Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.

12

3.11 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

(From September 2018 – December 2018)

HL extension

The goal is to analyse the various applications of robotics in modern society as well as the
ethical and social implications of a more widespread use of robotic technology.

(see ITGS by Stuary Gray pp343-347)

Definitions

 A robot is a computer-controlled or programmed machine

 A robot performs specific manual/mechanical tasks
 A robot is automated

This is a great source of information The Tech Museums Robotics page.

Control your own remotely operated vehicle then scroll down and go to NOVA online: can you
correctly assign the robots?

Videos to be shown to class

Robotic Car assembly – fully automated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=3CzuQ3DtsPc

Military – Big Dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=cHJJQ0zNNOM

Discussion Question

What output devices are necessary in a robot for the manufacture of cars?

(Write in your notebook and submit in next lesson)

Additional videos on Robots

ASIMO - How stuff works
Design and print your own robot in 3-D at My Robot Notion
Video Demonstrations of Robotics
Researchers develop a robot that folds towels
Aldebaran robotics - French company

1|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Artificial Intelligence and robots are popular topics for science fiction films, often featuring
advanced computerized machines that fully resemble human beings in both appearance and
abilities.

This chapter examines the current state of artificial intelligence research, the methods
computer scientists use to make machines achieve 'intelligent' behaviour, and the problems
that are often encountered.

Robotics - computerized machines capable of performing physical rather than mental tasks-
commonly use artificial intelligence techniques, and this chapter also looks at the design,
development, and impacts robots have on society.

Finally, perhaps more so than any other ITGS topic, the development of artificial intelligence
raises great ethical questions about the creation of autonomous machines, our ability to
control them, and the limits we should impose on their development.

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence is an abstract concept, which has many aspects to it, and is hard to define
definitively. Yet it is difficult to discuss artificial intelligence without having an idea of what
constitutes intelligence itself. If we asked a group of people to describe what it means to be
intelligent, we might find answers such as:

• The ability to respond to the environment

• The ability to learn new knowledge or skills
• The ability to use logic or reasoning to come to a conclusion
• The ability to learn from experience
• The ability to make evaluations or judgements

Solve Exercise 16-1 (ORAL Qns.) Page 339 (Softcopy)

Turing Test

In 1950, famous English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing proposed an
experiment to test whether or not a machine is 'intelligent'. Called the Turing Test, the
experiment involves a human judge who asks questions to two contestants - one of which is a
computer terminal and one, which is a human being- without knowing which is which.
From the answers he receives, the judge must try to determine which contestant is the
2|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

computer and which is the human. If the judge is unable to determine this, Turing suggested
that the machine should be considered 'intelligent'. Put Room A simply, Turing considered a
machine to be intelligent if it could pass itself as a human.

Following video explains the same

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wLqsRLvV-c

OR (Show the Video file from the folder)

CAPTCHAs

A more modern form of the Turing Test is often seen on the web. CAPTCHA images (as shown
below) are commonly used when posting comments on forums and when creating new user
accounts online. These Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans
Apart are designed to prevent spam bots from posting advertising in comments or creating
false accounts. CAPTCHAs display deformed text which will hopefully be legible to a human
being but not to a computer. If a computer (in this case an automated program) is able to read
the text correctly, it has, in this case, made itself indistinguishable from a human and
could be said to have passed this form of the Turing Test. In fact, researchers at the University
of California, Berkeley have succeeded in creating programs that can frequently read the more
basic CAPTCHAS

Following is the Captcha.

A video explains the CAPTCHAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWu2UiLLJI8

3|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Achieving Artificial Intelligence

'The main lesson of thirty-five years of AI research is that the hard problems
are easy and the
easy problems are hard. The mental abilities of a four-year-old that we take for granted -
recognizing a face, lifting a pencil, walking across a room, answering a question- in fact solve
some of the hardest engineering problems ever conceived.'

-Steven Pinker

Computer scientists face great challenges when trying to create intelligent systems. As the
quote above suggests, some of the tasks we as humans find the easiest are the most difficult
for a computer to achieve. Many of the things that we learn in early life: recognizing shapes,
objects, people, tying our shoelaces, walking, are very difficult or impossible for machines.
Conversely, many of the skills we learn later in life - science and mathematics especially - are
relatively easy for machines to tackle.

