Artificial intelligence

The evolution of artificial intelligence has exploded over the past five years, leading to computers that can drive and talk. New York Times' Cade Metz explains how machines are learning on their own.

For the first time, a computer passed the test for machines engaging in intelligent thought. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the real test is whether computers can behave the same way thinking people do.

The elusive actor tells Fresh Air about his new film, Her -- but he insists he's not really that interesting. "If I was driving and I heard this, I'd change the channel," he says.

The elusive actor tells Fresh Air about his new film, Her -- but he insists he's not really that interesting. "If I was driving and I heard this, I'd change the channel," he says.

The film Her, written and directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), follows a lonely man who falls in love with a computer operating system. Critic David Edelstein says it's the best film of the year by far. (Recommended)

In his effort to decode the human genome, scientist J. Craig Venter volunteered his own DNA to be analyzed and made publicly available. His autobiography, A Life Decoded — My Genome: My Life details his side of the complicated and bureaucratic race to sequence the human genome.

Venter's early work to decode the genome through private research company Celera Genomics earned him both praise and criticism. His team competed with the National Institutes of Health publicly funded effort, the Human Genome Project.

Pak is an award-winning writer and director who has made his first feature film, Robot Stories. It tells four stories of love between humans and robots. The film has been received warmly by critics, winning more than 23 awards. Previously Pak made a number of very short films including Asian Pride Porn, Cat Fight Tonight, Fighting Grandpa and Mr. Lee.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Matrix Reloaded, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.

Rodney Brooks, the director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). His new book is called Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us. Brooks offers a vision of the future of humans and robots. He is also Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at MIT. Brooks is the chairman and chief technological officer of iRobot Corporation. He was one of the subjects of Errol Morris' 1997 documentary, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control.