Artificial Intelligence has been with us for years since the days of Turing, one of the pioneers of computer science. His research has set the path of the field of Artificial Intelligence as we know it today. There were many improvements in AI since then and you might not realise but this technology has been integrated into many devices we use today. Perhaps you are reading this on a device, that has a virtual assistant? That too uses artificial intelligence. It’s an exciting development where artificial intelligence helps to aid the user with everyday tasks and finding useful information that is needed on demand. We have smart playlists, translation tools and a lot of different applications where artificial intelligence is being used.
Due to people watching a lot of movies that could suggest that AI can overtake us and couple possibly pose a threat to humanity, a lot of people are quite skeptic about it. It is true that AI based technology have surpassed the levels of human intelligence, as we saw recently with AlphaGo winning against the world champion South Korean Go player Lee Sedol. This also changed the way board games are played but there is no evidence to suggest that Artificial Intelligence will pose a threat to humanity. AI has indeed seen some encouraging and impressive progress over the last few years, but we still have a long way to go before we achieve anything capable of the scenarios that have been discussed. Why focus on such ideas where we can focus on alternatives to co-exist and have a productive collaboration between machines and humans?
AI has been very promising and it’s amazing what the future holds in this field. AI has the potential to radically transform our lives in a very positive way. We can utilise all the information gathered and process it all in ways people simply cannot do alone. Everyday things like our televisions, radios and also cars can ‘communicate’ with each other to make our lives easier like auto-setting the thermostat and be set based on our natural language. Thanks to “Internet or Things” or IoT, we can see cars in the future get live road updates to avoid accidents and delays. Thus making our travel safer and more efficient. This also makes self-driving cars more efficient, exchanging data between them gives them better reaction times in sudden breaking for instance or can call out for help to the authorities if a problem arises like an accident.
Will we ever co-exsist with Artificial Intelligence? We’ll find out in the near future, but it’s looking bright and we are eager to see what it has to hold for us.
Resources
“It’s time to take off your tinfoil hats: AI is safe for human consumption” (WEB). It’s time to take off your tinfoil hats: AI is safe for human consumption. Accessed 24 March 2016.
“Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk” (PDF). Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk. 2008 . Accessed 24 March 2016.
“Yes, We Will Live With Artificial Intelligence. But It Will Be Friend, Not Foe” (WEB). Yes, We Will Live With Artificial Intelligence. But It Will Be Friend, Not Foe. Accessed 24 March 2016.
“Friendly artificial intelligence” (WEB). Friendly artificial intelligence. Accessed 24 March 2016.
“Social and Ethical Consequences” (WEB). Social and Ethical Consequences. Accessed 24 March 2016.
“Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence” (WEB). Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence. Accessed 24 March 2016.
Leave a Reply