If you’re like me, artificial intelligence has always been more closely associated with science fiction than science fact. Yes, I watched IBM’s supercomputer Watson beat “Jeopardy!” champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter at their own game back in 2011; but as an isolated event, it was easy to dismiss as the digital equivalent of a neat parlor trick.
Or so I thought. It turns out the speed of processors continues to march on at exponential rates and now, just five years later, Watson’s impressive feats back then are just parlor tricks compared to what current computers and robots can do.
