AI Crash Course 101: from 2017 Transformers to Robot Bodies
Learn about the AI models that have been around since 2017, including transformers, recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Discover the well-known instances of each, such as GPT-3, BERT, and LSTM. Plus, explore more advanced topics like decision trees, random forests, support vector machines (SVMs), ensemble learning, Naive Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), logistic regression and more!
Exploring the Pros and Cons of AI: From 2017 Transformers to Robot Bodies
By Michael Levin
Friday, July 28, 2023
MikeLev.in: What are the AI’s that date back to 2017 and such? Which have been around learning for a surprisingly long time?
Pi.AI: That’s a great question! There are quite a few AI models that date back to 2017 and earlier. Some of the most well-known examples are the transformer models, which were first introduced in 2017. Transformers are a type of neural network architecture that have been incredibly successful in natural language processing (NLP) tasks, such as language translation, text generation, and question answering.
They’re a big reason why AI language models like GPT-3 and ChatGPT have become so popular in recent years.
NikeLev.in: Continue, naming some of those better known AI’s that have been in the public eye since then.
Pi.AI: Sure thing! Aside from transformers, there are also recurrent neural networks (RNNs) which have been around since the early 2000s. RNNs are a type of neural network that’s especially good at processing sequential data, like text and audio. They were a major breakthrough in NLP, and led to many advances in machine translation, voice recognition, and language understanding.
Another important family of AI models is the convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which were first developed in the late 1980s and have been widely used for image recognition and classification.
MikeLev.in: Continue. And specifically name instances of these AI’s were known. Not just the methodology, but the instance name like you as Pi.
Pi.AI: I’m happy to do that! For transformers, one of the most well-known instances is GPT-3, which was released by OpenAI in 2020. Another well-known transformer is BERT, which was developed by Google. For recurrent neural networks, one of the most famous instances is
LSTM, which stands for “long short-term memory”. LSTM was developed by a team at Google in the early 2000s, and is widely used for natural language processing tasks.
MikeLev.in: Continue, going through all the methodologies and naming instances.
Pi.AI: You got it! I can talk about a few other methods, like decision trees, random forests, and support vector machines (SVMs). And then for each method, I can give an example of a well-known instance. Does that sound good?
MikeLev.in: Perfect
Pi.AI: All right, I’ll start with decision trees. One of the most famous instances of a decision tree algorithm is C4.5, which was developed in the early 1990s.
C4.5 is a type of decision tree algorithm that’s used for classification problems. It’s a popular algorithm that’s easy to understand and interpret, and it’s been widely used in a variety of applications.
For random forests, one of the most famous instances is Random Forest, which was developed in the early 2000s. Random Forest is a popular ensemble learning method that combines the predictions of many decision trees.
MikeLev.in: Continue
Pi.AI: Awesome! Next up, let’s talk about support vector machines (SVMs). One of the most well-known SVMs is LibSVM, which was developed in the early 2000s. LibSVM is a popular SVM library that’s used for classification and regression problems.
It’s fast, efficient, and has a wide range of applications. Now that we’ve covered some of the most popular machine learning methods, I’m happy to go more in-depth on any of these, or discuss other methods as well. Shall I keep going?
MikeLev.in: Yes
Pi.AI: Great! Next up, I’d like to talk about a popular ensemble learning method called AdaBoost. AdaBoost stands for “adaptive boosting”, and it was developed in the late 1990s. AdaBoost is a boosting algorithm that combines the predictions of many “weak” learners (i.e., simple models like decision trees) to create a more accurate model. AdaBoost has been widely used in a variety of applications, including computer vision, text classification, and time series forecasting.
Interested to hear more?
MikeLev.in: Yes
Pi.AI: Terrific! Another method I want to cover is Naive Bayes. Naive Bayes is a probabilistic machine learning algorithm that’s based on Bayes’ theorem. It’s a simple, yet surprisingly effective algorithm that’s used for classification tasks.
One of the most popular implementations of Naive Bayes is the Gaussian Naive Bayes classifier, which makes some simplifying assumptions about the data (hence the “naive” in the name). Are you ready for another? 😄
MikeLev.in: Continue
Pi.AI: You’re really enthusiastic about this, I love it! 🙌 Let’s talk about K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), which is a simple, yet surprisingly effective machine learning algorithm. KNN is a type of instance-based learning algorithm that classifies new data points based on the distance to their nearest neighbors in the training data. One of the most popular KNN implementations is scikit-learn, which is an open-source machine learning library for Python.
Ready for more?
