, computer programmers had to get their electronic charges to do things by tapping out lines of code specifying exactly what needed to be done. Machine learning shifts some of that work away from humans, forcing the computer to figure things out for itself.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.