Cover image via Max Fleishman/dailydot.comMark Zuckerberg is planning to build himself an AI (Artificial Intelligence) in 2016, the Facebook founder wrote in a status update, saying that he had set himself the goal as a challenge for the new year. His plan is to build a "simple" AI which would help run his house and his work – "kind of like Jarvis out of Iron Man".
It will assist him, his wife, and daughter Max. He wrote:
His announcement comes as Facebook is in the midst of AI initiatives such as building an assistant through its Messenger app.
While he didn't describe how exactly the AI would work or how he would build it, it seems that it will revolve around video cameras that can monitor and recognise important changes in the environment, and faces in particular. Among its future tasks:
Image via Gizmodo
What about the technology required to build such a thing? Well, as Mark noted on his post, a lot of the technology already exists. For example, voice recognition software is already widely available.
So is the software for recognising faces
Image via Facebook / DeepFace
Moreover, the home automation system that the Facebook founder envisions isn't that far off already being a reality, the Guardian notes
However, it would be interesting to see if, after so many years spent away from a day-to-day engineering role, Mark Zuckerberg still has the tech chops to pull this off. Good luck, Zuck!
On the other hand, making an actual strong AI – one of human-level intelligence – might be a bit tricky and also might be dangerous:
