Soon, your computer will have emotions like you

Updated on: Saturday, April 23, 2011

Imagine a computer that has emotions just like you. This could soon be a reality, as scientists are inching closer to new class of computers which they say can feel "sorry" for their mistakes.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University's Blavatnik School of Computer Science are developing programmes which will make computers realise their mistakes and them operate much faster and predict events before they happen.
The programmes, the researchers said, will ask computers to try and do something only for them to be deliberately thwarted.

By understanding the difference between the desired outcome and the reality, the machines will learn a sense of "regret" and how to minimise it, the Daily Mail reported.

Computers which experience this will be less likely to make the same mistake in the future and will run more efficiently, the researchers said.

It could also teach them to predict the future -- by considering all possible outcomes, they work out which is the most likely to succeed before they even start.

The researchers led by Professor Yishay Mansour, however, admitted that it was not quite on a par with artificial intelligence depicted in science-fiction films.

Instead, it is a first step on the way to creating computers which could one day have human emotions, they said.

Prof Mansour has developed an algorithm based on machine learning to minimise the amount of virtual regret a computer program might experience.

The algorithm adapts to the situation at hand, meaning it can effectively "learn" while running.

After the task is finished, the results are "almost as if you knew all the variables in advance", said Prof Mansour.

The higher efficiency resulting from the "regret" programme could help companies like Google to sharpen their advertising tools.

Prof Mansour said, "If the servers and routing systems of the Internet could see and evaluate all the relevant variables in advance, they could more efficiently prioritise server resource requests, load documents and route visitors to an Internet site, for instance."

He added his programme allowed them to "change and influence the decision-making of computers in real-time".

"Compared to human beings, help systems can much more quickly process all the available information to estimate the future as events unfold -- whether it's a bidding war on an online auction site, a sudden spike of traffic to a media website, or demand for an online product."

Soon, your computer will have emotions like you

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