AI Complete

Stephen M. Walker II · Co-Founder / CEO

What is an AI-complete problem?

AI-complete problems are like the ultimate test for a smart robot. If a robot can crack these puzzles, it's as clever as a person.

An AI-complete problem, also known as AI-hard, is a problem that is as difficult to solve as the most challenging problems in the field of artificial intelligence. The term implies that the difficulty of these computational problems is equivalent to that of making computers as intelligent as humans, or achieving strong AI. This means that if a machine could solve an AI-complete problem, it would be capable of performing any intellectual task that a human being can do.

AI-complete problems are typically complex and involve a large amount of data. They are believed to include areas such as computer vision, natural language understanding, and dealing with unexpected circumstances during problem-solving. Other examples include AI peer review, Bongard problems, and certain subproblems within computer vision and natural language understanding, such as object recognition, text mining, and machine translation.

It's important to note that AI-complete problems are not necessarily unsolvable by AI, but rather they are currently beyond the capabilities of existing AI technologies. As advancements in AI continue, we may eventually find solutions to these problems.

The concept of AI-completeness is closely related to the idea of artificial general intelligence (AGI), which refers to a type of AI that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks, much like a human. In contrast, current AI systems are considered "narrow" because they are designed to perform specific tasks.

What are some examples of AI-complete problems?

AI-complete problems in the field of computer vision are those that require a level of understanding and interpretation equivalent to human intelligence. These problems are considered as challenging as achieving strong AI, meaning that if a machine could solve them, it would be capable of performing any intellectual task that a human being can do.

Some examples of AI-complete problems in computer vision include:

  1. Object Recognition — This involves identifying and classifying objects within an image or a video. It's a complex task because objects can vary greatly in appearance due to changes in size, orientation, lighting, and occlusion.

  2. Scene Understanding — This goes beyond object recognition to include understanding the context of a scene, such as the relationships between objects, the activities taking place, and the overall meaning or narrative of the scene.

  3. Semantic Segmentation — This involves classifying each pixel in an image to understand what object it belongs to. It's a challenging task due to the high level of detail required and the complexity of real-world scenes.

  4. 3D Reconstruction — This involves creating a 3D model of a scene from 2D images. It's a complex problem due to the need to understand depth and perspective, and to deal with issues such as occlusion and lighting.

  5. Motion Analysis — This involves understanding and interpreting movement within a scene, such as the trajectories of moving objects, the actions of people, or the camera's own motion.

These problems are currently beyond the capabilities of existing AI technologies, but advancements in AI, particularly in machine learning and deep learning, are continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible in computer vision.

What makes a problem AI-complete?

A problem is considered AI-complete if it requires generalized, human-level intelligence to solve, implying that it requires strong AI. AI-complete problems are as challenging as the most difficult problems faced by humans and are characterized by their complexity and the requirement for generalized intelligence to solve them effectively.

AI-complete problems are hypothesized to include areas such as computer vision, natural language understanding, and dealing with unexpected circumstances during problem-solving. Other examples include AI peer review, Bongard problems, and certain subproblems within computer vision and natural language understanding, such as object recognition, text mining, and machine translation.

According to Yampolskiy, a problem C is AI-complete if it has two properties:

  1. It is in the set of AI problems (Human-Oracle solvable)
  2. Any AI problem can be converted into C by some polynomial-time algorithm.

Unlike NP-complete problems, AI-complete problems do not have a widely accepted formal complexity class or verification criterion. The term is used informally to indicate tasks that appear to require general intelligence rather than narrow, task-specific algorithms.

How do you know if a problem is AI-complete?

A problem is considered AI-complete if it requires generalized, human-level intelligence to solve, implying that it requires strong AI. AI-complete problems are as challenging as the most difficult problems faced by humans and are characterized by their complexity and the requirement for generalized intelligence to solve them effectively.

According to Yampolskiy, a problem C is AI-complete if it has two properties:

  1. It is in the set of AI problems (Human-Oracle solvable)
  2. Any AI problem can be converted into C by some polynomial-time algorithm.

Unlike NP-complete problems, AI-complete problems do not have a widely accepted formal complexity class or verification criterion. The term is used informally to indicate tasks that appear to require general intelligence rather than narrow, task-specific algorithms.

In addition, AI-complete problems are hypothesized to include areas such as computer vision, natural language understanding, and dealing with unexpected circumstances during problem-solving. Other examples include AI peer review, Bongard problems, and certain subproblems within computer vision and natural language understanding, such as object recognition, text mining, and machine translation.

What is the difference between ai-complete and ai-easy problems?

AI-complete problems, also known as AI-hard problems, are those that are as difficult as the most challenging problems in artificial intelligence (AI). They are equivalent to achieving strong AI, which means that solving these problems would require a system to be capable of human-like intelligence across a wide range of tasks.

AI-easy problems, on the other hand, are those that can be solved with narrow methods or specialized algorithms without requiring general intelligence. These problems do not require the full breadth of human cognitive abilities to solve and are typically more narrow in scope.

The distinction between AI-complete and AI-easy problems lies in their complexity and the level of intelligence required to solve them. AI-complete problems are complex and require a generalized form of intelligence akin to human reasoning, while AI-easy problems can be solved with more straightforward computational methods that do not necessitate human-like understanding or reasoning.

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