Yes. It will. In fact, it already has. AI (Artificial Intelligence) increases our productivity and economic prosperity like nothing else ever has. AI has changed the way we work, play, and spend our leisure time.

So, What Exactly is Intelligence?

Intelligence is a system’s ability to acquire new information and to apply that information in a way that increases the system’s output quality over time. In humans, senses absorb data from the world around us. Humans can infer quite a bit with surprisingly little information. For example, a human will know that the sun just went behind a cloud from nothing more than perceiving an unexpected drop in brightness during a sunny day. We don’t have to look up to verify it, we have enough information already. We can make huge abstract, conceptual leaps with very few data points.

Conscienceness is a never-ending feedback loop rich with data. Intelligence is built on that data. When a child is playing, they are participating in a feedback loop that enables them to learn.

Computers can demonstrate intelligence if they are able to take in information, make a choice based on that information, and then change their output based on those choices. This, however, is not ‘AI’ as most people think. This is more or less a ‘captured’ human intelligence. The idea with AI is to get a computer to be able to make use of (and interact with) a dynamic world using the same information way we use. Machines are capable of this, but they require large amounts of power and massive amounts of data to get it done.

Today’s AI and the human mind can accomplish similar tasks but the approach is totally different. Where AI uses large amounts of data and repetition, humans use reason.

So, What Exactly is Artificial Intelligence?

To be honest, the definition is always changing.

For now, AI is loosely defined as the ability of a machine to be able to perform tasks that normally would require a human to do so. Things like speech recognition, visual perception, decision-making, and language translation. But the thing is, all of those things are possible without AI. You can do all of those things with a complex next of IF/THEN statements in most programming languages.

The AI that’s on everyone’s mind is closer to a machine that can learn on its own.

To be honest, the definition is always changing.

For now, AI is loosely defined as the ability of a machine to be able to perform tasks that normally would require a human to do so. Things like speech recognition, visual perception, decision-making, and language translation. But the thing is, all of those things are possible without AI. You can do all of those things with a complex next of IF/THEN statements in most programming languages.

A simple algorithm is a set of rules to be followed. That’s all. Algorithms can be extremely fast, but by themselves, they can only be as smart as the developer that wrote them. Neural networks are more or less a way to create a self-improving algorithm.

AI is by no means some far off futuristic concept, but rather a tool that is here helping humanity today. AI is being integrated into a variety of different sectors and industries. Here are 5 small examples of the many current uses of AI technology.

Finance

Investments in the United States tripled between 2013 and 2014 to a total of $12.2 billion dollars. According to industry experts, this is because ‘Decisions about loans are now being made by software that can take into account a variety of finely parsed data about a borrower, rather than just a credit score and a background check.’ AI can create personalized investment portfolios, obviating the need for stockbrokers and financial advisers.

National Security

According to former Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, AI plays a crucial part in America’s defenses. Our military deployed AI ‘to sift through the massive troves of data and video captured by surveillance and then alert human analysts of patterns or when there is abnormal or suspicious activity.’

Health Care

AI-powered tools help developers improve the overall sophistication and effectiveness of health care. In one example, Merantix, a German company, applies AI to medical imaging. Merantix uses AI to ‘detects lymph nodes in the human body in Computer Tomography (CT) images.’ Humans can do the same, but the going rate for radiologists is about $100 per hour and even at that price, they can only read around four images an hour.

Criminal Justice

AI has been deployed in the field of criminal justice. Chicago developed an AI-driven ‘Strategic Subject List’ that analyzes people’s risk of becoming future criminals. The system then ranks people on a scale from 0 to 500. Factors such as age, criminal history, level of victimization, and known gang affiliation are taken into account.

Transportation

Machine learning is producing major innovations in the transportation industry. Research by Jack Karsten and Cameron Kerry of the Brookings Institution found that over $80 billion dollars were invested in autonomous vehicle technology as of 2017. Autonomous driving is going to change the world and wouldn’t be possible without AI.

So, the real question is not, ‘Will AI really change our lives?’ as much as it’s ‘How much more can AI change our lives?’

Joseph Everett