THE A.I. REVOLUTION IS ON!

Significant progress has been made in the field of artificial Intelligence in the last few years. Mysteries in Math have been uncovered leading to algorithms that were elusive for many years. GPUs have found a new purpose and are getting re-defined to provide the much needed computing capabilities for running AI applications. Cloud infrastructure has already matured that shall make large neural networks more scalable. AI software libraries have been open-sourced. This convergence has set the stage for the AI revolution.

AI is resulting in path breaking innovations and there is a clear hunger for adoption for AI in the industry. Today, self-driven vehicles are a reality. It is claimed they will make the road travel safer. Self-driven cabs are already running on the streets of Singapore and Pittsburg. There are other examples where AI has been applied to address common life problems. One curious case that caught my attention is where a Japanese farmer used an AI application based on Tensor flow to sort cucumbers according to their texture. This epitomizes how AI can be applied to address what seem to be basic problems but had no solutions earlier.

At the same time there are many more daunting challenges where AI may possibly find solutions in near future. AI evangelists and experts from world of medicine have discovered areas for deep collaboration. This brings new hope of finding cure for cancer. New improved prosthetics driven by AI are being created for physically disabled. The visually challenged may soon get AI assistants for providing them directions and guidance while walking. And there are innumerable other possibilities to improve quality of life through application of artificial intelligence.

In parallel, the leading neuro scientists are trying to gain better understanding of brain and its functioning. Neural science is very vast and we know very little about it today. How did nature create the most advanced computing machine millions of years ago of which significant part still remains a mystery? Many big initiatives are underway to find some of these answers. Anyone who is tuned to the developments in this field must have heard of the Human Brain Project. Obama government has sponsored a huge initiative for mapping the brain activities that shall unfold deep mysteries of nature’s most complex machine.

Going forward, we hope to see a strong confluence of neural research in the world of medicine together with AI innovations from the computing world. May be in a few years from now we will see the dawn of the “real intelligence” for machines.