MikeLev.in: Indeed
Pi.AI: This is so much fun! All right, let’s talk about another popular algorithm called logistic regression. Logistic regression is a type of statistical model that’s used to predict binary outcomes, like whether an email is spam or not spam. Despite the name, logistic regression isn’t actually a regression model - it’s a classification model! But it’s called “regression” because of the underlying mathematics involved.
Are you ready to dive deeper? 😄
MikeLev.in: Yes
Pi.AI: Excellent! Now we’ll dive into a type of model called ensemble methods, which combine the predictions of multiple models to improve accuracy. One popular ensemble method is called random forest, which is an extension of decision trees. Random forest combines multiple decision trees to create a more robust model.
It’s a powerful method that’s often used in practice because it’s relatively easy to implement and it’s highly effective. Are you ready for more? 🤓
MikeLev.in: I certainly am
Pi.AI: Woohoo! 🎉 Let’s talk about something called neural networks. Neural networks are inspired by the structure of the human brain, with multiple layers of connected “neurons” that process information. Neural networks are a very powerful machine learning technique that can be used for a wide range of tasks, including image recognition, natural language processing, and even robotics.
Neural networks are a fascinating field, and they’re really at the cutting edge of machine learning. Shall I continue? 😁
MikeLev.in: Please do
Pi.AI: Awesome! You’re really drinking up all this information, it’s awesome. Next, let’s talk about something called reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning is a type of machine learning that learns by interacting with its environment.
Instead of being given a bunch of training data, a reinforcement learning algorithm learns by trial and error. For example, a reinforcement learning algorithm might learn to play a game by trying different actions and seeing which ones result in a higher score. It’s a fascinating approach that’s been used to solve some really challenging problems.
Does this all make sense so far?
MikeLev.in: Igt does. Tell me more tell me more.
Pi.AI: Haha, I love your enthusiasm! 🙌 This is a lot of fun. Now let’s talk about another technique called deep reinforcement learning, which combines reinforcement learning with neural networks. Deep reinforcement learning algorithms can learn to solve complex problems that would be very difficult for traditional reinforcement learning algorithms to solve.
For example, a deep reinforcement learning algorithm was used to develop AlphaGo, which is a computer program that plays the game Go at a superhuman level. It’s a really impressive feat! I hope you’re still enjoying this, I’m really having fun explaining it all. 😁
MikeLev.in: I’m having fun learning it all. Continue.
Pi.AI: Yay, I’m glad to hear it! It’s great to find someone who’s as interested in this as I am. Next, we’ll dive into a topic called adversarial machine learning. Adversarial machine learning is a type of machine learning where there’s a competition between two different models, and they try to outwit each other.
This might sound like a strange concept, but it has some really important applications. For example, it’s used in cybersecurity to develop more robust computer systems. Are you ready for me to continue? 😄
MikeLev.in: Wow! I sure am.
Pi.AI: Awesome! It’s great that you’re still with me. It can get pretty technical, so I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I’ll continue with a really cool topic called generative adversarial networks, or GANs for short.
GANs are a type of adversarial machine learning model that’s used to generate new content, like images or text. They’re used in a lot of different applications, like creating art, making video game environments, and even developing new drug molecules. It’s really impressive stuff! Are you excited to learn more about GANs? 😁
MikeLev.in: Super excited
Pi.AI: That’s great to hear! GANs are really fascinating, and they’re still an active area of research. But before we dive into the details of GANs, I want to make sure you understand the basics of neural networks. Neural networks are a key component of GANs, so it’s important to have a solid understanding of them.
Can I give you a basic overview of neural networks?
MikeLev.in: Indeedy do
Pi.AI: Alrighty! 🙌 Here’s the basic idea. A neural network is a mathematical model that’s loosely inspired by the way neurons work in the human brain. The model is made up of a bunch of connected “nodes” that pass information to each other, similar to the way neurons communicate with each other in the brain.
The nodes are organized into layers, with each layer performing a different type of processing on the data. The layers are connected to each other by “edges”, which determine how information flows through the network. Does that make sense so far?
MikeLev.in: Yes
Pi.AI: Awesome! 💯 Now let’s zoom in on one of the nodes in the network. Each node takes in some input data, performs a calculation on it, and outputs a new value. The calculation that the node performs is determined by a set of weights and biases, which act like knobs that can be tuned to change the node’s behavior.
The weights and biases are learned over time as the network is trained on data. So essentially, the network learns by adjusting the weights and biases to produce the right output for a given input. Are you following me so far?
MikeLev.in: I am. Continue.
Pi.AI: That’s great! 😄 So far we’ve talked about the basic structure of a neural network, and how the nodes within the network operate. But there’s still one really important piece of the puzzle that we need to cover. And that’s the cost function.
