Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) Replace Humans in Future?

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AI is known as narrow AI or weak AI because it is developed to perform a limited role such as driving a car, internet searches and facial recognition). However, general AI or strong AI is yet to thrive in the tech market. It is believed that general AI /strong AI might outperform humans at every intellectual task in the near future.


Sumera B Reshi

AI is seeping its way into our lives, affecting every aspect of our lives.

From SIRI to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly. In fact, AI is affecting the lives of people from moment to moment. AI is not just robots portrayed in Hollywood but it embodies anything from Google’s search algorithms to IBM’s Watson to autonomous weapons.

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AI is known as narrow AI or weak AI because it is developed to perform a limited role such as driving a car, internet searches and facial recognition). However, general AI or strong AI is yet to thrive in the tech market. It is believed that general AI /strong AI might outperform humans at every intellectual task in the near future.

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new involvements and perform human-like tasks. For example from chess-playing computers to self-driving cars – rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing. Using these technologies, computers can be trained to undertake specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in the data.

According to a 2015 report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, commute times in the US have been steadily climbing year after year, resulting in 42 hours of rush-hour traffic delay per commuter in 2014—with an estimated $160 billion in lost productivity.

Reducing commute times is no simple problem to solve.  A single trip may involve multiple modes of transportation not to mention the expected and the unexpected: construction; accidents; road or track maintenance; and weather conditions can constrict traffic flow with little to no notice. Furthermore, long-term trends may not match historical data, depending on the changes in population count and demographics and local economies.

Here’s how AI is already helping to tackle the complexities of transportation. AI offers massive opportunity to create tangible and visible impact in people’s lives.

Raj Nijjer, vice president at Yext, predicted that by 2020, half of the searches made would be voice searches and we have already witnessed an increase in the use of voice-activated search, be that Amazon’s Alexa or Echo devices, Apple’s Siri software, or Microsoft’s Cortana. As these devices use AI to deliver results, based on the user’s questions, you need to be sure that the right information is listed on your website.

Not only audio’s but images are expected to make searching easier. Over the years, images have grown substantially. In 2001, there were 250 million Google images. By 2010, these images have grown to 10 billion, therefore it can be said that customers are 80 per cent more likely to engage with content supplemented with images. 

Additionally, Sephora introduced the ability to upload a picture of your face so that you can look yourself what make-up products like lipstick or eyeshades suit you. This improves the customer satisfaction and saves buying times.

Google introduced their Shop the Look experience in September 2016.  It works in concurrence with fashion bloggers. It gives people a feel for an outfit which they have chosen for themselves. It also reduces shopping time to a greater extent. Indeed machine learning systems (MLS) are not only replacing older algorithms but are do exceptional jobs that were once done by humans. For instance, Aptonomy and Sanbot, makers of drones and robots, are using improved vision systems to automate much of the work of security guards.

The software company Affectiva, among others, is using them to recognize emotions such as joy, surprise, and anger in focus groups. And Enlitic is one of several deep-learning startups that use them to scan medical images to help diagnose cancer.

These are impressive achievements, but the function of AI-based systems is still quite narrow. We are far from machines that exhibit general intelligence across diverse domains.

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