There are many computer scientists these days trying to create machines that can make connections the way human brains do; but it is not an easy task.
Now the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence is sponsoring a contest to see whose software can best answer 8th grade science questions.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen started the institute last year with a mission to harness artificial intelligence for the "common good" - for example, putting machines to use to find a cure for cancer or a solution to climate change.
But the institute’s chief executive, Oren Etzioni, says first it is necessary to get a baseline understanding of the state of progress in artificial intelligence right now. So that is why his institute is sponsoring the science challenge.
Etzioni would like to see a variety of participants – grad students, teams at Google and Facebook, but especially IBM and its Watson computer, the machine that defeated a champion on the game show Jeopardy.
Etzioni says IBM has been hyping Watson’s capabilities lately.
"They’ve been announcing things like, `Watson is going to college; Watson is going to be diagnosing patients,' and I do feel that before college and medical school, let’s make sure that Watson can ace the 8th grade science test," Etzioni said.
Teams will download thousands of sample multiple-choice questions to work with – for example, “why do doctors recommend that people get a flu vaccine every year?”
Then each team will submit its software for a final set of test questions. The one with the most right answers wins.
First prize is $50,000, second is $20,000, and third is $10,000. The contest ends next February.
