Ai That Programs Itself

[phillip1882]

is it possible to write an artificial intelligence that is better at writing computer programs than a human?

can you think of any cases where this has been done?

[NotBrad]

Maybe? The actual answer depends on what you define as AI or Writing Programs. Without sufficient understanding of what your definition of those terms are nobody can give an answer to your question. By that I mean I can answer the question itself, but you likely have a certain field in which this concept applies as well as an interpretation of what the words you chose mean. 

edit:

I am sorry if this came across a bit condescending, I did not notice this until after re-reading it and this was not my intention.

Edited November 12, 2015 by NotBrad

[phillip1882]

by artificial intelligence i simply mean a piece of software capable of reading code. writing programs should be sufficiently self explanatory,  a program is a useful set of instructions, such as sorting a list of data.

[AX8]

There is a possibility for such an Ai, as you can program a robot that programs itself, but if you want to create an Ai that can program better than a human you would need to make the Ai able to identify problems, than figure out the solution to the problem, which would mean you would either need to program the robot to understand a programming language, or program solutions to the problems.

To create a fully self sufficient Ai you would need to program self awareness In a sense. But then again, I'm not a programmer so don't look to me for answers

[NotBrad]

^What he said, if the AI could accomplish that feat then it would exponentially accelerate it's own development with every solution and eventually control all computers connected to the host system, ala skynet going live.

[petrushkagoogol]

My solution would be a cloud based expert system coupled with an inferential engine. (Neural network).

[superpsycho]

 

What you're describing would generally be referred to as an expert system. There are programs that will write code in general use but the code they write is based on the actions of its operator. An example would be digitally based milling machines such as a lathe. Instead of writing the code, you just trace a prototype of the finished product and a computer will generate the code. It is essentially what a macro recording program does when it copies a sequence of mouse and keyboard entries.

However, there are no programs that will decide on its own what programs should be written. There are programs that will self refine its own code based on the data it collects. These types of programs can be found in automated manufacturing facilities where based on the results over time it modifies itself to get better yields or deal with different quality of materials.

Edited August 8, 2016 by superpsycho