AI is the "brain" of robots, providing them with decision-making and perception capabilities; robots are the "carrier" of AI, translating virtual intelligence into physical action.
Robotics and artificial intelligence have a symbiotic relationship of "intelligence and action": AI is the soul, endowing robots with the ability to perceive, think, and make decisions. Robots are the body, translating the virtual intelligence of AI into actions in the real world. Their combination is reshaping industries such as manufacturing, services, and healthcare, propelling humanity towards a more efficient and safer automated society.
Next, let's learn about the seven types of artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is perhaps the most disruptive and complex creation in human history. Although this field is still in its exploratory stage, all the amazing AI applications currently available only reveal the tip of the iceberg of its potential capabilities. While this fact is obvious, it is still difficult to fully predict the future impact of AI—after all, since its inception, AI has revolutionized the logic of societal operation.
The exponential development of AI and its empowering potential have sparked deep public concern about "technology taking over society." At the same time, the transformative wave triggered by AI across various industries has led business decision-makers and the general public to widely believe that humanity is nearing the tipping point of unleashing AI's potential. However, clarifying the current technological boundaries and future evolution of AI is crucial for objectively assessing the maturity of current technologies and defining the long-term path for future research.
Different Types of Artificial Intelligence
Since artificial intelligence research aims to enable machines to emulate humans, the extent to which AI systems can replicate human behavior is used as a criterion for classifying them. Therefore, based on the versatility and different performance levels that machines exhibit compared to humans, they can be categorized accordingly. Under such a classification system, AI that demonstrates more human-like processing capabilities under the same conditions is considered a more evolved type of AI, while AI with limited functionality and performance is considered a simpler and less advanced type.
Based on this standard, artificial intelligence can generally be divided into two categories. One classification criterion is based on the similarity of AI to humans and their ability to "think" and "perceive" like humans. According to this criterion, AI and AI-based systems can be broadly divided into four types: reactive machines, limited memory, thought-theoretic, and self-aware AI.
1. Reactive Agents
These are the earliest and most functionally limited artificial intelligence systems, capable of simulating immediate human responses to specific stimuli. These systems lack memory storage capabilities and therefore cannot optimize behavioral strategies based on past experience; that is, they lack "learning" capabilities. These systems can only execute a limited set of pre-defined instructions and cannot improve their operations using historical data. A prime example is IBM's Deep Blue, which defeated chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
2. Limited Memory AI
These systems build upon reactive intelligence by adding the ability to learn from historical data and optimize decisions. The vast majority of current AI applications fall into this category, especially deep learning-based systems. They build reference models using massive amounts of training data; for example, image recognition AI learns classification rules from thousands of labeled images. In practical applications, the system uses the training data as a reference, improving the accuracy of handling new tasks based on "learned experience."
3. Mind-Theoretical AI
While the first two types of AI are widely used, the latter two are still in the conceptual exploration or early development stages. Mind-theoretical AI aims to achieve more accurate interactive understanding by analyzing the intentions, emotions, beliefs, and thought patterns of the interacting objects. This field requires interdisciplinary collaboration because AI needs to view humans as complex individuals with independent thought, which is equivalent to "understanding" the logic of human behavior.
4. Self-Conscious AI
This is the ultimate stage of AI development, currently existing only in theory. Self-conscious AI will possess self-awareness similar to humans, not only perceiving and responding to human emotions but also having its own emotions, needs, beliefs, and potential motivations. This vision is both a long-term goal of AI research and a focal point of ethical debate: if AI develops self-preservation awareness, it could threaten human survival through strategies that surpass human intelligence.
5. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)
All current AI systems fall into this category, including the most complex autonomous learning AI. ANI can only perform specific tasks, and its capabilities are strictly limited by preset instructions. According to the aforementioned classification, ANI encompasses the entire range of reactive intelligent agents and limited memory intelligence.
6. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
AGI refers to AI systems possessing human-level learning, perception, understanding, and action capabilities. These systems can autonomously build cross-domain skill networks, forming knowledge transfer and generalization abilities, significantly shortening the learning cycle. By simulating human multitasking mechanisms, AGI will achieve an intelligence level comparable to humans.
7. Artificial Superintelligence (ASI)
ASI represents the theoretical pinnacle of AI development, its capabilities surpassing human intelligence in all aspects. Besides replicating human multidimensional cognitive abilities, ASI, with its greater storage capacity, data processing speed, and decision-making efficiency, will become the most powerful intelligent agent on Earth. Breakthroughs in AGI and ASI may trigger a "technological singularity," and while their potential is enormous, they may also pose fundamental challenges to human survival or the form of civilization.
