Introduction
Artificial Intelligence has grown to be one of the most predominant emerging technologies in today's global landscape. It is basically the replication of human intellect in computers, that have been programmed to learn and to mimic human behaviour. These machines can learn from their mistakes and carry out activities similar to those performed by humans. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) advances, it will significantly impact our quality of life.
The science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by Humans (Marvin Minsky).
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFDOY1wOOz0
What is Artificial Intelligence?
So, what is AI, what does it entail and how does it work? The answer will by and large depend on whom you are asking!
A layperson having only a basic understanding of technology would immediately associate it with robots. The belief that AI is a terminator-like figure that can act and think for itself is still quite common! If you ask an AI researcher what AI is, they will most probably describe it as a set of algorithms that can produce results without being explicitly commanded to do so.
In a nutshell, AI is a technique for teaching a computer, robot, or other devices to think like an intelligent human being. AI revolves around how the human brain thinks, learns, makes decisions and solves problems. It aims to improve computer functions such as thinking, learning and problem-solving linked to human understanding.
Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-4389372/
Types of Artificial Intelligence?
Broadly speaking, there are three main types of Artificial Intelligence. These are:
- Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)
- Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
- Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)
Source: https://www.customsoft.io/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Types-of-AI.png
ANI is intended to address a specific problem and is capable of performing a single task exceptionally well. By definition, ANI has limited capabilities, such as recommending a product to an e-commerce consumer or predicting the weather. ANI can mimic, and in some cases even outperform human performance in very narrow situations, but only in tightly controlled circumstances with a limited range of parameters.
AGI is still an idea in development. It is known as AI with a human-level of cognitive function in a range of disciplines, including language processing, picture processing and computational reasoning. We're currently still a long way from developing an AGI system, as in order to emulate human reasoning, an effective AGI system would need to be made up of thousands of ANI systems functioning in unison and communicating with one another.
ASI is viewed as the logical step following AGI. As such, ASI would be able to match and outperform human activity. This would entail things like creating better art, nurturing emotional bonds and making sensible decisions across fields and disciplines. The realisation of ASI would eventually lead to technological singularity, or the point in time when technological progress becomes uncontrollable and irrevocable, causing unexpected effects. This is underpinned by cycles of self-improvement resulting in a powerful superintelligence that exceeds human intelligence.
How does Artificial Intelligence work?
Building an A.I. system is a painstaking process of replicating our attributes and talents in a machine and leveraging its computing prowess to outperform our abilities. To grasp how AI works, one must delve into the many subfields of AI and comprehend how those fields might be applied to the various industries.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg4vYqPoKt4
Machine learning (ML) is the process through which a computer learns to think logically and draw conclusions based on available data, without being explicitly programmed to do so. It recognizes patterns, analyzes primary data and infers the meaning of these data points without relying on the human experience. As a result, firms save time and money by automating the process of arriving at conclusions based on data analysis. Deep Learning is one powerful type of machine learning. Consequently, Neural Networks, as a subset of ML, function in the same way that human neural cells do. They're a set of algorithms that capture the relationship between several basic factors and interpret the data in the same way that a human brain does.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the science of machine reading, understanding, and interpreting a language. Consequently, when a machine recognises the user's intent, it responds appropriately.
Algorithms for Computer Vision seek to interpret a picture by dissecting it and analysing the various objects’ parts. This aids the machine in classifying and learning from a set of images, allowing it to make better output decisions based on earlier observations.
The purpose of Cognitive Computing algorithms is to think and function in the same way and alongside humans. Cognitive computing can communicate this information and can thus aid humans in real-time decision-making.
