[citation][nom]ddpruitt[/nom]The problem isn't shrinking the technology down, it's getting the technology to the point anyone can use it. They Watson (and related systems) work is that the questions have to be properly formatted. Although Watson cleaned up in Jeopardy the questions are worded in a consistent manner and the machine was tweaked to be able to handle the questions. Even supercomputers have problems with natural language processing. Just look at Siri and it's equivalents, every request is sent to a server farm and even then it needs a properly formatted query.We can build smart computers, but we've been working to build computers that can understand people for half a century. I figure we need another 15 or so years to have a big computer understand people, then another 7 or 8 to make it available on home computers (desktops/laptops) and another 7 or 8 for low power mobile devices.[/citation]
Will it truly ever "understand" what is said or will it just processed based on its input and supply a proper response?
A machine would have to be aware to truly understand and comprehend what is said to it. Could that be achieved? Well, what is life? Where does it go from random movements in a molecule to life? Is life nothing more than a complex biological system? If so why can a complex mechanical system have life?
We have a basic programming in us just as a machine does, except ours can grow and expand on its own whereas machine today is extremely limited to what it can "learn" and how it can utilize that information.