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posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:41PM   Printer-friendly

Science just took us a small step closer to HAL 9000. A new artificial intelligence (AI) program designed by Chinese researchers has beat humans on a verbal IQ test. Scoring well on the verbal section of the intelligence test has traditionally been a tall order for computers, since words have multiple meanings and complex relationships to one another.

But in a new study, the program did better than its human counterparts who took the test. The findings suggest machines could be one small step closer to approaching the level of human intelligence, the researchers wrote in the study, which was posted earlier this month on the online database arXiv, but has not yet been published in a scientific journal. Don't get too excited just yet: IQ isn't the end-all, be-all measure of intelligence, human or otherwise.

For one thing, the test only measures one kind of intelligence (typically, critics point out, at the expense of others, such as creativity or emotional intelligence. Plus, because some test questions can be hacked using some basic tricks, some AI researchers argue that IQ isn't the best way to measure machine intelligence.

[Paper - PDF]: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1505.07909v2.pdf


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:54PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:54PM (#203466)

    The IQ-loving dumbasses got pwned by Chinese computer hacks.

    What should MENSA morons do now? :)

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:13PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:13PM (#203476) Journal

    Same thing they've always done. Have conversations about how smart they are.

    It's not like reality has really been a big factor in braggadocio anyways.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:34PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:34PM (#203488)

      Same thing they've always done. Have conversations about how smart they are.

      Dude, I'm so smart, I'm almost as smart as a computer!

      This is a joke today, but in less than 10 years it is likely to be a legitimate bragging point, and all the "AI will never be real folks" eating crow (or maybe pigeon, as unemployed ex-computer scientists foraging for food in the alleys and back streets of our cities, optimized more and more for digital life and less and less for the "likes of them")

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:03PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:03PM (#203511)

        AC has a valid point but I suspect people will just give up and compete about something else.

        I'm old enough that I have good mental math and estimation skills and can often do simple math faster than people can use a computer or calculator IF its simple enough. I kid you not, you get a bill for 5 people for $60.50 and someone starts to pull out their calculator and I instantly tell them that'll be $12.10 and they look at me like I'm F-ing Spock estimating warp speeds and then their mouth drops open when siri finally tells them it's $12.10 like a minute later after much fumbling around. How did you do that? Or I can calculate circuit components in my head and it actually works, and they don't get it that when you buy the bargain basement 10% tolerance resistors or whatever I only need to get to about 10% accuracy in my head, which usually isn't very hard.

        In the future if computers get a higher IQ than people, then people will respond just like using hand shovels or basic arithmetic today, they just won't give a shit about it anymore, plus or minus looking at people with natural talent as insane and relying on computers for even the easiest problems.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:15PM (#203535)

      And AA meetings are talking about alcohol related problems. Is it so surprising or offensive that a group made around a specific subject talks about that specific subject? As has been said before MENSA is a support group for highly intelligent people. Go to a meeting some time and see the truth of it for yourself.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:24PM

        by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:24PM (#203541)

        As has been said before MENSA is a support group for highly intelligent people.

        It's a support group for people who think they are highly intelligent. There is a difference. Maybe some of them are indeed highly intelligent, but mere IQ scores don't show that.

        • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:54PM

          by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:54PM (#203548) Journal

          The relationships between g(general intelligence) and IQ are complex and insufficiently defined scientifically.

          But most people in the field believe there's a strong relationship there and that IQ is describing something important to g. More specifically, it's describing crystallized intelligence in pattern recognition.

          Among other reasons, increasing g-loadings of IQ tests only has a small effect on individual results.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @06:32AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @06:32AM (#203644)

          This is becoming a religious belief in some people that scoring high on a test that measures pattern recognition and puzzle solving makes one very unlikely to have any brainpower. It smacks of bitterness and "doth protest too much."

          • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday July 01 2015, @07:52AM

            by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday July 01 2015, @07:52AM (#203659)

            This is becoming a religious belief in some people that scoring high on a test that measures pattern recognition and puzzle solving makes one very unlikely to have any brainpower. It smacks of bitterness and "doth protest too much."

            What? If you're saying I said that, it's just a straw man; I'd say that there isn't proof that IQ tests measure intelligence, so someone's IQ doesn't mean anything to me. And that last sentence is just an irrelevancy, as well as a non sequitur. Criticizing something doesn't mean you're somehow 'bitter', and even if you were, that would not invalidate your arguments.

            What truly seems to be a religious--and sadly, popular--belief is the notion that IQ tests measure intelligence. As soon as we can actually define "intelligence" in any truly objective way, and then come up with an objective way to measure it based on said definition, then I would accept that, but IQ is not it. To use similar logic to your own, it smacks of people wanting to feel better than they are without actually doing anything of note.

  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:32PM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:32PM (#203487)
    Lol. "Someone/something is smarter than people that are smarter than me! Take that!!"
    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:42PM (#203496)

      Tork, what are your IQ scores? Are you a Mensa member?

      • (Score: 4, Funny) by Tork on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:44PM

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:44PM (#203497)
        I should be in Mensa I took an IQ test on the web and scored 96%!!!
        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:47PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:47PM (#203500)

          Yep. You should be in Mensa. Good luck.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:18PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:18PM (#203537)

          Even if it was properly proctored 96th percentile wouldn't be enough.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Tuesday June 30 2015, @11:21PM

            by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 30 2015, @11:21PM (#203562)
            Woosh.
            --
            🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @09:51AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @09:51AM (#203695)

              You misspelled "Whoosh". [merriam-webster.com]

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @05:00PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2015, @05:00PM (#203829)
                You shoulda read the definition.
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by maxwell demon on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:35PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:35PM (#203490) Journal

    Is there any provision that Mensa members have to be human?

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by TheRaven on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:54PM

      by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @08:54PM (#203505) Journal
      Judging by the ones I've met, I'm fairly sure there isn't.
      --
      sudo mod me up
    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday July 01 2015, @03:13AM

      by mhajicek (51) on Wednesday July 01 2015, @03:13AM (#203615)

      If they had to pass the Turing test they'd lose half their membership.

      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:01PM (#203510)

    Standardized cognitive assessments are useful tools. IQ tests are predictive of future academic success, which is for what IQ tests were originally developed.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:22PM (#203540)

      But many people have mistaken them for something that measures actual intelligence. I see that misconception constantly.

      Schools need to drastically raise their standards. The best universities seem to be able to eliminate the trash fairly quickly, whereas everywhere else they are let through and often graduate. Too many colleges have inadequate standards, so you end up with rote memorization 'geniuses' who pass easily.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @09:50PM (#203520)
    The 'dumbasses' are smarter than you. Nice taunt.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:05PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:05PM (#203527)

      > The 'dumbasses' are smarter than you. Nice taunt.

      Said the AC from Mensa!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @11:26PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @11:26PM (#203564)
        Admittedly I have never been accused of that before.