Artificial Intelligence Narratives: An Objective Perspective on Current Developments

TL;DR

This paper offers an objective overview of AI's diverse methods, history, and current trends, aiming to clarify misconceptions and highlight limitations in the pursuit of strong AI.

Contribution

It provides a structured, bottom-up perspective on AI, clarifying misconceptions, historical patterns, and limitations of current methods, fostering a more nuanced understanding.

Findings

Identifies false public narratives about AI

Highlights recurring patterns in AI history

Discusses limitations of current AI methods

Abstract

This work provides a starting point for researchers interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the big picture of artificial intelligence (AI). To this end, a narrative is conveyed that allows the reader to develop an objective view on current developments that is free from false promises that dominate public communication. An essential takeaway for the reader is that AI must be understood as an umbrella term encompassing a plethora of different methods, schools of thought, and their respective historical movements. Consequently, a bottom-up strategy is pursued in which the field of AI is introduced by presenting various aspects that are characteristic of the subject. This paper is structured in three parts: (i) Discussion of current trends revealing false public narratives, (ii) an introduction to the history of AI focusing on recurring patterns and main characteristics, and (iii) a critical discussion on the limitations of current methods in the context of the potential emergence of a strong(er) AI. It should be noted that this work does not cover any of these aspects holistically; rather, the content addressed is a selection made by the author and subject to a didactic strategy.