Artificial intelligence is still a future invention, yet the foundations for its existence may be present today. Nobody truly knows how AI will be created, but some have speculated that it may be developed through social networking sites. AI's will have their own profiles, and engage in social activities like friending and messaging. These primitive AI's will evolve cognitive behavior through interaction with humans on the sites.
Basically, social networking sites will serve as virtual environments where AI's can evolve. This speculation was done by Yury Millner, a Russian web tycoon quite familiar with the internet and how it works. So maybe it should be taken with a bit of respect.
We generally picture AI's as either intelligent or not, all or nothing. But we seldom consider that they will most likely be semi-intelligent for a period of time before they truly become intelligent. It is difficult to predict whether they will need to learn through interaction with humans (as in social networking), or if they will have the ability to self-teach. I believe that they will initially need to be taught through human interaction, but the first ones will be able to teach others. In a way, the first AI's will be the Adam and Eve of all future AI's. They will teach their predecessors how to learn and thus begin a virtual evolution.
This is similar to what I speculated a few months ago, so this only enforces my prediction that social networking sites will play a large role in the development of AI's and mind clones. The only question is when.
