Artificial Intelligence: The myth around AI and everything you need to know about.

An In-Depth Discussion of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence: the idea of it is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. Or at least, it seems like that. AI is a hot topic in tech, with some people warning that it will wipe out humanity and others heralding it as the next step in evolution. But how can we tell what’s true? I’ve spent a lot of time researching AI and talking to experts, and I’ve tried to compile a list of the facts that seem to be most agreed upon. This is what I learned.

What is artificial intelligence?

At the moment, there’s no simple definition of artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in technology and business, so it can be difficult to decide what it actually means.

In a broader sense, AI is the ability of a machine to carry out tasks that would usually require a human to perform. Whether that’s recognizing a face in a video or understanding a newspaper article, it even does things that no human can.

Artificial intelligence is just one of many different kinds of intelligence, which can come in many forms.

The pros and cons of AI

Pros: It can be used to improve existing systems. It can be used to create new ones. It can help companies streamline processes.

Cons: It is not very good at identifying patterns or working out complex concepts. It doesn’t work well when it comes to learning and memory. An AI can be indistinguishable from a human on a really basic level. Some types of AI can produce ‘bot armies’ that can cause damage.

Benefits of AI

Artificial intelligence is being hailed as the next big revolution in the tech world, and there’s plenty of reason to believe that it will have a massive impact on the way we do business. In some ways, AI will act as a serious brain substitute for the machine learning systems we’ve developed in recent years.

These learning systems are starting to understand more and more complex concepts. Machine learning and AI are also improving every day.

According to one well-known thinker, artificial intelligence “represents the future of technology, and it is about as inevitable as the moon landing”.

Today’s systems, however, are not nearly smart enough to perform complex tasks that a person can do effortlessly.

Risks of AI

Perhaps the scariest risk to the human race comes from something called “superintelligence.” Superintelligence refers to a system or machine that exceeds human intelligence.

Theoretically, it’s able to perform any intellectual task, without needing human input or oversight. “You could have a machine that can write a big science fiction book or a system that is intelligent enough to know how to wear a tiara and prance around,” Don Tapscott said in a TED talk.

Basically, we could be on the road to creating a giant self-learning computer that’s smarter than we are, and that has the potential to destroy our species. Though we’re nowhere near that point, there are a lot of plausible scenarios for when we get there.

The future of AI

In recent years, it’s been talked up as the savior of the planet, capable of reading your mind, delivering information to you instantly, and even shooting lasers from its eyes. But can we have our robot overlords without creating a dystopia? And if we can, should we?

A recent report from Oxford University predicts that in 30 years we’ll be able to print a human being in a laboratory. In fact, the US military is already working on this with its ‘Knightscope’ security bot. A bot that’s designed to spot unusual activity — so it could have some of the same issues as AI if it ever loses control. Still, there are plenty of safeguards, including human eyes monitoring what’s going on. But what are the real-world benefits of AI?

Conclusion

Of course, this isn’t definitive proof. But, as you’ll see below, my bottom line answer is that AI is getting a lot of hype, but it is in its nascent stages and not very good at most things. This doesn’t mean it’s doomed, but that it is still years and years away from making serious decisions for people.

Is AI Dangerous? — I don’t know. I believe what’s created by humans, can be controlled by humans as well. I believe AI will affect how people view the future, and it will affect their actions.

Take a look at the work of Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who believes that intelligence, as well as consciousness, will be achieved in the coming years.

And what do you think of AI?