Artificial Intelligence (AI) has immense transformational power influencing how we work and live on a global scale. It´s become a new driving force in the ongoing digitalisation of our world. AI is not simply one technology, but it´s a goal to enhance its capabilities to improve our world rather than enabling it to operate just like a human brain. It´s rapid progress means that machines showing intelligent behaviour five years ago bares little significance today. As a result, it´s getting significantly smarter.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana: The Life of Reason, 1905
WHAT IS ArtificiaL Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a system that has an ability to interpret external data correctly. As it learns from such data, it’s able to carry out specific goals and tasks, operating autonomously without any human intervention. AI relies on the amount of data that feeds into its algorithms, a set of instructions defining the behaviour of AI.
THE TOOLS OF
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
One approach to creating AI is a process known as machine learning. Engineers train their algorithm models by providing them with a massive amount of samples known as datasets. The machine learning algorithm analyses and detects patterns in the training data, from which it can imitate a particular human behaviour or perform a very specific job. This system learns continuously from the accumulating data: the more data an algorithm receives, the better trained the algorithm becomes. And each time the outcomes improve.
Deep Learning
Deep learning or deep neural networks is a method of AI that has made significant advances over the last few years. As a subset of machine learning, deep learning is a process that defines an artificial neural network designed to learn the way the human brain learns. Neural networks are able to “train” themselves to discover similarities and patterns in data, even when their human creators do not know the patterns exist.
Datasets in Deep Learning
Neural networks can process unstructured data such as images, video, audio and text documents. For instance, a deep learning image classifier can be trained on millions of publicly available labelled photos, such as the ImageNet dataset. The trained AI model is then able to recognise objects with images often far more accurately than humans. UTKFace is another dataset used for a variety of tasks such as automated face detection, age estimation, and age progression. Microsoft´s MS -Celeb-1M, until recently, was the largest publicly available face recognition dataset in the world containing over 10 million images of nearly 100,000 individuals.
Such datasets have enabled deep learning´s immense progress. They are at the root of recent advances in self-driving cars, facial recognition, phone cameras that can identify objects (and tell you if they´re for sale).
HOW IS
Artificial Intelligence USED?
Most aspects of our lives are now touched by artificial intelligence in one way or another. For instance, AI enables Facebook to recognise faces in images and tag users (image recognition), allows Siri to understand your voice and act accordingly (speech recognition), helps Tesla to develop self-driving cars, and generates human style responses to book a hairdresser´s appointment or a table in a restaurant.
AI systems help determine decision-making processes. For example, they decide which treatments get used on people with illnesses and diagnose diseases, who qualifies for life insurance, whether we recieve a bank loan, how much prison time a person serves, which job applicants get interviews, and they´re also part of security checks at airports. In education, AI based virtual teaching assistants and chatbots are being experimented with. A groundbreaking and mass AI experiment in China could rapidly shape how the world learns. This is just a taste of what´s to come.
HOW Artificial
Intelligence AFFECTS
SOCIETY.
Today, artificial intelligence plays a role in billions of people’s lives. Sometimes unnoticed but often with profound consequences, it transforms our societies and challenges what it means to be human.
Given its capacity to process massive amounts of data, it is truly revolutionising the workplace. Companies are beginning to take note of its impact on generating higher productivity and efficiency.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
A HISTORY OF AI
For a brief overview of the history and future of AI, check out this useful guide.
LOSING CONTROL
Read about how we lost control of our faces and how our personal online photos have been incorporated into systems of surveillance without our knowledge.
THE IMPACT OF ALGORITHMS
Listen and watch how algorithms can increase inequality and weaken democracy.