AI using the same system as a pigeon, study finds

The world’s best artificial intelligence (AI), is at the most basic level, about as smart as a pigeon, new research suggests.

Having undertaken a deep study into the inner workings of the bird’s brain, researchers found that the “brute force” techniques they use to learn share similarities with AI.

Much like AI is taught to identify patterns and objects recognised by humans, the team at the University of Iowa discovered pigeons rely on a repetitive, trial-and-error approach.
Tests saw each pigeon shown a stimulus, each showing a different pattern, which the pigeons then had to categorise by pecking one of two buttons.

They had to do so based on characteristics like line width, line angle, and how the patterns were arranged. A correct answer yielded a tasty pellet, but an incorrect response yielded nothing. Eventually, the pigeons memorised enough of them to score almost 70%.
‘The wonders of AI? It learns like a pigeon’