Artificial intelligence. Abstract photograph of a phrenology head, upon which is projected part of a computer circuit board. This is illustrative of artificial intelligence (AI), the ability of a computer to reason beyond the parameters of its initial program. Some influential scientists (such as Roger Penrose) argue that AI is unattainable, as much of a non-entity as phrenology itself. Phrenology was a belief that the characteristics and abilities of a person could be derived by examining the shape of the head - a bump in an area showing a propensity toward the related trait.