These types react to some input with some output. There is no learning that occurs. This is the first stage to any A.I. system. A machine learning that takes a human face as input and outputs a box around the face to identify it as a face is a simple, reactive machine. The model stores no inputs, it performs no learning.

We have yet to reach Theory of Mind artificial intelligence types. These are only in their beginning phases and can be seen in things like self-driving cars. In this type of A.I., A.I. begins to interact with the thoughts and emotions of humans.

Presently, machine learning models do a lot for a person directed at achieving a task. Current models have a one-way relationship with A.I. Alexa and Siri bow to every command. If you angrily yell at Google Maps to take you another direction, it does not offer emotional support and say, “This is the fastest direction. Who may I call and inform you will be late?” Google Maps, instead, continues to return the same traffic reports and ETAs that it had already shown and has no concern for your distress.

Limited memory types refer to an A.I.’s ability to store previous data and/or predictions, using that data to make better predictions. With Limited Memory, machine learning architecture becomes a little more complex. Every machine learning model requires limited memory to be created, but the model can get deployed as a reactive machine type.

Finally, in some distant future, perhaps A.I. achieves nirvana. It becomes self-aware. This kind of A.I. exists only in story, and, as stories often do, instills both immense amounts of hope and fear into audiences. A self-aware intelligence beyond the human has an independent intelligence, and likely, people will have to negotiate terms with the entity it created. What happens, good or bad, is anyone’s guess.