A few decades ago, things that now are part of our normal daily routine were Science Fiction scenarios. Talking to someone on a phone without wire, sending a letter that will arrive the next second through a computer or paying without cash were ideas that would have made you look crazy in front of your acquaintances. Technology was not a plan, not a dream, not a reality, it simply didn’t exist in anyone’s mind. However, that’s all in the past. The next big wave that’s started is all about Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.
So, What is AI?
We’ve all seen movies with robots that get out of control and want to take over the mankind, but what is actually artificial intelligence? Shortly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of computer science where human intelligence is simulated by machines, working and reacting like humans. Its aim is to create intelligent machines that can make our lives easier and it slowly became an important part of the technology industry. AI includes cognitive activities like speech recognition, planning, perception, learning, reasoning, self-correction and problem-solving.
The AI today is known as narrow AI, because the machines are performing mainly one task, from self-driving cars and labour intensive automated processes to facial recognition systems. Though, science is always evolving and the long-term purpose is to create general AI that could outperform the human being at any cognitive task.
AI Pros and Cons
AI could bring us a better future, but it also can wipe the need for human resources off the face of the Earth. We could have robots that perform a brain surgery with total accuracy and save lives, but we also could witness a mass destruction through lethal autonomous weapons. Artificial Intelligence could be a big step forward for humanity, helping us evolve and accomplish things that we couldn’t do on our own, but there are also threats that we could encounter from intelligent machines.
If everything goes according to plan, AI technology can improve many fields as law, economics, security, medicine, constructions, financial trading, decision making for many businesses, computer-based automation, etc. We can program the car to send our children to school on its own and save us time, we can be protected against cyber-attacks, we can have the diagnose of a disease in hours and cure them through complicated surgeries that can save lives. Using Artificial Intelligence we can eradicate poverty, diseases and wars, making our planet a better place for the future generations, if deployed correctly. Technology can bring a real revolution in our lives and simplify every process that now takes time and energy. On the other hand, everything can go wrong in a second and progress can become destruction. Artificial intelligence can be programmed to do devastating things if we lose control over them. For example, autonomous weapons could be used by people with bad intentions and cause mass murders. Also, people could lose control of them and not be able to use them. As with any other non-animated machines, AI machines that are initially programmed to do something useful could break and do wrong things. Even humans can have a bad result starting from a good intention, so we can never be sure what can happen inside the circuits of a robot. These systems and processes must be taken seriously by governments’ to manage and control their full audit before delivery to the real world.
These being said, I will let you make your own conclusions and opinions. You are most welcome to share your views with me and let me know what you think about Artificial Intelligence. Is it an opportunity to evolve or a threat to the humankind? There are many benefits and many risks, and only the future will show us the real effect on AI in our lives.