DARPA’s new initiative, known as the Communicating with Computers (CwC) program, aims to improve the ability of machines to communicate effectively with their human counterparts. The agency has two initial experiments planned, focusing on the somewhat differing fields of improved conversational skills and better cancer detection.
It’s difficult to miss DARPA’s intent to create more technologically advanced war machines, with initiatives such as the Ground X-Vehicles Technologies program aiming to make smarter, more agile vehicles. However, the agency is also aware of the importance of making machines communicate better with their human overlords, and that’s where the CwC program steps in.
Two-way communication with machines is a significantly more difficult proposition than it might first seem. A simple conversation between two people involves constant assimilation and contextual understanding of information – a process that’s second nature to humans, but represents a huge challenge for machines.
via gizmag
