AI: The Gears

Happy Monday!

In a world where technology is reshaping our reality at an unprecedented pace, one phrase stands out: Artificial Intelligence (AI). At this point, it’s not just a buzzword; it's a force that's shaping industries, economies, and societies around the globe.

But would it kill us, take our jobs, or make our lives much better? What does it even mean for us as Africans? And how do we take advantage of its enormous potential?

Here's a 4 part series on my fully fledged thoughts (as of July 2023) on AI - The Gears, The Boom, The Nuances and The African Side.

But let's start with a brief introduction.

TL;DR

• AI is the simulation of human intelligence in computers, allowing them to think and learn like humans.
• In traditional computing, computers follow instructions to execute tasks predictably, even in complex applications like gaming.
• AI, however, shifts from using algorithms to solve problems to employing machine learning, which enables computers to learn and adapt.
• Using football as an analogy, traditional computing approaches playing football using step-by-step algorithms, while AI learns from watching several matches to optimize for winning.

What is AI

AI is?the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.

But to truly answer what AI is we need to have a shallow understanding, at least, of how computers work and their approach (most importantly) to problem-solving.

Computers, no matter how mundane or complex, are built to execute/obey instructions. We tell it what to do, and it predictably does it. Nothing more, nothing less.

And this is even true for seemingly complex applications like PES. With a game like PES, a computer will observe the current game state, look at the next possible moves out of many and choose which has the best outcome from it.

Let's use football to illustrate this properly.

In the traditional approach of computing, a computer would play football algorithmically (step by step; sequentially). So it considers things like which players are around me, who can I pass to, do I defend or attack, can I score from this angle? And more.

Fig 1 illustrates the options player A (with the ball) has to score a goal. It chooses to pass to player B, who then dribbles the defender and scores.

But an AI system would use a different approach. It wouldn't learn to play football by learning the rules (pass, throw, score corner, free kick, etc). It would just watch enough football matches to see what winning looks like and optimise for that.

It may not even understand the principle of what a penalty or goal kick is. It just knows how to play because it has watched enough games of people playing and learning, most consequentially, how to win.

And so with the same example illustrated above, an AI may choose to use a completely different route to score, because it probably calculates that it would be easier to score from that angle.

AI moves us from using Algorithms to solve problems to using Learning, and this is what computer scientists (the nerds with constant back pains) call Machine Learning. This ability to learn is what makes Machine Learning possible. Understanding how Machine Learning works is key to understanding the fears that come with AI.

You don’t want to miss the next episode -?AI: The Boom. In there, we will explore Machine Learning deeply, and look at why it is significant in all of this. We would also take a dive into why AI has seen an explosion these past few months.

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About Ponder

Ponder, my blog, is my attempt to share my random thoughts with you to inspire you, cause you to challenge your thinking and even make you laugh (Hopefully).

With ponder, you get to explore Minimalism, Christianity, Science, Graphic Design, an annoying appreciation of detail and out-of-the-box thinking. You get to explore all of these from the perspective of an African.

There’s more on my website:?joshwordey.org/blog