Dexter Ketchum

Professor Christina Giarrusso

October 20th, 2016
Artificial Intelligence: Coding Our Future
Anything that could give rise to smarter-than-human intelligence - in the form of Artificial
Intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, or neuroscience-based human intelligence enhancement
- wins hands down beyond contest as doing the most to change the world. Nothing else is even in
the same league. Eliezer Yudkowsky
Artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing sector of computer science which entails
creating software that thinks critically to solve problems in the same manner humans do. With
continued advancements in the field, numerous artificial intelligence programs, such as Google
Assistant or OpenAI, have learned how to break down complex human language and process
even complicated requests. These advancements open hundreds of doors into the future of
technology, but perhaps the most important has yet to be explored: the infusion of artificially
intelligent agents into code compilers. By creating an artificially intelligent programming
language which uses plain English as an input, a previously convoluted field of science would be
opened up to millions of citizens, which would result in a boom of computer science education
and technological advancement.
Where programming often requires convoluted syntax, AI could serve as a way to bridge
the gap, allowing programmers to type their instructions into plain English before they are
converted by the AI system within. The best way to articulate this concept is through the usage

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

of an example. The following snippet of C++ code will generate a random number between 1
and 10:

Figure 1: Depiction of code necessary to generate a random number (1-10) in basic C++.

In contrast, a system that is developed with an artificially intelligent language-to-code

converter would allow for instructions more akin to this:

Figure 2: Equivalent code in the proposed artificially-intelligent, natural-language system.

With the current state of technology, however, many individuals are skeptical that an
efficient programming language could be built with AI interpretation included within it. In a
computer, every software process (whether that be Google Chrome or Quicktime) taxes the
processor, which in turn slows down other functions of the computer as it is running. If we were
to request the computer to break down English into functional code on the fly, while a small
amount of text would require similarly small processing power, something about a page long
could take several minutes to be executed. This presents a potential problem in the development

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

of this system, which may very well limit its usage to learning environments until AI processing
can become more streamlined and efficient.
Further, there are unfortunately a number of limitations in current artificially intelligent
systems which limit their ability to understand complex human language. Fortunately, there is a
discipline dedicated to making coding more representative of traditional languages called
natural-language programming, which has a number of authors already working towards
perfecting systems envisioned in this paper. According to a study by Dr. Richard A. Frost on the
subject, there are three major interpretation difficulties that must be overcome by current AI
technology to allow for the optimal natural language coding environment. First, the computer
must be able to break down reduplicated expressions, akin to a state within a state or a church
within a church. Second, it must be able to evaluate multiple-agreement statements, such as
John, Timothy, and Bob were employed as a carpenter, fireman, and farmer. Finally, it must be
able to interpret cross-serial dependencies which are common in some European languages, like
we help Hans paint the house. (2006, 6-7)
To overcome these obstacles, various researchers have recommended creating software
architecture that is organized in a similar pattern to the human brain. One such researcher,
Rosemarie Velik, describes the brain-like system as being a way to overcome issues in logical
understanding, particularly by allowing computers to analyze the given situation in a dynamic
manner. Presently, computers have difficulty understanding convoluted requests in unstructured
contexts, while they have stellar performance when it comes to direct logic questions in
structured environments. She claims that a brain architecture would alleviate these limitations,
particularly because humans excel at dealing with convoluted questions, even in disorganized

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

contexts. Velik offers two primary examples to explain disorganized and organized task
environments: an industrial sorting task and a safety and surveillance task. Where industrial
sorting is monotonous, straight-forward, and specific, a computer-controlled system excels.
However, in the case of a security system checking multiple cameras, there is a broad range of
assignments that are laid out in disorganized screens. As of yet, there has not been a computer
system designed that can efficiently monitor security systems and categorize Human behaviors
into security threat levels. (2013, 26-28)
These challenges are uniquely applicable to the idea of an artificially intelligent coding
language, particularly due to the need of these systems to dynamically understand human
languages and, more importantly, accurately produce code that reflects the words written on the
screen. Since coding languages allow for a variety of different paths to achieve similar goals, the
computer must be able to understand the flow of logic that the user is dictating. Where one user
may seek to use switch statements, for example, another might be more include to use if, then
control patterns. These miniscule differences would have to be accounted for and calibrated by
the program on-the-fly. This reduces the processing and compilation speed, which in turn makes
the program clunkier and inefficient. This, of course, presents a problem, as code compilation
software is expected to build the code at a fast pace.
With that being said, while the first two studies focused primarily on the challenges
involved in further expanding artificial intelligence, other researchers have taken it upon
themselves to explore the negative implications of expanding intelligent systems. In the paper by
Thomas G. Dietterich, for example, he and his colleagues explore the dangers of artificial
intelligence. Perhaps the most prominent example given, which has been discussed in numerous

