Artificial
and intelligence: although two different
and vastly unrelated words bring a whole other meaning when brought together.
It would not be wrong to say that as of today, in the 21st
generation, there are only a few people who have no idea about artificial
intelligence. Simply put, artificial intelligence is that intelligence or
ability of computer system that would enable to system to perform tasks that
would usually require human intelligence. Visual perception, speech
recognition, decision making and translation between languages are only a few
of the examples that it has set out to become. It is hands down and without a
doubt, the next big thing. Why: Because nothing has developed as rapidly as
technology in the last 25 years.
It
is fascinating that the things we could not have even imagined in the past are
slowly becoming a reality. While fascinating, it is also ironical that when the computer
was first invented it could barely do anything apart from simple calculations
that too only with extensive assistance from a human operator. We have
come a long way from supercomputers and telephone calls costing huge amount of
money per minute to today when vast amount of data can be stored in a small
chip to free calls over the internet. Or CCTV cameras doing the duty of
security guards and giving you the ability to oversee your property online. Now the situation is
completely opposed as where the human does not do even the simplest calculation
by himself and relies on a computational device that our race has developed only
for extensive assistance. This is why artificial intelligence is the
next big thing.
If
one could remember about a movie in the early nineties called “Back to the
Future”, it showed glimpses of what people thought life in 2015 could be.
Flying cars and what not? The movie showed time travelling 20 years in the future
to 2015. Recently, 2015 actually happened. Do we have flying cars yet? Well, no
sadly.
But we have amazing technological advances that were not even thought
possible in the 20th century and better days are yet to come.
Why
is artificial intelligence thought of as the next big thing exactly?
1. Automated Transportation : This has already
begun in several countries where trains are operated without drivers or even
the beginning of self driving cars. However, it will take a while for the public
to accept such terms of use. The system of automated transportation first began
in 2012 when Google began testing a self-driving car and since then there has
been no turning back.
2. Taking over dangerous jobs: The use of robots in
dangerous fields like factory or production or dangerous fields would reduce
the potential harm to human beings.
3. Solving climate change: Stuart Russell has said that, machines have more access to data
than one person ever could—storing a mind-boggling number of statistics. Using
big data, AI could one day identify trends and use that information to come up
with solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
4. Improved
elder care: For many seniors,
everyday life is a struggle, and many have to hire outside help to manage their
care, or rely on family members. AI is at a stage where replacing this need isn't too far off.
This is not just a
theory but truth; we can count many jobs that are actually being slowly
replaced by machines and technology.
Like many things,
artificial intelligence too, involves risks.
1.
The
AI is programmed to do something devastating: Autonomous
weapons, in the hands of the wrong person could kill; these weapons could
easily cause mass casualties.
2.
The
AI is programmed to do something beneficial, but it develops a destructive
method for achieving its goal: machines are going to do literally only what you asked for
and not what you want. Sometimes we can fail to align our goals with the
artificial intelligence goals and this could be dangerous.
This being said,
artificial intelligence can be seen as both a good and bad thing strangely. The
advancing of artificial intelligence will do wonders for the industry. And the
commencement of artificial intelligence is already happening. Whether we want
to be in this technical world or not, we are already a part of it, somehow
without even realizing it. Already we can see assistance for the disabled and
the sick taking place. Be it online purchase prediction, customer support or
the advancement of video games for a better experience with playing, the
machines are seeping in and taking over. What about artificial intelligence in
schooling and education? Projectors, e-books and learning apps have take over
classrooms, not to mention virtual classrooms and virtual learning. Every day
we see news on the television about new robots or devices being introduced,
each advanced than the prior. The bad thing however is, people are getting more
and more dependent on technology.
Some examples coming
up to the top of my head this instant are iphones and Siri. Siri is an
intelligent personal assistant available in Apple phones. It is voice operated.
It responses to your voice and you can ask it anything. Be it the direction of
a place you have to go, or dialing a friend without even having to dial his
number, you can just ask Siri.
If we take a recent
example in the context of Nepal, we can take the example of a newly openend
restaurant in Khichapokhari, New Road: KKFC or Krispy Krunchy Fried Chicken
where robots serve you.
How about the
interaction with the humanoid robot Sophie that recently took place on the 24th
of March, 2018 in Nepal? Developed by a Hong Kong based company, the robot is known for her human-like appearance and
behavior compared to previous robotic variants. According to the manufacturer, Sophia
uses artificial intelligence,
visual data processing and facial
recognition. Sophia also imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is
able to answer certain questions and to make simple conversations on predefined
topics.
The creation of Sophia and attempts to create other
robots in the world today brings to my mind what Stephen Hawking, a great mind
the world has recently lost, had said: “the development of full artificial
intelligence could spell the end of the human race”.
Could that really
happened? We do not for sure what
exactly the future holds, however it is quite evident that interacting with AI
will soon become an everyday activity. Of course, these interactions will help
our society evolve with automated transportation, handling dangerous duties,
solving climate change, friendships and improving the care of our elders and
the disabled. Day by day new things are being discovered and artificial
intelligence can influence our future in even more ways, and this very fact has
professionals across multiple industries extremely excited for the
ever-burgeoning future of artificial intelligence.
Thanks for such a great work
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