Broadly speaking, the tasks that are easy for computers are those for which a clear series of
steps or instructions can be written. The difficult tasks are those for which there are is no clear,
fixed set of steps to follow.

https://prezi.com/-vmg_-8m7cp6/itgs-artificial-intelligence/

The approaches that computer scientists use to deal with these difficulties can be divided into
two broad areas:

Artificial Intelligence

Computational Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that simulate intelligence through a series of quite
rigid facts or rules. The focus of artificial intelligence is to create systems that give the
appearance of human-like intelligence, even if the method of achieving the intelligence is vastly
different from those used by humans: the focus of AI is on the results. Often such AI systems
focus on one specific area of knowledge (for example, playing chess), rather than trying to
create a general intelligence which can work in any situation.

Computational Intelligence

In contrast, the Computational Intelligence (CI) approach focuses on creating systems that
'think' in the same way that human think. In other words, CI is focused on creating systems that

4|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

can learn, develop, and reach optimal solutions based on past experience – just like human
beings can. The focus of computational intelligence is the method by which the results are
obtained.

EXPERT SYSTEMS

Some of the earliest developments in the field of artificial intelligence were expert systems -
software programs which use programmed logic and rules to make the same decisions as a
human expert. Expert systems are usually restricted to answering questions in a specific
knowledge domain - one specific area of knowledge - rather than being 'general' experts on
'everything'.

Examples of knowledge domains include medical knowledge for a medical diagnosis system,
and financial knowledge for an expert system that decides whether to approve loan
applications. Common examples of expert systems include:

Medical diagnosis expert systems (usually to assist rather than replace the doctor)

• Medical image analysis (for screening of mass x-rays to detect abnormalities)

• Identifying agricultural pests and diseases
• Spelling and grammar checking in word processors
• Finance- deciding whether to approve a loan
• Fault diagnosis in various fields (computers, cars, aircraft)
Components of an expert system

An expert system shell is a set of programs which allow the building of an expert system
through the creation of knowledge and rules. Expert systems have three essential components:

The user interface presents questions to the user and accepts input from them. Inputs may be
in the form of short yes I no questions, multiple-choice options, or typed natural language.

The user interface also presents answers- and sometimes the reasoning for those answers once
they have been determined. The knowledge base contains data and facts which form the
knowledge in the specific knowledge domain.

For example, in a medical expert system the knowledge base contains facts about the
symptoms associated with different diseases.

The information in the knowledge base is intended to replicate that of a human expert (such
as a doctor).

5|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

However, as most people are not skilled at computer programming, the knowledge from the
expert is first prepared by a knowledge engineer. The knowledge engineer works the
knowledge into a form that is useful for the expert system.

The inference engine has the job of matching the user's input from the user interface with the
data contained in the knowledge base to find appropriate answers. This is done using inference
rules which describe how different items of data relate to each other, and sometimes using
probabilistic rules.

Figure 16-3 - Components of an expert system

Decision Trees

Expert systems are programmed with a series of logical rules to find a solution. Very basic
expert systems can use Boolean logic decision trees to come to conclusions. Boolean logic, has
two possible values - true and false, yes and no, 1 and 0, and so on. The meaning of the two
values is not relevant - only that there are just two possible outcomes. Figure 16-5 shows an
extremely simple example of such logic.

However, this is clearly an extremely simple example of logic and we would hopefully not
require an expert system to find an answer! A further example, and one that starts to show the
problems with simple logic, is a medical Diagnosis system - a common use of expert systems
(see figure 16-4).

6|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

One of the problems with figure 16-4 is that several diseases can have the same symptoms, but
this is not well represented in a simple hierarchy. A greater problem is that Boolean logic has
only two values, making it difficult to represent many real life problems. The answers to many
real life questions are not simply true or false but some value in between.

For example,the question 'Do you have a headache?' is not usefully answered with 'Yes' or 'No'-
it would be more helpful to know the severity of the headache. Similarly, a fever can be mild or
severe, rather than merely present or absent.

This is of great significant to the medical expert system while a slight temperature may
indicate something as simple as a common cold, a severe temperature is much more serious
and may need urgent attention.

7|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

8|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Inference Rules

Inference rules are written as IF ... THEN statements, which describe rules for a knowledge
domain. A simple example of inference rules might be:

IF X has gills THEN X is a fish

IF X is a fish THEN X Jives in water
IF X lives in water THEN X can swim

Through the process of chaining, we can take a given object, Fred, who has gills. Using these
rules we can conclude first of all that Fred is a fish, then that he Jives in water, and finally that
Fred can swim. There may also be other rules in the expert system, which lead to the
conclusion
'Jives in the water', such as:

IF X is an alligator THEN X Jives in the water using the same process, even though John the
alligator has no gills and is not a fish, we can conclude that John can swim.

