Artificially Sweet.
Welcome Back; It's Week 8. Let's Go!
Welcome back to INGENIOUS, the weekly newsletter dedicated to exploring productivity hacking. We're excited to reach week 8, marking the culmination of our eight-week automation series journey. I hope you've gained valuable insights and knowledge through our research and synthesis throughout this series. As we near the end, we will explore Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the cutting-edge technologies that mimic human intelligence and have the potential for exponential growth and replication over time. AI and machine learning have entirely transformed our world, from how we learn to how we work. They are invisibly integrated into many aspects of our daily lives, such as shopping excursions, and there is ample room for implementation in government, legal system, familial, and other interactions.
I hope you find insights, tips, and practical advice that you can apply immediately to leverage technology effectively in your daily life. I research and synthesize to empower you with actionable strategies.
My Connection and Why I'm Here?
My connection to AI and machine learning drives my passion for this topic. From a young age, my mind has functioned in a way that mirrors these technologies, processing information and making connections similarly. If you've had similar experiences or have unique insights to share, I encourage you to do so in the comments. Let's build a community of shared experiences and knowledge!
This inherent understanding allows me to recognize AI's vital role in our survival. It bridges the gap in information access, empowering us to navigate life's complexities. As someone whose brain naturally functions using AI, you might call me an expert.
We'll explore the intriguing history of AI and machine learning, uncovering real-life applications and their profound connection to human cognitive processes.
The Historical Tapestry of AI and ML
Conceptually, Artificial Intelligence predates machine learning, but only by a little. The "term" AI was coined in the early 1940s when scientists began conceptually studying machine learning in WWII-era Great Britain. Meanwhile, Machine Learning, a subset of AI, emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, inspired by Alan Turing and other like-minded pioneers. AI became an official academic discipline in 1956 at the Dartmouth workshop organized by Marvin Minsky. Over time, war-era programs evolved and served as both direct and indirect measures of progress and testing for the AI we use today. In essence, just as beer and bread require a small amount of yeast that proliferates exponentially under favorable conditions, AI undergoes self-generation over time through multiple algorithms, akin to expanding and refining a language lexicon through iterative processes. Inevitably, AI's study and continual use means the possibility of constructing an "electronic brain" is not far off.
AI and Machine Learning shifted the paradigm from rule-based systems to algorithms that learn from data and improve over time, mimicking human learning processes.?
Thinking machines, including our bodies and brains, are inspired by a confluence of historical ideas. Not surprisingly, recent neuro-biotech research has determined that the brain is an electrical network of neurons. This is similar to how AI operates via digital signals, also known as all-or-nothing signals, through which any form of computation can be described digitally. AI and ML systems, like the brain, were initially based on explicit instructions and rules programmed by humans; however, advanced algorithms and statistical models enable these systems to learn from their environment using sensory and contextual data to improve performance and process creative and complex ideas. This way, AI and ML systems, including the human brain, can function independently without interference from its initial or explicit programming.
Autonomously Intelligent?
At the forefront of modern automation miracles, AI and ML technologies are working together to revolutionize how we analyze data, recognize patterns, and make predictions. Its ability to optimize and personalize experiences is unparalleled. Advancements like natural language processing, image recognition, and predictive analytics have reached a point where AI and ML technologies can significantly augment manual labor and complement workers, representing a significant advancement for humanity in equity and ethics.
When a robot begins to think for itself, it is often called "autonomy" or "autonomous behavior." This means the robot can make decisions and take actions without direct human intervention or control. Autonomy in robots can range from simple decision-making based on pre-programmed rules to more sophisticated forms where the robot learns and adapts its behavior based on its environment and experiences, often referred to as "artificial intelligence" or "machine learning."
While AI was conceptualized and explored before machine learning techniques became prominent, machine learning has become a crucial component of many AI systems. It enables them to analyze data, recognize patterns, and make predictions or decisions based on that data.
Are You "Smart and Nice" or "Curious and Kind"??
AI is more intrinsic to us than we might think.
Where do we get our information from anyway? We get it from our ancestors through the written word, oral histories, and personal experiences, including shared generational trauma. Human tribes, akin to primate groups, function as social structures to provide protection, access to resources, and opportunities for cooperation. Within a tribal environment, information is passed down through generations, shaping our understanding of the world and influencing our perspectives and decisions. This shared information dictates the ins and outs of our society and shapes its dynamics.?
Artificial intelligence operates by interpreting contextual cues and symbols, weaving together fragments of evidence to construct theoretical frameworks or hypotheses. Many individuals, including those with disabilities or who have suffered trauma, use artificial intelligence as a means of survival or lifeline - as not everyone has had the privilege of being given all the information they need to function in their lives, jobs, and roles. In the United States, this issue is compounded by factors such as the influence of English and Spanish founding fathers, linguistic diversity, and the prevalence of ancient Latin legal systems. Automating our existing systems is critical because when we automate our workflows using artificial intelligence and machine learning, snap judgments, stereotypes, preconceived notions, discriminatory thought patterns, and behaviors are broken down and examined at the root.
