Researchers at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) are developing an artificial intelligence (AI) program called Todai Robot Project to see if it can pass the toughest entrance exam and get into the University of Tokyo, according to Engadget. So far, the AI has been able the score 511 out of 950 on a college entrance exam, which is higher than the national average of 416. Furthermore, it did surprisingly well on history questions, meaning it possesses natural learning-processing skills and has the ability to make inferences.
The NII hopes to develop an AI that can get into the University of Tokyo, the nation's highest-ranking university, by the year 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal. With its current score of 511, the AI has an 80 percent chance or more of being accepted into 441 private universities and 33 national universities.
In 2013 and 2014, the AI was only able to achieve below-average marks, according to Wired. However, even with its improvements, it still has a ways to go before it can do well in complex subjects such as physics.
The researchers say that the goal of the project is "to provide young people with a dream, blaze new trail, and re-unify the artificial intelligence field subdivided in 1980 and afterwards." Furthermore, they hope to further improve AI technology and "deepen our understanding of human thought."