A medical expert system might include rules such as:

IF X has severe headache THEN

Condition = malaria

IF X has severe headache AND joint pain THEN

condition = dengue fever

IF condition = malaria THEN

treatment = doxycycline

IF condition = dangue THEN

treatment = analgesics

For example, a temperature, which is somewhat hot, may just be the symptom of a common
cold, whereas a temperature, which is high or very low, signals a much more serious condition.

9|Page
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Fuzzy Logic

As discussed, in many knowledge domains, answers and conclusions are not concrete 'yes I no'
answers, but have different degrees of truth. Fuzzy logic and fuzzy set theory are used to
model these concepts in expert systems. Whereas in traditional set theory objects either
belong to a set or not (i.e. a patient's temperature is either hot or it isn't), fuzzy set theory and
fuzzy logic allow objects to be partial members of sets (i.e. the temperature can be 'hot' and
'very hot' at the same time, to different degrees). Although this sounds counter-intuitive, it is
useful for representing data such as temperature- after all, there is no clear dividing line at
which point a temperature ceases being 'hot' and becomes 'very hot' (see figure 16-6). For
example, a temperature, which is some-what hot, may just be the symptom of a common cold,
whereas a temperature, which is high or very high, signals a much more serious condition.

An advantage of fuzzy logic is that it allows expert systems to provide multiple answers, each
with differing degrees of certainly. For example, the result of a medical expert system might
be dengue fever (65% certainty) and malaria (25% certainty).

Problems with Expert Systems

As with any collection of data, an expert system's knowledge base may suffer from data
integrity problems including data, which has been incorrectly entered, data, which has
become out of date, or data, which is incomplete or missing completely. Each of these
problems could have a significant effect on the reliability and accuracy of the answers
provided by the system.

Similarly, the inference engine, like any software system, may contain bugs. Erroneous or
missing rules, or incorrect data processing, will also affect accuracy. The impact of these
reliability problems depends on the knowledge domain. A fault diagnosis system, which
suggests an incorrect solution, may cause inconvenience, but a medical system, which suggests
incorrect treatment, could cause a much more serious health impact.

However, the key problem with expert systems is that they are dependent on the rules in
their knowledge base, which cover only a small domain of knowledge, and they are unable to
address problems outside of this domain, or exceptions to rules. This makes them unsuitable
for some problems. Many modern AI researchers have moved away from developing expert
systems, and towards developing systems, which can learn and improve.

10 | P a g e
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Computational Intelligence techniques

Pattern recognition systems are often used in speech recognition and computer vision
applications, including handwriting recognition and face recognition. They are also used by
medical software to scan test result images for signs of tumours that might otherwise be
missed. Each of these applications features a large amount of variance.

Although the general characteristics of handwriting, speech, and faces are the same, they vary
greatly from person to person, and even one person's voice or face may vary even over
relatively short periods.

Pattern recognition systems do not use hard rules - instead, they are trained using a set of
training data. For example, a system to recognize handwriting will be shown samples of
individual letters or words and be told what each one represents (This is an 'A', this is a 'B' and
so on).

11 | P a g e
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing refers to the ability of a computer to 'understand' human

languages such as English, Spanish, or Kiswahili. The natural language may take the form of
input for the computer to read and act upon (for example, voice commands), or the language
may be the output (for example, a paragraph of text in response to a question). Machine
translation – translating from one human language to another - is another
common application of natural language processing. Several characteristics of natural
languages make understanding them very difficult task for a machine:

Several characteristics of Natural Languages make understanding them very difficult task for a
machine.

Few of the characteristics were given below.

• Many words have multiple meanings ('fire' for example, could refer to something burning,
firing somebody from a job, or firing a weapon);

• One word may be translated differently depending on the context (for example, 'fire'
becomes 'fuego' in Spanish if referring to a camp fire, but 'disparar' if referring to firing a gun).

• There are often complex rules governing syntax and grammar.

Predictive text: artificial intelligence

Predictive text systems in mobile phones use a form of artificial

intelligence to guess the word being typed. When typing the
first few letters of a word, there are no definite rules for which
letters come next. However, this does not mean that the
computer cannot make an educated guess. For example, when
the first letter of a word is a 'c', it is quite likely that the next
letter will be a vowel. Other letters are also quite likely (such as
'h'), while others are much less likely (for example, c is rarely, if
ever, followed by 'q' or 't' at the start of a word). In other
cases, 'q' is almost always followed by 'u', and certain pairs are
often found together- such as 'th' and 'st'. By examining simple probabilities and word
frequencies, a predictive text system can make reasonable guesses at the word you might be
typing.

12 | P a g e
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Neural networks
Artificial neural networks, or ANNs, are an attempt to make computers learn in a similar way
to humans, by representing the neurons in the human brain and the electrical impulses,
which flow between them..

