Tag Archives: Ahmed Elgammal

The algorithms.


I am not a mathematician. Not even close. My son is a bit of a wiz when it comes to math but not the kind of math you do in your head. His particular mathematical gift only works when he sees the equations. Still, I’d take that. Calculators give me fits. So the idea that I might decipher or write a functioning algorithm (the kind a computer could use) is tantamount to me turning water into wine.

Algorithms are all the buzz these days because they are the functioning math behind artificial intelligence (AI). How is this? I will turn to Merriam-Webster online.


I’ll throw away the first part of that definition because I don’t understand it. The second part is more my speed: a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem. I get that. As a designer, I do that all the time. Visiting the HowStuffWorks website is even better for explaining the purpose of algorithms. Essentially, it is a way for a computer to do something. Of course, there are, as in most problems, more than one way to get from point A to point B, so computer programmers choose the best algorithm for the task.

What does an algorithm look like? Think of a flow chart or a decision tree. When you turn that into code (the language of computers) then it might look like the image below.

Turning an algorithm into code.

You may already know all this, but I didn’t. Not really. I use the term algorithm all the time to describe the technology and process behind AI, but it always helps me to break these ideas down to their parts.

With all that out of the way, this week on the Futurism.com website, there was an article that discussed Ray Kurzweil’s theory that our brains contain a master algorithm inside our neocortex. It is that algorithm that enables us to handle pattern recognition and all the vastly complex nuance that our brains process every day. Referencing Kurzweil, Futurism stated that,

“… the brain’s neocortex — that part of the brain that’s responsible for intelligent behavior — consists of roughly 300 million modules that recognize patterns. These modules are self-organized into hierarchies that turn simple patterns into complex concepts. Despite neuroscience advancing by leaps and bounds over the years, we still haven’t quite figured out how the neocortex works.”

But, according to Kurzweil, “these multiple modules ‘all have the same algorithm,’”

Presumably, when we figure that out, we will be able to create an AI that thinks like a human, or better than a human. Hold that thought.

On another part of the web was a story from FastCoDesign that asked the question, “What’s The Next Great Art Movement? Ask This Neural Network.” FastCo interviewed Ahmed Elgammal a researcher at Rutgers University who it is getting AI (using algorithms) to create masterpieces after studying all the major art movements through history and how they evolve. His objective is to have the AI come up with the next major art movement. The art is, well, not good art. How do I know? I create art, I’ve studied art, and I’ve even sold art, so I know more about art than I do, say math. The art that Elgammal’s AI generates is intriguing, but it lacks that certain something that tells you it’s art. I think it might be a human thing. It is still something you can recognize.

So if you are still holding on to that earlier thought about algorithms and how we are working to perfect them, we could make the leap that a better functioning AI might fool us at some point and we wouldn’t be able to tell human art from the AI variety. There are a lot of people working on these types of things, and there are billions of dollars going toward the research.

Now I’m going to ask a stupid question. Why do we need an AI to tell us what the next movement in art is or should be? Are humans defective in this area? Couldn’t we just wait and see or are we just too impatient? Perhaps we have grown tired of creating art. If you know, please share.

Not to take anything away from Ray Kurzweil, but I guess I could ask the same question of AI. I assume that we could use AI that is so far above our thinking that it can help us solve problems better than we could on our own. But, if that AI is thinking so far beyond us, I’m not sure whether it would help us create better solutions or whether we would simply abdicate thinking to the AI. There’s a real danger of that you know. Maybe thinking is overrated.

The question keeps coming up. Do we make things to help us flourish or do we make things because we can?



Bookmark and Share