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

other academic papers, is the possibility of exponential intellectual growth. In laymans terms,
this refers to an artificially intelligent system that is able to learn enough about itself and the
world around it to then add installments onto its own system. Once a piece of software learns
how to build onto itself, this allows for the computer to infinitely learn and expand until it dwarfs
the human intellect. (2015, 38-40)
However,

before

artificially

intelligent

systems

become

superintelligent

human-destroying machines, there are more immediate risks of furthering the technology. As
described in a research venture by Carl Benedikt Frey, there is a growing risk that artificial
intelligence will replace monotonous labor jobs. As previously mentioned in Veliks paper, these
systems are particularly good at explicitly defined tasks (such as driving from point A to point B)
in uniform environments (such as a lane in a street). Some jobs that are particularly at risk of
being replaced by autonomy are: truck drivers, assembly workers, and, surprisingly, doctors.
(2013) Watson, which is a promising artificially intelligent software that IBM has taught to
absorb knowledge from the internet, recently read through 20 million cancer research papers
before generating a diagnosis for a cancer patient who doctors were unable to diagnose for
months. An even more impressive feat was that the computer managed to generate this
conclusion in a matter of ten minutes. (Ng, 2016) This presents a vibrant future where machines
offer more accurate diagnoses than human doctors, but it also represents a grim possibility of
human doctors being entirely replaced by machines. To make matters more complicated, there
are numerous artificially intelligent systems just like Watson which are currently in development
all over the world. A smartphone-based application named Babylon aims to perform a similar
role, by allowing doctors to type in patient symptoms on the fly, only to then be given a rapid

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

and accurate diagnosis. As Simon Parkin eloquently puts it, there are about 10,000 known
human diseases, yet human doctors are only able to recall a fraction of them at any given
moment. (2016)
These dangers are even more prevalent when combining artificial intelligence with code
compilation. As we begin to develop the technology addressed in this paper, we will in turn be
teaching computers how to build code on their own. This revisits the possibility of exponential
intellectual growth, described in Dietterichs research. With the knowledge we are instilling in
the artificially intelligent systems, there is a real possibility that the computer will learn to attach
modules onto itself by building out code snippets. As the system continues to build on itself, it
may expand far beyond the original limitations of the software, making it much more potent than
the human developers ever anticipated.
With the doom and gloom put aside, however, the growth of artificial intelligence clearly
has positive implications that will resonate through every industry. One researcher, Spence
Green, is working on developing systems that better allow humans to interact with AI. He
particularly explores the importance of natural language translation, which ties closely back to
the idea of AI interpreting English and translating it into working code. He focuses largely on
human-computer interaction, citing the growth of artificial intelligence as presenting new and
innovative tools for humans to tackle challenging issues. With the ability to expand our thinking
through the usage of this dynamic, self-growing software, we find ourselves able to interact with
technology on a personable basis every day. (2015, 1-3) While his paper does not address the
concerns of Diettrich directly, it is important to note that for many negatives presented in
artificial intelligence, there is also a positive. Even in the case of an infinitely expanding system

