THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

Artificial Intelligence is the study of mental faculties through the use of computational models.

The occurrence of the word intelligence in the name of this field is misleading. Scientists reserve the word for mental feats of unusual creativity or cleverness. As a consequence, it sounds as if artificial intelligence were a technique for producing an abundance of clever insights. In fact, the most interesting problems for AI arise in the attempts to duplicate the mental faculties of ordinary people, such as vision and natural language.

HISTORY

During the Second World War, noted British computer scientist Alan Turing cracked the ‘Enigma’ code which was used by German forces to send messages securely using his Bombe Machine.

The Enigma and Bombe Machines laid the foundations for Machine Learning. 

In 1956, American computer scientist John McCarthy organised the Dartmouth Conference, at which the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ was first adopted.

Also in the 50s, John McCarthy developed the LISP programming the language which became important in machine learning.

WABOT-1, the first ‘intelligent’ humanoid robot, was built in Japan in 1972.

However, despite this well-funded global effort over several decades, computer scientists found it incredibly difficult to create intelligence in machines. Governments and corporations were losing faith in AI. Therefore, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, computer scientists dealt with an acute shortage of funding for AI research. These years became known as the ‘AI Winters’.

In the late 1990s, American corporations once again became interested in AI. 

AI enthusiasts believed that soon computers would be able to carry on conversations, translate languages, interpret pictures, and reason like people.

In the past 15 years, Amazon, Google, Baidu, and others leveraged machine learning to their huge commercial advantage. Other than processing user data to understand consumer behaviour, these companies have continued to work on computer vision, natural language processing, and a whole host of other AI applications.

TIMELINE

PROS

Exploration    AI makes it possible for us to learn more about these places, which furthers our species knowledge database

Accuracy    Machines are able to breakdown complicated math constructs into practical actions faster, and with more accuracy, when compared to human workers

Work Hours    Human workers are typically good for 8-10 hours of production every day, whereas, the machine does not get tired, even if it has to work for consecutive hours

Mundane Work    Through intricate automation, machines will increase productivity that can remove boring tasks from humans and free them up to be increasingly creative.

CONS

Employment    There will be jobs gained and lost because of AI; for example, driverless cars, could displace human drivers but increase the jobs of people in the field of AI

Power Hierarchy    Nations fear that artificial intelligence would de-humanise without needing to pull a trigger and position themselves on the top of the power structure replacing or demoting humans.

Price Tag    When combining the cost of installation, maintenance and repair, AI is an expensive proposition. Although the price is coming down, individual developments can still be as high as $300,000 for a basic AI

Dependency    As the number of machines increase, mental and thinking abilities of humans will actually decrease over time.

SOFIA: A SOCIAL HUMANOID ROBOT

• Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics.
• She is modelled after actress Audrey Hepburn, who is known for human-like appearance and behaviour compared to previous robotic variants. It is able to display more than 60 facial expressions.
• She was activated on February 14, 2016.
• Sophia has been covered by media around the globe and has participated in many high-profile interviews.
• On October 25, at the Future Investment Summit in Riyadh, the robot was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality.
• In November 2017, Sophia was named the United Nations Development Programme's first-ever Innovation Champion, and is the first non-human to be given any United Nations title.
• According to the manufacturer, David Hanson, Sophia uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing and facial recognition.
  
• Hanson designed Sophia to be a suitable companion for the elderly at nursing homes or to help crowds at large events or parks. He has said that he hopes that the robot can ultimately interact with other humans sufficiently to gain social skills.

INSTALLED INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS PER 10,000 EMPLOYEES

Global Average: 74

REVENUES FROM THE AI FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS MARKET WORLDWIDE, FROM 2016-2025

IMPACT OF AI ON INDUSTRY GROWTH IN 2035 IN %

FUTURE

Automated Transportation    The goal is for all transportation to become automated in the future.

Cyborg Technology    AI and robotics will help us overcome our cognitive and physical limitations, including robotic limbs capable of communicating with our brains.

Taking Over Dangerous Jobs    Robots and drone will take over hazardous jobs, like bomb defusing, eliminating the need of people to risk their lives in extreme conditions.

Exploring New Frontiers    Robotics will also help us to explore new frontiers such as unexplored oceans and space.

Solving Climate Change    Using Big Data, AI could one day identify trends and use that information to present solutions to the world’s biggest problems like climate change.

Robots as Companions    Japan has made the first big steps towards robotic pets and humanoids that can understand and feel emotions.

Predicting the Future    Machine learning uses the past to make predictions about the future. It will be able to predict things as intimate as human relationships.

ANALYSIS

Over the past few decades, several significant changes have been noticed across the world. There have been numerous controversies and questions have been raised along the way.

Are robots harmful? Are robots worth investing in with all other problems at hand? Where are robots in the hierarchy of life? Should a robot be a citizen? These are just a few of the questions that are still being mooted globally.

In my opinion, I would have to agree to disagree. If not Alan Turing had cracked the Enigma machine, the World War would have continued relentlessly for another 2 years. It is because of people in the field of Artificial Intelligence that the world has become a tiny social village by connecting them through perpetually updating technologies of phones and computers. Artificial Intelligence has also brought in remarkable changes in the health sector, by creating machines for much more precision.

But there is a flip side. Just like a civilian in possession of a gun could create havoc, in a similar manner sensitive technology in the hands of wrong people could lead to war, terrorism or worldwide destruction. But the ideology of these people can't be changed and would misuse anything to be in power, be it technology or human emotions.

Investing in robots can bring a prominent change in all sectors of life. Giving humanoids citizenship could be a good gesture because these humanoids have also started to induce human emotions and secluding them would only make them revolt against us which is a nightmare for all the scientists. Treating them as one of us will also make them on the same level of hierarchy as humans, although this idea is still far-fetched because robots today are not that advanced.

Instead of seeing robots and artificial intelligence as an enemy, we should see them as a gift and let it seep in our society just like we did for phones and cars which ended up being a necessity for many.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://towardsdatascience.com/history-of-ai-484a86fc16ef

https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hacas635bycc&oi=fnd&pg=pa1&dq=artificial+intelligence&ots=kl4csq2k2u&sig=7kqz7jybu47yg-ahcts8xjq5tp4#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/the-power-of-artificial-intelligence-5cf7d7152b77

https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/intelligent-machines/history-artificial-intelligence

https://whatsthebigdata.com/2017/05/08/timeline-of-ai-and-robotics/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_(robot)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/04/25/the-countries-with-the-highest-density-of-robot-workers-infographic/#2cf6e6851853

https://bigdata-madesimple.com/the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-6-ways-it-will-impact-everyday-life/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucub1bzlnfebtv1iidb9ksvw

https://www.statista.com/