Wise up, deep learning may never create a general purpose AI

The disappointment around M largely

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derives from the fact that it attempted a new approach: instead of depending solely on AI, the service introduced a human layer – the AI was supervised by human beings. If the machine received a question or task it was incapable of answering or responding to, a human would step in. In that way, the human being would act to further train the algorithm.

This, of course, is where we are with virtual assistants; on the cusp of what may well be a transformational technology – in the form of deep learning – we’re at the peak of inflated expectations (right next to the connected home which, despite the best efforts of electronics industry at this year’s CES, appears not to be fulfilling a single human need – I’m looking at you, Cloi). To misquote Peter Thiel, we were promised general purpose artificial intelligence, and we got a home assistant that looks at the contents of our fridge and tells us to make a sandwich. What a time to be alive.

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/deep-learning-automl-cloud-gary-marcus