What is Artificial Intelligence? What are it's Uses Advantages and future?

What is Artificial Intelligence? A Definition of Artificial Intelligence

The short answer to What is Artificial Intelligence is that it depends on who you ask.
A layman with a fleeting understanding of technology would link it to robots. They’d say Artificial Intelligence is a terminator like-figure that can act and think on its own.
An AI researcher would say that it’s a set of algorithms that can produce results without having to be explicitly instructed to do so. And they would all be right. So to summarise, Artificial Intelligence is:

Summarization of Artificial Intelligence

• An intelligent entity created by humans.
• Capable of performing tasks intelligently without being explicitly instructed.
• Capable of thinking and acting rationally and humanely.

Where is Artificial Intelligence used?

AI is used in different domains to give insights into user behaviour and give recommendations based on the data. For example, Google’s predictive search algorithm used past user data to predict what a user would type next in the search bar. Netflix uses past user data to recommend what movie a user might want to see next, making the user hooked onto the platform and increase watch time. Facebook uses past data of the users to automatically give suggestions to tag your friends, based on their facial features in their images. AI is used everywhere by large organisations to make an end user’s life simpler. The uses of Artificial Intelligence would broadly fall under the data processing category, which would include the following:

• Searching within data, and optimising the search to give the most relevant results
• Logic-chains for if-then reasoning, that can be applied to execute a string of commands based on parameters
• Pattern-detection to identify significant patterns in large data set for unique insights
• Applied probabilistic models for predicting future outcomes

What are the Advantages of Artificial Intelligence?

There’s no doubt in the fact that technology has made our life better. From music recommendations, map directions, mobile banking to fraud prevention, AI and other technologies have taken over. There’s a fine line between advancement and destruction. There’s always two sides to a coin, and that is the case with AI as well. Let us take a look at some advantages of Artificial Intelligence-

Advantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Reduction in human error
• Available 24×7
• Helps in repetitive work
• Digital assistance 
• Faster decisions
• Rational Decision Maker
• Medical applications
• Improves Security
• Efficient Communication

Let’s take a closer look

Reduction in human error

In an Artificial intelligence model, all decisions are taken from the previously gathered information after having applied a certain set of algorithms. Hence, errors are reduced and the chances of accuracy only increase with a greater degree of precision. In case of humans performing any task, there’s always a chance of error. We aren’t powered by algorithms and programs and thus, AI can be used to avoid such human error.

Available 24×7

While an average human works 6-8 hours a day, AI manages to make machines work 24×7 without any breaks or boredom. As one might know, humans do not have the capability to work for a long period, our body requires rest. An AI powered system won’t require any breaks in between and is best used for tasks that need 24/7 concentration.

Helps in repetitive work

AI can productively automate mundane human tasks and free them up to be increasingly creative – right from sending a thank you mail, or verifying documents to decluttering or answering queries. A repetitive task such a making food in a restaurant or in a factory can be messed up because humans are tired or uninterested for a long time. Such tasks can easily be performed efficiently with the help of AI.

Digital assistance

Many of the highly advanced organizations use digital assistants to interact with users in order to save human resources. These digital assistants are also used in many websites to answer user queries and provide a smooth functioning interface. Chatbots are a great example for the same. Read here to know more on how to build an AI Chatbot.

Faster decisions 

AI, alongside other technologies, can make machines take decisions faster than an average human to carry out actions quicker. This is because while making a decision, humans tend to analyze many factors both emotionally and practically as opposed to AI-powered machines that deliver programmed results quickly.

Rational Decision Maker

We as humans may have evolved to a great extent technologically, but when it comes to decision making, we still allow our emotions to take over. In certain situations, it becomes important to take quick, efficient and logical decisions without letting our emotions control the way we think. AI powered decision making will be controlled with the help of algorithms and thus, there is no  scope for emotional decision making. This ensures that efficiency will not be affected and increases productivity. 

Medical applications

One of the biggest advantages of Artificial Intelligence is its use in the medical industry. Doctors are now able to assess their patients health risks with the help of medical applications built for AI. Radiosurgery is being used to operate on tumors in such a way that it won’t damage surrounding tissues and cause any further damage. Medical professionals have been trained to use AI for surgery. They can also help in efficiently detecting and monitoring various neurological disorders and stimulate the brain functions. 

