Try this: Go online to translate.google.com.

In the left-hand input box, type, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." In the right-hand box, decide which language you want it translated to. After it's translated the first time, copy the translated text and paste it into the left-hand box for conversion back into English.

If you don't get exactly the original text, the back-translation will in all likelihood still reflect at least part of the original thought: That the actions of the subject fell short of his or her intentions and not that the wine was good but the meat was tasteless, which the phrase could mean in a literal translation.

AI is becoming real. Jackie Fenn, Gartner Analyst

In other words, a machine figured out what you meant, not merely what you said.

"In the 1960s, this was considered impossible," explains Michael Covington, a consultant and retired associate director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Georgia.

For decades the field of artificial intelligence (AI) experienced two seasons: recurring springs, in which hyped-fueled expectations were high; and subsequent winters, after the promises of spring could not be met and disappointed investors turned away. But now real progress is being made, and it's being made in the absence of hype. In fact, some of the chief practitioners won't even talk about what they are doing.

Seasons old and new

"AI is becoming real," says Jackie Fenn, a Gartner analyst. "AI has been in winter for a decade or more but there have been many breakthroughs [during] the last several years," she adds, pointing to face recognition algorithms and self-driving cars.

Researcher Daniel Goehring, a member of the Artificial Intelligence Group at the Freie Universitaet (Free University), demonstrates hands-free driving during a 2011 test in Berlin. The car, a modified Volkswagen Passat, is controlled by 'BrainDriver' software with a neuroheadset device that interprets electroencephalography signals with additional support from radar-sensing technology and cameras. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

The rest is here:

AI gets its groove back