13. Question Answering and the Limits of AI

The text explores the history and limitations of question-answering AI systems. It begins by examining the aspirational Star Trek computer and contrasts that ideal with the capabilities of current virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri. The central focus then shifts to IBM's Watson, detailing its Jeopardy! victory and subsequent, less successful applications in fields like medicine. The text further analyzes the shortcomings of current AI in truly understanding language, using examples like the Stanford Question Answering Dataset (SQuAD) and Winograd schemas to illustrate the gap between impressive performance on specific tasks and genuine comprehension. Finally, the text discusses the vulnerability of NLP systems to adversarial attacks, where subtle manipulations can lead to incorrect outputs despite seeming unchanged to humans.