Implications of Artificial Intelligence
AI is being utilised in various industries to gain insights into consumer behaviour and make data-driven suggestions. For instance, Google’s predictive search algorithm uses historical user data to forecast what a user would input next in the search field. Netflix leverages prior user data to suggest what movie a user should watch next, which keeps consumers on the platform and extends their viewing duration. Facebook suggests tags for your friends based on their visual qualities in photographs using previous user data. To this extent, AI’s applications involve data processing, which includes the following:
- searching through data and fine-tuning the search to produce the most relevant results
- if-then logic rules, which can run a series of tasks based on input parameters
- pattern detection techniques for identifying noteworthy patterns in a huge data set to gain new insights
- probabilistic models to forecast future outcomes
Artificial Intelligence in everyday life
Here's a rundown of AI applications you may be utilising (sometimes without knowing it’s actually AI!) in your daily life:
- AI is utilised in online shopping to present users with customised recommendations based on previous searches and purchases
- Smartphones AI assistants can easily answer inquiries and assist users in organising their everyday activities
- AI-based language translation software can assist users in understanding foreign languages by providing translations, subtitling, and language recognition
- By recognizing trends and tracing the attacks, AI-powered systems can assist in recognizing and combating cyberattacks
Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Industry
With a vast number of conceivable use cases, AI can transform many sectors across a wide range of industries. Generally speaking, these sectors and use cases are mainly data-driven and thus offer an opportunity for AI to automate and augment the operations. Let's look at some of the fields in which AI-powered solutions are being successfully implemented.
- Healthcare
Administration: AI technologies assist with ordinary, day-to-day administrative chores to reduce human error and increase efficiency. For example, NLP is used to transcribe medical notes and help organise patient information. Patients can use a hospital's AI-powered systems to input their symptoms and vital signs, and determine if medical assistance is required in non-emergency scenarios. This decreases medical personnel's workload by only presenting them with critical instances.
Assisted Diagnosis: Using Computer Vision and Neural Networks, AI can now interpret Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans to look for tumours and other malignant growths at an exponentially faster rate than radiologists, with a far narrower margin of error.
Robotic Surgery: Robotic procedures offer a very low margin of error and can be performed day and night without tiring the surgeon. Such procedures are accurate and less intrusive than earlier operations, potentially lowering the amount of time patients spend recovering in the hospital.
Vital Stats Monitoring: The various levels of a person's vital statistics indicate the individual’s current state of health. This data is no longer on tap, waiting to be processed and converted into actionable insights, as wearable devices become more and more ubiquitous. Subsequently, AI-powered systems serve as crucial devices which can predict health changes even before the patient is aware.
- E-Commerce
Recommendations: This is often the first example provided when people ask about business-related AI applications, as it is an area where AI has already produced good results. Most large e-commerce companies have integrated AI to provide product recommendations that consumers might be interested in, resulting in significant revenue increase.
Chatbots: Another well-known example, based on the increasing use of AI-powered chatbots in various industries, these applications utilised to conduct online chat with clients/consumers, use NLP to understand user-generated queries and in turn provide adequate solutions.
Filtering: Due to the large volume of reviews that sites like Amazon receive, human eyes would be unable to filter out harmful and/or inadequate content. AI is able to check these reviews for questionable activity, such as spam and fake reviews, and consequently use NLP to filter the stream, resulting in a better buyer experience.
Optimising search: The success of e-commerce relies on users finding what they're looking for. AI has optimised search results based on thousands of parameters to guarantee that users discover precisely what they want, in the shortest time.
- Robotics
Assembly: AI, specifically Computer Vision technologies, can aid real-time course correction in the manufacturing process. It also aids robots in determining which path is best for a given process while it is running during the assembly stage.
Packaging: AI allows for more efficient, cost-effective and accurate packaging. It aids in the saving and ongoing refinement of a robot's motion, making robotic systems easier to install, move and execute custom tasks depending on a specific application.
- Human Resources
Building a work culture : AI is being used to analyse employee data and position them in the appropriate teams, assign tasks based on their competencies, collect feedback about the workplace and consequently aid each individual employee to achieve more.
Customer Service: In the retail and hospitality industries, AI-enabled robots are being employed to provide customer care and consequently augment the human resources pool. These systems use NLP to engage with clients intelligently, mimicking human behaviour. Subsequently, the more these technologies engage with humans; the more ML helps them learn.