New system can teach computers to learn like humans

Scientists are developing a novel platform for artificial intelligence (AI) that can teach computers to learn from experience like humans do. "Cognitive learning is all about teaching computers to learn without having to explicitly programme them," said Paul Rad from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the US.

"In this study, we are presenting an entirely new platform for machine learning to teach computers to learn the way we do," said Rad.

To build the cloud-based platform, researchers studied how education and understanding has evolved over the past five centuries. They wanted to gain a better picture of how computers could be taught to approach deductive reasoning.

"Our goal here is to teach the machine to become smarter, so that it can help us. That is what they are here to do. So how do we become better? We learn from experience," Rad said The researchers also studied how humans learn across their lifetimes. Children, for example, begin by identifying objects such as faces and toys, then move on from there to understand communication. This process helps their thought processes mature as they get older.

The researchers want AI agents to learn automatic threat detection. This means the AI agent can dynamically learn network traffic patterns and normal behaviour and thus become more effective in discovering and thwarting new attacks before significant damage.

"Or it would be nice if an intelligent computer assistant could aggregate thousands of news items or memos for someone, so that the process of reading that material was quicker and that person could decide almost instantly how to use it," Rad said.

Additionally, intelligent machines could be used in medical diagnoses, which Rad says could lead to more affordable health care, and other fields that require precise, deductive reasoning.