A plan to advance AI by exploring the minds of children

Cognitive science and neuroscience could inspire the next big innovations in artificial intelligence, says the head of an ambitious new MIT-led research project.

The project brings computer scientists and engineers together with neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists to explore research that might lead to fundamental progress in artificial intelligence. Tenenbaum outlined the project, and his vision for advancing AI, at EmTech, a conference held at MIT this week by MIT Technology Review.

"Imagine we could build a machine that starts off like a baby and learns like a child," he said. "If we could do this itd be the basis for artificial intelligence that is actually intelligent, machine learning that could actually learn.

Some stunning advances have been made in AI in recent years, but these have largely been built upon a handful of key breakthroughs in machine learning, especially large, or deep, neural networks. Deep learning has, for instance, given computers the ability to recognize words in speech and faces in images as accurately as a person can. Deep learning also underpins spectacular progress in game-playing programs, including DeepMinds AlphaGo, and it has contributed to improvements in self-driving vehicles and robotics. But they are all missing something.

So, if you are a student of cognitive science, what is the best way to get a better grasp of the computer engineering that is going on behind the scenes of projects such as this MIT-led research project?