Computers are found everywhere in today's world. At least once a day we use a bank ATM machine, a grocery store scanner and register, a car, and a microwave. The list of computer controlled systems is immense. Personal computers have become common household items, and more people interact with computers at a personal level. The demand for better computer technology does not stop at the hardware. The software, the programs that run the computer, needs to interact more easily with its environment and its human users. With today's ever accelerating advances in science and technology it is becoming increasingly achievable that we may soon gain a complete understanding of human intelligence and consciousness. With this understanding it seems reasonable to assume that it will then be possible to build artificial machines whose intelligence matches, and possibly even exceeds, that of humans. The study of artificial intelligence has provided better programming techniques for building smarter computer systems. Can computers become intelligent? Is this really possible and if so, how? .
Scholars of all fields both support and oppose the idea of intelligent computers but it is generally accepted that if we are to build such machines, then they will evolve through the development of independent robots whose "brains" have been closely designed on the human brain. That is, that like biological brains, these artificial brains will be based on a neural network architecture containing billions of neurones. And importantly, that these neural networks will be implemented directly in hardware, i.e. not in a simulation running on top of today's conventional von Neumann computer architecture. These neural networks will also be able of self-configuration and learning without any kind of external computer control. .
Artificial Intelligence has come a long way from its early roots, driven by dedicated researchers.