Expert systems, neural networks, and predictions of generalised intelligence are everywhere. Venture capitalists are rushing to fund start-ups with the magic letters “AI” grafted on to their PowerPoint presentations. Consultants and chief executives endlessly proclaim the need to embrace artificial intelligence and its sibling “ big data”.
We have seen this movie before. Fifty years ago, “chatterbots” such as Eliza and Parry were heralded as victories on the march to generalised intelligence. Complex neural networks were considered primitive but reasonable models of human brain functions. And on the back of intense interest in AI, Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner projected a dystopian future in which artificial lifeforms exceeded human intelligence and strength. Surely humanity was about to give birth to a digital Adam and Eve?
Of course, it did not happen.