Improves Security

With advancement in technology, there are chances of it being used for the wrong reasons such as fraud and identity theft. But if used in the right manner, AI can be very helpful in keeping our security intact. It is being developed to help protect our life and property. One major area where we can already see the implementation of AI in security is Cybersecurity. AI has completely transformed the way we are able to secure ourselves against any cyber-threats.

Efficient Communication 

When we look at life just a couple of years ago, people who didn’t speak the same language weren’t able to communicate with each other without the help of a human translator who could understand and speak both languages. With the help of AI, such a problem does not exist. Natural Language Processing or NLP allows systems to translate words from one language to another, eliminating a middleman. Google translate has advanced to a great extent and even provides an audio example of how a word/sentence in another language must be pronounced.

What are the disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence?

Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Cost overruns
• Dearth of talent
• Lack of practical products
• Lack of standards in software development
• Potential for misuse
• Highly dependent on machines
• Requires Supervision

Let’s take a closer look at them

Cost overruns

What separates AI from normal software development is the scale at which they operate. As a result of this scale, the computing resources required would exponentially increase, pushing up the cost of the operation, which brings us to the next point.

Dearth of talent 

Since it’s still a fairly nascent field, there’s a lack of experienced professionals, and the best ones are quickly snapped up by corporations and research institutes. This increases the talent cost, which further drives up Artificial Intelligence implementation prices.

Lack of practical products

For all the hype that’s been surrounding AI, it doesn’t seem to have a lot to show for it. Granted that applications such as chatbots and recommendation engines do exist, but the applications don’t seem to extend beyond that. This makes it difficult to make a case for pouring in more money to improve AI capabilities.

Lack of standards in software development

The true value of Artificial Intelligence lays in collaboration when different AI systems come together to form a bigger, more valuable application. But a lack of standards in AI software development means that it’s difficult for different systems to ‘talk’ to each other. Artificial Intelligence software development itself is slow and expensive because of this, which further acts as an impediment to AI development.

Potential for Misuse

The power of Artificial Intelligence is massive, and it has the potential to achieve great things. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be misused. Artificial Intelligence by itself is a neutral tool that can be used for anything, but if it falls into the wrong hands, it would have serious repercussions. In this nascent stage where the ramifications of AI developments are still not completely understood, the potential for misuse might be even higher.

Highly dependent on machines

Most people are already highly dependent on applications such as Siri and Alexa. By receiving constant assistance from machines and applications, we are losing our ability to think creatively. By becoming completely dependent on machines, we are losing out on learning simple life skills, becoming lazier, and raising a generation of highly-dependent individuals. 

Requires Supervision

Algorithms function perfectly well, they are efficient and will perform the task as programmed. However, the drawback is that we would still have to continually supervise the functioning. Although the task is performed by machines, we need to ensure that mistakes are not being made. One example of why supervision is required is Microsoft’s AI chat-bot named ‘Tay’. The chat-bot was modelled to speak like a teenage girl by learning through online conversations. The chat-bot went from learning basic conversational skills to tweeting highly political and incorrect information because of internet trolls.

Future of Artificial Intelligence

As humans, we have always been fascinated by technological changes and fiction, right now, we are living amidst the greatest advancements in our history. Artificial Intelligence has emerged to be the next big thing in the field of technology. Organizations across the world are coming up with breakthrough innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence is not only impacting the future of every industry and every human being but has also acted as the main driver of emerging technologies like big data, robotics and IoT. Considering its growth rate, it will continue to act as a technological innovator for the foreseeable future. Hence, there are immense opportunities for trained and certified professionals to enter a rewarding career. As these technologies continue to grow, they will have more and more impact on the social setting and quality of life.

Getting certified in AI will give you an edge over the other aspirants in this industry. With advancements such as Facial Recognition, AI in Healthcare, Chat-bots, and more, now is the time to build a path to a successful career in Artificial Intelligence. Virtual assistants have already made their way into everyday life, helping us save time and energy. Self-driving cars by Tech giants like Tesla have already shown us the first step to the future. AI can help reduce and predict the risks of climate change, allowing us to make a difference before it’s too late. And all of these advancements are only the beginning, there’s so much more to come. 133 million new Artificial Intelligence jobs are said to be created by Artificial Intelligence by the year 2022.