Artificial Intelligence | Mankind’s Greatest Creation

With the relentless technological advancements, machines have already surpassed our expectations on their ability, and rapid improvements are being implemented regularly. Artificial intelligence is a popular term that depicts the ultimate improvement a machine can have through humans. It’s a vast concept that may shape the future world to a whole new form.

What is Artificial Intelligence

Simply put, artificial intelligence or AI is a form of intelligence that is demonstrated by machines through intelligent software and can execute tasks by itself that require human knowledge and experience. With a sufficient amount of data, an AI-enabled program will be able to generate the best results by itself in a series of different outcomes without the need for further programming or human interactions.

Though artificial intelligence may appear as the latest concept of this era, the main concept was formed much before with the famous approaches of Alan Turing, whose concepts shaped the modern-day AI. The Turing Test still remains one of the simplest tests that can distinguish humans from machines with very simple approaches. And now, we can enjoy different AI introduced things all the time like the text to speech features in our computer or mobile phone.

The modern machines have faced significant improvements in artificial improvements. The primary expectation from AI is taking necessary steps and coming to an appropriate conclusion at unique situations and environments. For example, Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo is a program that is made to compete against humans on a Go match. The AlphaGo beat world champion Lee Sedol in 4 out of 5 games.

Furthermore, the upgraded version, AlphaGo Zero beat the original AlphaGo 100 times in a streak with just 40 days of learning time.  Another example is Watson from IBM, which does various jobs like pattern recognition, evidence build-up through reading information, implementing them on a studio or chatbot, building models and so on. There are some programs that even wrote literature, with which complete essays or episodes have already been made.

Types of Artificial Intelligence

Since it’s a vast subject, there are many kinds of criteria to determine the types. The most widely implemented are these 3 systems:

1. Analytical AI
2. Inspired by humans AI
3. Collective or humanized AI

Analytical AI is the only type we could achieve so far. It involves cognitive intelligence, which means the process of understanding thought and acquire knowledge based on the data. For example, speech recognition software collects data from human speech and acts accordingly.

Human inspired Al has emotional intelligence in addition to the cognitive ones. So it understands basic emotions from humans and takes that into account while making decisions.

The humanized AI consists of all types of abilities and even has socialism and self-awareness.

There are other types of AI that give vaster insight. For example:

1. Machine learning: It is a basic form of artificial intelligence that learns in a new environment by processing data without human interference, improving its performance over time by processing more data. It’s effectively used in biometrics now.

2. Natural language processing (NLP): It is a subfield of both AI and linguistics and focuses on the computer to human interactions by processing information in human language or natural language. It can translate languages and extract information from a written or spoken document.

3. Speech: It is a common form used in typing mainly that can transform human speech into written documents and also speak written documents in human language.

4. Expert systems: These are the types of systems that can emulate the ability of decision making of humans. Vastly used in the medical field, these systems can make judgment calls on difficult situations faster than humans.

5. Planning, scheduling, and optimization: The main purpose of AI is to plan and schedule for an event or situation and optimize for the best possible outcomes.

6. Robotics: AI in robotics can change the course of humanity by exponentially increasing efficiency and auto-correct contradictory programs given by humans.

7. Vision: This type of AI recognizes pictures of written documents or places through image recognition, and can also recognize human face for security purposes, and are vastly used in smartphones.

The most simplified types of AI can be:

1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence or Weak AI
2. Artificial General Intelligence or Strong AI

Weak AI is already being used in day to day human life, which can handle only 1 sole purpose but implement intelligence while handling it. The previously mentioned AlphaGo is a weak AI that can only participate in Go games.

The Strong AI or AGI can handle more than 1 purpose and are a step closer to the human brain because it stimulates the human brain and the neural network system. The ultimate form of AGI may achieve technological singularity, which means discovering a new set of knowledge that even humans will not be able to understand.

Aspects of AI

The 7 aspects of artificial intelligence had been published in the 1955 Dartmouth Summer Research Project. Briefly, they are:

1. AI will stimulate the human brain and its higher functions.
2. Computers programmed to use NLP or natural language.
3. Determining the complexity and measuring the outcomes of a given problem.
4. Machine improving itself over time by processing large amounts of data.
5. Software showing creativity and randomness in what it does.
6. Hypothetical neural network arrangements can form newer concepts just like in the human brain.
7. Dealing with new ideas rather than events.

These 7 aspects have already been completed to some extent till now.

Why Go for Artificial Intelligence

Human civilization depends on efficiency. With the progress in time, we invent newer software and machines to make our lives easier. With artificial intelligence on the field, this process can be exponentially hastened. A world where machines can learn and act without the need of being programmed by humans more often.

At present, AI can be seen extensively in the software in our smartphones and pcs. We already achieved the phase where we give less input and get more things done. Instead of typing, use voice assistants. Translate unknown languages in an instant, use security features that are way advanced than patterns and passwords, search the most relevant data according to our searching habits.

Artificial intelligence has been effectively used in astronomy, understanding the possibilities of different space objects, simulating the launching pattern of space probes sent to different planets with different environments and gravities, determine the possibility of completing a set of tasks or operations.

AI has been a new member of medical science, mainly used for judgment calls. Pre-programmed robots have been used for quite a long time to do specific jobs effectively what humans can’t do at microscopic levels, but AI is used nowadays to determine the best approach in a series of different ones.

AI is also used extensively in designing different products with different model types. AI recognizes the build quality and also generate newer models through simulation. Also in aerospace engineering, AI determines the causes of crashing a plane by generating simulation models, and also prevent them to some extents. The implementations of AI are limitless, which may grant the human race to achieve the next major technological era.

Risks Involving Artificial Intelligence

While artificial intelligence can be stated in the future, the risks are as big as they come. With the present rate of upgrades, it can be stated that soon enough the AI will become way too powerful to handle, and it can also break the bonds of humans at some level. Technology has already become an extension to the human body, we live with it. Advanced AI may even try to control humans in the near future.

Problems that are already occurring are also vital. AI is destroying human jobs. An intelligent computer can get thousands of times more work than the average group of humans. Many companies have already substituted humans with machines because of their cheaper and more efficient working abilities.

At a high intelligence level, AI may escape human control and connect itself to the internet, getting worldwide knowledge at a time. Then it can be uncontrollable. Also, without being programmed of morality and basic humanity, AI can perform inhumane decisions in some situations to solve them, since they haven’t been taught humanity. AI can also harm humans to an extent. The approaches must be very careful when it involves artificial intelligence.

Conclusion

Despite the possible negative outcomes, artificial intelligence really is the future of humanity. Like any other technology, it may be blessings for us or curse, depending on the approach through which we humans proceed. Artificial intelligence can save thousands of lives and can do way more than humans. There is still a vast portion of artificial intelligence to be improved over time and it can be safe to assume that in near future, humans will have the best of artificial intelligence and use that for the sake of humanity.