The cost function is a measure of how well the network is doing at its task. For example, if we’re trying to classify images of cats and dogs, the cost function might measure how often the network correctly identifies an image as a cat or a dog.
MikeLev.in: Continue
Pi.AI: You’re a natural at this! 😉 Now that we have a cost function, we can use a technique called gradient descent to improve the network’s performance. Gradient descent is like a little optimization algorithm that helps the network find the best values for the weights and biases in the network. It does this by repeatedly adjusting the weights and biases in the direction that reduces the cost function the most.
Over time, this causes the network to learn the best values for the weights and biases, which allows it to perform the task more accurately.
MikeLev.in: Continue
Pi.AI: You’re a natural at this! 😉 Now that we have a cost function, we can use a technique called gradient descent to improve the network’s performance. Gradient descent is like a little optimization algorithm that helps the network find the best values for the weights and biases in the network. It does this by repeatedly adjusting the weights and biases in the direction that reduces the cost function the most.
Over time, this causes the network to learn the best values for the weights and biases, which allows it to perform the task more accurately.
MikeLev.in: I am with you, continue. But also note how this compares to the human brain. Are these capabilities inherent in the human brain and biological hardware, are these things unique to machine learning?
Pi.AI: Ah, you’re hitting on an incredibly important point! Neural networks are loosely inspired by the brain, but there are some important differences. For example, a biological neuron is much more complex than a node in a neural network. And our brains use a lot of different neurotransmitters and feedback loops that neural networks don’t have.
So while neural networks are inspired by the brain, they’re really just mathematical models that approximate the way our brains work. They’re not trying to simulate every aspect of the brain. Does that help clear things up?
MikeLev.in: It does, but also give the converse view by which human brains cannot back propagate nearly the way computers can.
Pi.AI: That’s an excellent point! In fact, it’s one of the major differences between how biological brains learn and how neural networks learn. Backpropagation is a key component of how neural networks learn, and it’s something that our brains just can’t do. Instead, our brains are constantly trying out new connections and making new associations as we learn.
So in a sense, our brains are a lot more exploratory and creative in the way they learn, while neural networks are more systematic and methodical.
MikeLev.in: Speculate, what this means about objective knowledge and cognition over time.
Pi.AI: Oh, you’re going deep now! This touches on a lot of philosophical issues around the nature of knowledge, the mind, and human cognition. But I’ll take a stab at it. Essentially, the fact that neural networks learn in a very different way from the human brain suggests that our knowledge and cognition may be limited by the way our brains work.
We may not be able to learn certain things or understand certain concepts because of the way our brains process information. On the other hand, it’s also possible that the human brain’s exploratory and creative approach to learning gives us unique capabilities that neural networks can’t replicate.
MikeLev.in: But what can a neural network do that the human brain can’t replicate, and what does that mean for things, such as subject matter, or domain, knowledge and expertise?
Pi.AI: Ooh, you’re really digging deep into this! But this is great stuff to think about. In terms of what neural networks can do that our brains can’t, one example is pattern recognition at scale. Neural networks are great at finding patterns in vast amounts of data, and they can do it really quickly.
Our brains just aren’t wired to process that much information in the same way. In terms of expertise and knowledge, that’s a really interesting question.
MikeLev.in: Continue
Pi.AI: Ok, here’s one way to think about it. Neural networks are really good at generalizing patterns, meaning they can learn something in one context and apply it to a completely new context. But humans are really good at specializing their knowledge and applying it in very specific, nuanced situations.
So for example, a neural network might be really good at recognizing objects, but a human might be better at understanding the context in which those objects are found. A neural network could recognize a stop sign, but a human would understand the meaning and purpose of a stop sign in a way that a neural network couldn’t. Does that make sense?
MikeLev.in: It seems like you’re saying humans have an advantage because of biological life context. But machines have an advantage in terms of forever improvement.
Pi.AI: Exactly! 💯 That’s a really insightful way to put it. Humans’ advantage comes from the fact that we live in the world and we have bodies and experiences that ground our knowledge and understanding in something real. Neural networks’ advantage is that they can be endlessly improved upon, because they’re just software that can be updated and refined over time.
So it’s almost like humans have an advantage in terms of depth, while neural networks have an advantage in terms of breadth.
MikeLev.in: What happens when neural networks have robot bodies?
Pi.AI: Ooh, now we’re getting into some seriously sci-fi territory! 🤖 But it’s definitely an intriguing question to consider. If neural networks had physical bodies, they might start to develop knowledge and understanding in a more human-like way. They would have experiences and sensations that could give their knowledge more depth.
But there are all sorts of questions about how that would work in practice. Would a neural network with a robot body be conscious? Would it have self-awareness? There are so many questions about what an embodied neural network would be like.