ANNs feature a series of inputs and a series of outputs, connected by one or more layers of
nodes. These nodes are connected to each other, with the importance of the connection being
donated by its weight. Each hidden node takes inputs from several input nodes, and uses a
transfer function (also called an activation function) to determine its output. The transfer
function pays more attention to nodes with higher weights. The output is then passed to the
next node. A neural network needs training before it can be used effectively.

During this learning phase, the neural network is given a series of inputs and calculates its
output. This output is then compared to the expected output, as determined by a human. The
difference between the ANNs output and the expected output is known as the error. A
process called back propagation then occurs the weights of some nodes in the ANN are
adjusted until the transfer functions produce output more closely matched to the expected
output.

Following video explains the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk

Exercise 16-7 (Solve in your Notebook and submit by tomorrow)

The Deep Blue computer beat world chess champion Gary Kasparov, displaying 'more intelligent'
behavior in the game of chess. Yet Deep Blue played chess in a way no human being does: by
using searching algorithms to analyze thousands and thousands of moves ahead and look for the
best choice.

Is it enough for a computer to display intelligent results? Or should a truly intelligent computer
'think' in the same way a human being thinks? Discuss which is more important-the results that
are demonstrated or the methods by which they are achieved? [8 marks]

13 | P a g e
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

ROBOTICS

A robot is a computer-controlled system that performs manual, physical tasks. Robots can be
autonomous, using artificial intelligence or computational intelligence techniques to navigate
their environment and perform their jobs, or a human operator can remotely control them.

Robots are primarily used for three types of physical jobs:

• Dangerous jobs - such as cleaning up nuclear waste or performing bomb disposal

• Boring or repetitive jobs - such as manufacturing jobs in factories or on production lines

• Exploring inaccessible environments - such as the extreme ocean depths or the surfaces of
other planets, which are difficult or impossible for humans to access.

Social Impacts of Robots

Robots cause a variety of positive social impacts. Robots used for hazardous jobs like bomb
disposal clearly reduce the risk of death or serious injury to humans. Exploration robots help
increase scientific knowledge - they have been used to locate and recover the wreckages of
ships and aircraft lost in the ocean (including helping to find the wreck of the Titanic in 1982),
and at least three robotic rovers have landed on the surface of Mars, moving around the
Martian surface and sending samples and photographs back to Earth. Manned missions to
these environments would be significantly more expensive and dangerous than sending robots.
Unmanned space vehicles have also been sent to the Mir and ISS space stations to resupply the
crews living there-in these cases, there is no need to send a human crew (who would need their
own supplies) on such relatively routine missions.

Carrier robots such as the Big Dog move across rough terrain carrying heavy loads for the
military. The BEAR (Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot) robot is designed to rescue soldiers on
the battlefield, reducing the need for humans to enter the line of fire.

Search and rescue robots are being developed to search environments such as the ruins of
buildings after an earthquake. Many of these are designed to travel through gaps where
humans could not fit, or in unstable buildings that may collapse without warning.

Domestic robots are available to assist in cleaning jobs around the house, while robots like the
BEAR and Pearl can assist elderly people by providing support when walking, announcing
reminders of medication times, and calling an emergency number if movement is not detected
after a certain period.

14 | P a g e
 Handouts for the lesson –Robotics & AI Std.12

Negative impacts

However, the above mentioned jobs by robots may cause negative impacts by making human
workers redundant: a single robot can replace several workers in a factory, and although new
jobs are created for maintenance operators, on average more jobs are lost than gained.

There is also the risk of injury in any environment where humans and robots work together. A
single robotic arm made out of steel may weigh tens of kilos, giving it great potential to cause
injury, and it is difficult for many robots to detect obstacles in their way. For this reason, robots
in factories usually operate in separate areas – often fenced off - and use systems that cut
power to robots when a human enters their area.

Ethical Issues
Developing robots, which will inevitably cause employment, is clearly an ethical issue that
needs debate. The development and use of robots raises several similar issues, including the
increased reliance that humans have on technology, and questions about the wisdom of
delegating decision making processes to machines.

The development of humanoid robots, which have the general overall shape as human beings,
and androids, which attempt to mimic the look of human faces and skin, raises unique ethical
questions about our identities.

Homework
Solve 16.9 and 16.10 into your Notebook. (12 marks+ 10 marks+3 marks for Key words usage).

GAP of 3 days

Solve 16.14 and 16.15 into your Notebook. (10 marks + 8 marks + 2 marks for Key words
usage).

Lesson Ends

15 | P a g e