On the road to thinking machines: Insights and ideas

Abstract

The quest for understanding the working of artificial minds attaining a human-like cognition is culminating. While still inspired by the functionality of biological brains, the realization of thinking machines need not slavishly copy the principles used by their living pendants. Achieving a higher-level artificial intelligence no longer seems to be a matter of a fundamental scientific breakthrough but rather a matter of exploiting our best algorithmic theories of thinking machines supported by our most advanced robotic and real time data processing technologies. We review recent examples of such theories, ideas and machines which could pave the road towards building interesting artificial brains. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.