AI as an aid to cleaning up the oceans

THE pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI) have been the burning news for the past months. Anything that seems to simulate human reasoning — from Frankenstein's resurrection to the present AI — is bound to cause controversy. John McCarthy invented the term "artificial intelligence" in 1950.

He said: "Every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions, and concepts, solve the kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves."