Artificial Intelligence and the Chaos Theory Essays -

Artificial Intelligence and the Chaos Theory Recently, the media has spent an increasing amount of broadcast time on new technology. The focus of high-tech media has been aimed at the flurry of advances concerning artificial intelligence (AI). What is artificial intelligence and what is the media talking about? Are these technologies beneficial to our society or mere novelties among business and marketing professionals? Medical facilities, police departments, and manufacturing plants have all been changed by AI but how? These questions and many others are the concern of the general public brought about by the lack of education concerning rapidly advancing computer technology. Artificial intelligence is defined as the ability of a machine to think for itself. Scientists and theorists continue to debate if computers will actually be able to think for themselves at one point (Patterson 7). The generally accepted theory is that computers do and will think more in the future. AI has grown rapidly in the last ten years chiefly because of the advances in computer architecture. The term artificial intelligence was actually coined in 1956 by a group of scientists having their first meeting on the topic (Patterson 6). Early attempts at AI were neural networks modeled after the ones in the human brain. Success was minimal at best because of the lack of computer technology needed to calculate such large equations. AI is achieved using a number of different methods. The more popular implementations comprise neural networks, chaos engineering, fuzzy logic, knowledge based systems, and expert systems. Using any one of the aforementioned design structures requires a specialized computer system. For example, Anderson Consulting applies a knowledge based system to commercial loan officers using multimedia (Hedburg 121). Their system requires a fast IBM desktop computer. Other systems may require even more horsepower using exotic computers or workstations. Even more exotic is the software that is used. Since there are very few applications that are pre-written using AI, each company has to write it's own software for the solution to the problem. An easier way around this obstacle is to design an add-on. The company FuziWare makes several applications that act as an addition to a larger application. FuziCalc, FuziQuote, FuziCell, FuziChoice, and FuziCost are all products that are used as management de cision support systems for other off-the shelf applications (Barron 111). In order to tell that AI is present we must be able to measure the intelligence being used. For a relative scale of reference, large supercomputers can only create a brain the size of a fly (Butler and Caudill 5). It is surprising what a computer can do with that intelligence once it has been put to work. Almost any scientific, business, or financial profession can benefit greatly from AI. The ability of the computer to analyze variables provides a great advantage to these fields. There are many ways that AI can be used to solve a problem. Virtually all of these methods require special hardware and software to use them. Unfortunately, that makes AI systems expensive. Consulting firms, companies that design computing solutions for their clients, have offset that cost with the quality of the system. Many new AI systems now give a special edge that is needed to beat the competition. Neural networks have entered the spotlight with surprisingly successful results. A neural network is a type of information processing system whose architecture is similar to the structure of biological neural systems (Butler and Caudill 5). The neural network tries to mimic the way a brain and nervous system work by analyzing sensory inputs and calculating an outcome. A neural network is usually composed of simple decision making elements that are connected with variable weights and strengths. Each one these elements is called a neurode. The term neurode is similar to the biological neuron. The term was modified slightly to indicate an artificial nature. Memory is stored by a certain pattern of the connection weights between the neurodes. Processing information is performed by changing and spreading the connection's weights among the network. Before it can be used a neural network must be trained. Some can learn by themselves, some require training by doing, and others learn by trial and error. A computer learns by naturally associating items the

Lisening skills are paramount to social work Essay Example

Lisening skills are paramount to social work Essay Example Lisening skills are paramount to social work Essay Lisening skills are paramount to social work Essay Describe, demonstrate and analyse how listening skills are central to effective communication in social work practice. It is expected that you include your learning from all the role plays reflecting on feedback from the service users/peers and tutors. The following essay intends to describe, demonstrate and analyse the above statement, it will do this by giving definitions and analysis of the communication process, and it will also look at the importance of listening, meaning and interpretation. Also incorporated will be power indifferences within communication as will ethical issues and the use of anti-oppressive practices surrounding communication and social work practice. The essay will incorporate service uses feedback and knowledge gained in communication module classes throughout. To understand communication this essay will first describe the process through a commonly used simple communication model, with its basic elements, the communication source, the encoder, the message, the channel, the decoder, and the communication receiver. [Berlo:1960] a simple model of communication from Shannon and weavers, known as the process school of communication. Their model involved three elements, the transmitter, the person starting the communication process, and in between both of these the noise, any factors that interfere or undermine the communication taking place, this point was raised during service uses feedback in seminars, during a role to play a social worker was fidgeting, this was distracting and a phone rang, this is known as background noise. Finally there is the receiver, the person being communicated with. The communication process involves five major elements, the message, the transmission medium, the receiver and the feedback. The message is not the only information sent, it also includes emotions, which is what gives the words meaning, as words do not establish the full meaning or message being sent as interpretation plays a part in understanding meaning. There are three fundamental elements in interpretation, which are, the setting, the service user and the agency. It is my understanding that the relationship of the three elements of interpretation will define what interpretation is, and its importance in reaching the correct interpretation. (Gregory Bateson), anthropologist, stated that every communication sends two messages in unison with the basic message, this is called the Meta message, which is encoded and overlap on to the basic message. This indicates how the message is wished to be received, by using certain words, tone of voice (ect). Communication is a social interaction through messages, however it is a very complex multilevel event, one of Batesons theories on Meta messages, states that communication involves the communication of a relationship. How language is used, the words, tone, delivery of speech and facial expressions, can dramatically influence the way a person interprets the message. Meaning refers to the intention of a speaker to have some effect on the listener, which must be combined with proper conventions which communication realise the intended meaning, (to make clear). There are three major dimensions of meaning: 1. The evaluative dimension, in which receivers express the degree of favourable, or unfavourable ness towards the words. Evaluative scales include, good/bad, valuable/worthless, fair/unfair and honest/dishonest. 2. An activity dimension, is the one which expresses the perceptions of a receiver towards the amount of movement or activity in an object or event. Activity scales include, active/passive, fast/slow, vibrant/still, dynamic/static and varied/repetitive. The potency dimension, which represents the feelings of strength and weakness, that perceived by an individual. Potency scales include, serious/humorous, potent/impotent, strong/weak, heavy/light and hard and soft. [Saeed:215: 1994] These connotative meanings do not mean that people have the same evaluative meanings for words, but they tend to use the same time dimensions to judge words. meaning can refer to interpretation. When dealing with meaning and interpretation with children, they can appear to contradict themselves with the use of language that adults use. This is because they tend to take the adults questions in literal terms, in the feedback from the service users, it was pointed out that asking children how they feel is usually avoided as children have different perceptions of what feel means to adults and it can be a confusing question It also states in a guide interviewing children, that sentence structure is an important factor to consider, it is sometimes assumed that if a child knows all the individual words in the sentence, they therefore understand the whole sentence.