Artificial Intelligence (AI)

What is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

 

          Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. 

          Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision.

How does AI work?

          As the hype around AI has accelerated, vendors have been scrambling to promote how their products and services use AI. Often what they refer to as AI is simply one component of AI, such as machine learning. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine learning algorithms. No one programming language is synonymous with AI, but a few, including Python, R and Java, are popular.

          In general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labeled training data, analyzing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. In this way, a chatbot that is fed examples of text chats can learn to produce lifelike exchanges with people, or an image recognition tool can learn to identify and describe objects in images by reviewing millions of examples.

          AI programming focuses on three cognitive skills: learning, reasoning and self-correction.

Why is artificial intelligence important?

         AI is important because it can give enterprises insights into their operations that they may not have been aware of previously and because, in some cases, AI can perform tasks better than humans. Particularly when it comes to repetitive, detail-oriented tasks like analyzing large numbers of legal documents to ensure relevant fields are filled in properly, AI tools often complete jobs quickly and with relatively few errors.

           This has helped fuel an explosion in efficiency and opened the door to entirely new business opportunities for some larger enterprises. Prior to the current wave of AI, it would have been hard to imagine using computer software to connect riders to taxis, but today Uber has become one of the largest companies in the world by doing just that. It utilizes sophisticated machine learning algorithms to predict when people are likely to need rides in certain areas, which helps proactively get drivers on the road before they're needed. 

        

           As another example, Google has become one of the largest players for a range of online services by using machine learning to understand how people use their services and then improving them. In 2017, the company's CEO, Sundar Pichai, pronounced that Google would operate as an "AI first" company.

             Today's largest and most successful enterprises have used AI to improve their operations and gain advantage on their competitors.

Advantages

1. Good at detail-oriented jobs
2. Reduced time for data-heavy tasks
3. Delivers consistent results
4. AI-powered virtual agents are always available.

Disadvantages

1. Expensive
2. Requires deep technical expertise
3. Limited supply of qualified workers to build AI tools
4. Only knows what it's been shown
5. Lack of ability to generalize from one task to another.

 

What are the 4 types of artificial intelligence?

          Arend Hintze, an assistant professor of integrative biology and computer science and engineering at Michigan State University, explained in a 2016 article that AI can be categorized into four types, beginning with the task-specific intelligent systems in wide use today and progressing to sentient systems, which do not yet exist. The categories are as follows:

Type 1: Reactive machines. These AI systems have no memory and are task specific. An example is Deep Blue, the IBM chess program that beat Garry Kasparov in the 1990s. Deep Blue can identify pieces on the chessboard and make predictions, but because it has no memory, it cannot use past experiences to inform future ones.

Type 2: Limited memory. These AI systems have memory, so they can use past experiences to inform future decisions. Some of the decision-making functions in self-driving cars are designed this way.

Type 3: Theory of mind. Theory of mind is a psychology term. When applied to AI, it means that the system would have the social intelligence to understand emotions. This type of AI will be able to infer human intentions and predict behavior, a necessary skill for AI systems to become integral members of human teams.

Type 4: Self-awareness. In this category, AI systems have a sense of self, which gives them consciousness. Machines with self-awareness understand their own current state. This type of AI does not yet exist. 

What Is The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) On Society?

          As with most changes in life, there will be positive and negative impacts on society as artificial intelligence continues to transform the world we live in. How that will balance out is anyone’s guess and up for much debate and for many people to contemplate. 

        

         As an optimist at heart, I believe the changes will mostly be good but could be challenging for some. Here are some of the challenges that might be faced (and we should be thinking about how to address them now) as well as several of the positive impacts artificial intelligence will have on society.

Challenges to be faced

         Artificial intelligence will definitely cause our workforce to evolve. The alarmist headlines emphasise the loss of jobs to machines, but the real challenge is for humans to find their passion with new responsibilities that require their uniquely human abilities. 

         According to PwC, 7 million existing jobs will be replaced by AI in the UK from 2017-2037, but 7.2 million jobs could be created. This uncertainty and the changes to how some will make a living could be challenging.

         The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on our society will have far-reaching economic, legal, political and regulatory implications that we need to be discussing and preparing for. 

        Determining who is at fault if an autonomous vehicle hurts a pedestrian or how to manage a global autonomous arms race are just a couple of examples of the challenges to be faced.

          Will machines become super-intelligent and will humans eventually lose control? While there is debate around how likely this scenario will be we do know that there are always unforeseen consequences when new technology is introduced. Those unintended outcomes of artificial intelligence will likely challenge us all.

           Another issue is ensuring that AI doesn’t become so proficient at doing the job it was designed to do that it crosses over ethical or legal boundaries. While the original intent and goal of the AI is to benefit humanity, if it chooses to go about achieving the desired goal in a destructive (yet efficient way) it would negatively impact society. 

          The AI algorithms must be built to align with the overarching goals of humans.

Positive Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Society

           Artificial intelligence can dramatically improve the efficiencies of our workplaces and can augment the work humans can do. When AI takes over repetitive or dangerous tasks, it frees up the human workforce to do work they are better equipped for—tasks that involve creativity and empathy among others. If people are doing work that is more engaging for them, it could increase happiness and job satisfaction.

           With better monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, artificial intelligence can dramatically influence healthcare. By improving the operations of healthcare facilities and medical organisations, AI can reduce operating costs and save money. 

           One estimate from McKinsey predicts big data could save medicine and pharma up to $100B annually. The true impact will be in the care of patients. Potential for personalised treatment plans and drug protocols as well as giving providers better access to information across medical facilities to help inform patient care will be life-changing.

           Our society will gain countless hours of productivity with just the introduction of autonomous transportation and AI influencing our traffic congestion issues not to mention the other ways it will improve on-the-job productivity. Freed up from stressful commutes, humans will be able to spend their time in a variety of other ways.

          The way we uncover criminal activity and solve crimes will be enhanced with artificial intelligence. Facial recognition technology is becoming just as common as fingerprints. The use of AI in the justice system also presents many opportunities to figure out how to effectively use the technology without crossing an individual’s privacy.

             Unless you choose to live remotely and never plan to interact with the modern world, your life will be significantly impacted by artificial intelligence. While there will be many learning experiences and challenges to be faced as the technology rolls out into new applications, the expectation will be that artificial intelligence will generally have a more positive than negative impact on society. 

I hope you have understood well about artificial intelligence and their huge impact of this morden world.

Thanks for reading.

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