Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 9 of 171
Reinforcement learning inspired by the brain
DeepMind’s algorithm is directly inspired by theories about how the human brain stores, retrieves, and learns information—called reinforcement learning. The founder of the company, Demis Hassabis, is himself a neuroscientist who began his career as a game developer. Using insights from neuroscience, he proposes to solve the problem of intelligence. Even though DeepMind’s AI can only play relatively simple video games at this point, the implications for autonomous computer systems are enormous. These theoretical breakthroughs and practical successes all contribute to the growing chorus of voices announcing the advent of the age of superintelligence.