Machines that imagine

The Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush is more remarkable than you might think: It was invented by a computer program.

Specifically, it was invented by one of Stephen Thaler's patented Creativity Machines, which supporters call the first truly thinking machines. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a long, fascinating story on how Thaler's research into the "near-death experiences of dying computer programs" yielded a technology that births entirely new ideas.

A Creativity Machine used two neural networks to study toothbrush design and performance. A brainstorming session between the two produced the idea to cross the bristles of the toothbrush for optimal cleaning. That toothbrush became the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush.

In one weekend, a Creativity Machine learned a sampling of some of Thaler's favorite Top 10 hits from the past three decades and then wrote 11,000 new songs. Some are good, Thaler said. ... Other offerings are the musical equivalent of a painting of dogs playing poker ...

But computer-composed music doesn't have to be bad. Human mentors with good taste could train a critic network to grade the Creativity Machine's songs, punish it for bad tunes and reward it for harmonious melodies. The feedback would hone the machine's composing skills.

Such a self-training system was the Creativity Machine's first invention, and the subject of Thaler's second patent.