SigArt, the ACM Special Interest Group for Artificial Intelligence, has often felt misunderstood. Maybe not as angst-ridden as the latest Ethan Hawke character, but SigArt does sense some... communication differences. Ever since AI's inception, people have been afraid of being replaced entirely by self-aware computers. Look back to the introduction of Pascal's old Analytical Engine and observe the public's fear of computers.
Take a few minutes and try to think of how many movies you've seen about maniacal intelligent computers trying to take over the world. Start with clunky robots like Tobor, go forward through Electric Dreams and War Games, both Terminator movies, and some Illini you are if you forget 2001.
Maybe you remember that stretch of TV history lasting about seven or eight years during the home computing boom. Every sitcom had an episode about "evil" computers eating some wacky character's data. Boy, SigArt sure found them funny - at least for the first year or so.
The purpose of SigArt is to reveal the truths about artificial intelligence: how "smart" computers are today, how intelligent they may become, and what computers may never be able to comprehend. Everybody had a pretty good hunch that talking cars like KITT didn't really exist in the 1980's. Yet researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have now built a minivan able to drive itself coast-to-coast at speeds upwards of 60 miles per hour. (Turbo Boost is still in development.)
Movies, television, and science fiction can make you believe anything; it's up to you to distinguish between fiction and fact. As you look at the EOH exhibits around campus, you'll see what people are doing today with machine intelligence. Check out the Beckman Institute to see the latest frontiers in AI research; they may surprise you!
SigArt is trying to help educate students about the realities and dreams of artificial intelligence through a series of presentations. One night will be devoted to the here and now of AI in the media; looking at television specials and short films to see how they interpret today's developments. On a different night, we'll show 2001, the classic film about a little University of Illinois project named HAL gone awry, and dream about where we might be in twenty years based upon where we are today.
SigArt has weekly meetings in room 1330 of the Digital Computer Lab, located on the corner of Springfield and Mathews streets. We meet every Monday at 7:30 PM. For more information, send mail to sigart@uiuc.edu.