Artificial Intelligence or AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines. These machines are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term ‘Artificial Intelligence also applies to any machine that showcases traits similar to the human mind such as learning and problem-solving.
The ideal characteristic of AI is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. The goals of artificial intelligence include learning, reasoning, and perception. Whenever we hear the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ the first thing that pops up in our mind is robots. And we all know this is all because of the big-budget films and novels that portray the images of the robots as havoc-creating creatures on the Earth. But all we know is that the portrayed image isn’t true.
Artificial intelligence is based on the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from the simplest to those that are even more complex. The goals of artificial intelligence include mimicking human cognitive activity. Researchers and developers in the field are making surprisingly rapid strides in mimicking activities such as learning, reasoning, and perception, to the extent that these can be concretely defined. Some believe that innovators may soon be able to develop systems that exceed the capacity of humans to learn or reason out any subject. AI is continuously evolving to benefit many different industries. Machines are wired using a cross-disciplinary approach based on mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology, and more.
AI has augmented many sectors with its different applications and improving technology every passing day. Though it has benefitted almost every sector around the technology, it has some disadvantages also. Let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of AI.
Advantages:
- Good at detail-oriented jobs.
- Reduced time for data-heavy tasks.
- Delivers consistent results.
- AI-powered virtual agents are always available to enhance the customer experience.
Disadvantages:
- Installation is expensive.
- Requires deep technical expertise.
- Limited supply of qualified workers to AI tools.
- Knows only what is being shown and what is being installed.
- Lack of ability to generalize from one task to another.
An assistant professor of Integrative Biology and Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University explained four types of AI in which it can be categorized. The categories are from task-specific intelligent systems which are used on a wide range today to sentient systems, which do not yet exist. AI can be categorized as follows:
- Reactive Machines: These systems are task-centric they do not possess any sort of memory. It cannot use its past experience to carry the tasks because it does not have any memory.
- Limited Memory: These systems have a memory so that past experiences can be used to carry out future tasks or decisions.
- Theory of Mind: Theory of mind is a psychology term. When applied to AI, it means that the system would have the social intelligence to understand emotions. This type of AI will be able to infer human intentions and predict behavior, a necessary skill for AI systems to become integral members of human teams.
- Self-awareness: In this category, AI systems have a sense of self, which gives them consciousness. Machines with self-awareness understand their own current state. This type of AI does not yet exist.
Different types of AI are applied in different fields and sectors and it has made it into a wide range of markets.
- AI in Healthcare: The biggest bets are on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. Companies are applying machine learning to make better and faster diagnoses than humans. Other AI applications include using online virtual health assistants and chatbots to help patients and healthcare customers find medical information, schedule appointments, understand the billing process, and complete other administrative processes.
- AI in Business: Machine learning algorithms are being integrated into analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to uncover information on how to better serve customers. Chatbots have been incorporated into websites to provide immediate service to customers.
- AI in Education: AI can automate grading, giving educators more time. It can assess students and adapt to their needs, helping them work at their own pace.
- AI in Finance: AI in personal finance applications, such as Intuit Mint or TurboTax, is disrupting financial institutions. Applications such as these collect personal data and provide financial advice.
- AI in Law: Using AI to help automate the legal industry’s labor-intensive processes is saving time and improving client service. Law firms are using machine learning to describe data and predict outcomes, computer vision to classify and extract information from documents and natural language processing to interpret requests for information.
- AI in Banking: Banks are successfully employing chatbots to make their customers aware of services and offerings and to handle transactions that don’t require human intervention. AI virtual assistants are being used to improve and cut the costs of compliance with banking regulations.
- AI in Transportation: In addition to AI’s fundamental role in operating autonomous vehicles, AI technologies are used in transportation to manage traffic, predict flight delays, and make ocean shipping safer and more efficient.
AI has made our lives easier! Using and implementing AI and its applications can definitely benefit but it is important to understand and think that is it necessary for your company or personal use? Is that technology or the application appropriate for your use or the company? These aspects and questions should also be explored as it is a one-time huge investment that definitely has huge returns.