What is Artificial Intelligence? What applications is it used in today and how does it help our lives? What are future plans for AI? These are many questions being asked. Let’s answer them.
Artificial intelligence (AI), also known as machine intelligence, is a branch of computer science that aims to imbue software with the ability to analyze its environment using either predetermined rules and search algorithms, or pattern recognizing machine learning models, and then make decisions based on those analyses. In this way, AI attempts to mimic biological intelligence to allow the software application or system to act with varying degrees of autonomy, thereby reducing manual human intervention for a wide range of functions. While AI often invokes images of the sentient computer overlord of science fiction, the current reality is far different. At its heart, AI uses the same basic algorithmic functions that drive traditional software, but applies them in a different way.
Artificial intelligence makes it easier for users to locate and communicate with friends and business associates. Twitter: from tweet recommendations to fighting inappropriate or racist content and enhancing the user experience, Twitter has begun to use artificial intelligence behind the scenes to enhance their product. They process lots of data through deep neural networks to learn over time what users preferences are. Facebook: deep learning is helping Facebook draw value from a larger portion of its unstructured datasets created by almost 2 billion people updating their statuses 293,000 times per minute. Most of its deep learning technology is built on the Torch framework that focuses on deep learning technologies and neural networks. Instagram also uses big data and artificial intelligence to target advertising and fight cyberbullying and delete offensive comments. As the amount of content grows in the platform, artificial intelligence is critical to be able to show users of the platform information they might like, fight spam and enhance the user experience.
Although there are plenty of predictions regarding the way AI will disrupt the jobs market, that challenge will have to be faced by employers before it trickles down to workers. This will be especially apparent in the very near-term. The challenge for organisations hoping to embrace AI will be that it works best when it brings together data and teams from different disciplines, PwC says. But most businesses have both people and data in discrete silos, not available for agile collaboration. Plus, employees will need to be equipped with at least basic AI skills to work with it effectively. PwC believes the average enterprise isn’t ready for what AI is about to demand of it. Although it gets hyped as an earth-shattering development that threatens to turn the world upside down, the truth is likely to be far more prosaic. AI will, as PwC puts it, enter through the backdoor before making its presence felt, being gradually woven into existing applications and processes. Being able to automate increasingly complex functions and provide forward-looking intelligence will remove a lot of time-consuming, repetitive work from people’s jobs. The two biggest gains here are time and thinking space. Getting rid of some of the things that keep people busy should pave the way for better decision-making and smarter working. However, traditional ROI measures aren’t necessarily configured to record this kind of return and will need to be adapted.