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

which builds upon itself, it could yield a number of significant benefits for humanity. Even
though it may learn hundreds of thousands of topics beyond the scope of human perception
today, if we were to properly manage the system, we could certainly use its advancement for
benefitting our society. So long as these superintelligent AI systems are not set loose or left
without oversight, we could reap many benefits from their learning.
An important, up-and-coming example of this human-computer interaction is Googles
Assistant. Google recently released the Assistant as a competitive AI to challenge Siri, Apples
AI, in its dominance over the market. In contrast to Siri, the Assistant uses a massive database of
information through Googles hundreds of subsidiaries to come up with innovative responses to
even convoluted questions. Whereas previous incarnations of AI assistants would fumble under
the usage of pronouns (such as he, it, or there), the Google Assistant has learned to use
context clues from the screen of the phone to interpret the nature of the question. (Etherington
2016) On a similar note, OpenAI is an AI software currently being developed by a company
owned by Elon Musk, who heads Tesla and SpaceX. OpenAI is taking a different approach to
expanding its knowledge. While Google Assistant pulls data from Google and Watson uses
medical research journals, OpenAI has chosen to use popular forums like Reddit to expand its
usage of human language. It analyzes posts by users, the manner in which they organize their
words and form arguments, and then uses that knowledge to formulate statements in the same
manner humans would. (Brockman 2015)
It is expected that the development of AI will only continue to grow from here. While we
are at an amazing point with technology today, we have grown tremendously in a short span of
time. Just seventy years ago Alan Turing began to explore the possibility of intelligent computer

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

systems, and how they may develop over time. So far, his predictions have been incredibly
accurate, and we continue to follow along a path towards computer systems that think in a
dynamic manner just as humans do. (Muggleton 2014) To think back on where we have come
from, and the rate we are expanding at, truly inspires a sense of awe as to where technology
might be in fifty or one-hundred years from today.
With that being said, it seems as though artificially intelligent systems will spawn the
advent of a new era of technological development. With computer science becoming a central
field of study among new college students and technology having already become a central
aspect of everyday life, using artificial intelligence to build a straight-forward programming
language seems to be the next step in introducing the coming generations to software
development. While there are a number of challenges that must be overcome before we can make
this dream a reality (as outlined by several researchers above), it inspires great confidence that
we are already well on our way towards accomplishing these goals.

Citations
1. Frost, Richard A. 2006. "Realization of Natural Language Interfaces Using
Lazy Functional Programming." ACM Computing Surveys 38, no. 4: 1-54.
Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 12, 2016).
2. Velik, Rosemarie. 2013. "Brain-Like Artificial Intelligence for
Automation - Foundations, Concepts and Implementation Examples." BRAIN:
Broad Research In Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience 4, no. 1-4:
26-54. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 18, 2016).

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

3. Dietterich, Thomas G., and Eric J. Horvitz. 2015. "Rise of Concerns about
AI: Reflections and Directions." Communications Of The ACM 58, no. 10:
38-40. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 18, 2016).
4. GREEN, SPENCE, JEFFREY HEER, and CHRISTOPHER D. MANNING. 2015. "Natural
Language Translation at the Intersection of Al and HCl." Communications
Of The ACM 58, no. 9: 48-53. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
(accessed October 18, 2016).
5. Frey, Carl Benedikt, and Michael A. Osborne. "The future of employment:
how susceptible are jobs to computerisation."Retrieved September 7
(2013): 2013.
6. Ghahramani, Zoubin. 2015. "Probabilistic machine learning and artificial
intelligence." Nature 521, no. 7553: 452-459. Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed October 18, 2016).
7. Muggleton, Stephen. 2014. "Alan Turing and the development of Artificial
Intelligence." AI Communications 27, no. 1: 3-10. Academic Search
Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 18, 2016).
8. Ng, Alfred. 2016. IBMs Watson gives proper diagnosis for Japanese
leukemia patient after doctors were stumped for months. New York Daily
News (Accessed October 31st, 2016).
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ibm-watson-proper-diagnosis-doctors
-stumped-article-1.2741857
9. Parkin, Simon. 2016. The Artificially Intelligent Doctor Will Hear You
Now. MIT Technology Review - Robotics (Accessed November 1st, 2016).
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600868/the-artificially-intelligent-do
ctor-will-hear-you-now/

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]

10.Etherington, Darrell. 2016. Living With Google Assistant. TechCrunch

(Accessed November 1st, 2016).
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/18/living-with-google-assistant/
11.Brockman, Greg, and Ilya Sutskever. 2015. Introducing OpenAI. OpenAI
(Accessed November 1st, 2016).
https://openai.com/blog/introducing-openai/

[Body Word Count: 2083]

[Full Word Count: 2390]