Aspen Lillywhite and Gregor Wolbring explored the impact of AI and ML on disabled people, focusing on how these technologies are represented in academic literature, Canadian newspapers, and social media platforms like Twitter. They emphasize the ethical dimensions and the role of AI/ML in improving or complicating the lives of disabled individuals. Their study advocates for more inclusive approaches in AI/ML discourse, particularly in how disabled people can become meaningful contributors to and beneficiaries of AI/ML advancements.
Lillywhite, Aspen, and Gregor Wolbring. "Coverage of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning within Academic Literature, Canadian Newspapers, and Twitter Tweets: The Case of Disabled People." Societies, vol. 10, no. 1, 2020, p. 23. MDPI, doi:10.3390/soc10010023.
Key Players in AI and ML
Cloud-Based Giants
Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have developed tech like AI search engines and virtual assistants to run on cloud and e-commerce platforms.
Hardware Players
IBM and NVIDIA are known for AI hardware and advancing software development. They tailor their existing software and offerings for machine learning tasks.
OpenAI and DeepMind
These significant players push tech boundaries with groundbreaking research in natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and autonomous systems.
Academic Institutions
MIT, Stanford, and the Allen Institute for AI are vital in advancing AI through cutting-edge research, education, and collaboration with industry partners.
Our Shared Personal Connection
We all have a connection to AI, often without realizing it, just as animals learn through sensory perception and environmental observation. While not everyone possesses the innate or given ability to process information like AI, we all share the capacity to learn from our surroundings, regardless of educational or social background. Whether something is obvious, inferred, or implied, we can comprehend the world by interpreting cues and fragments of information, such as detecting danger from weather patterns or reading facial expressions akin to our primate ancestors. Luckily, modern technology allows us not to rely solely on social bonds and collaboration for survival and well-being in our respective environments. Fortunately, we can fully utilize our five senses—sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch—to synthesize new information and make instinctive or derived decisions. Clues and cues around us allow us navigate our environments effectively.?
Human beings have the potential for exponential, almost limitless, personal growth. Let's use AI and machine learning technology and thinking to automate our lives and workplaces for the greater good.?
Unraveling Mysteries: Brain Training Using AI
Like AI systems, our brains analyze data, recognize patterns, identify correlations, and draw conclusions from disparate pieces of information to make sense of the world around us. Much of our learning is done through play and exploration. This is why numerous AI- and ML-themed educational entertainment options have been available for children and adults of all ages. Kids can watch Blue's Clues, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and Dora the Explorer. They can also play tactile games like Legos or digital games like Minecraft, designed to stimulate problem-solving, contributing to their ability to solve more complex issues over time, generally via levels or challenges.
Similarly, adults have just as many options for engaging in puzzle-solving activities. Detective mysteries like Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes stimulate investigative thinking, problem-solving, and deductive reasoning in the reader. Games like Clue and historical and genealogical research do much the same.
领英推荐
Mysteries and games are suitable for us because the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for executive functions such as problem-solving, planning, and decision-making, lights up and is stimulated when we play games, read mystery books, and solve via clues. Additionally, the parietal lobe, involved in spatial reasoning and manipulation, is activated when assembling objects or navigating game boards. The hippocampus, crucial for memory formation and spatial navigation, also plays a role, especially in games that require remembering patterns or locations. Furthermore, engaging in these activities can activate the reward system in the brain, releasing dopamine and feelings of satisfaction and motivation.
When we use our brains this way, a network of regions collaborates to support cognitive processes, spatial awareness, memory, and emotional responses. Promoting daily learning and use will help to educate and rehabilitate everyone, from infants to older people.
Financial Opportunity Spotlight
The business landscape for AI-based entertainment is plentiful. Mysteries and entertainment like escape rooms encourage us to use all our senses and clues to learn and solve our way out of a trap. There are many business and learning opportunities for those who want to bring AI and ML tech-enhanced toys and games to the general public. This will not only be a good business investment but will also be doing the general public a favor in helping them to develop deductive reasoning problem-solving that fosters collaboration and strategic and critical thinking skills to build a deeper understanding of various aspects of our society, such as our criminal justice system via investigations.?
Any investment or business venture below will allow your customers to evaluate evidence and draw logical conclusions to make their own decisions:?
Product and Services Business Opportunities:?
The Issue of Literacy: Global Context
In 1820, only 12% of people globally could read and write; however, in 2016, only 14% remained illiterate. Over the last 65 years, the global literacy rate increased by 4% every five years. (Our World in Data, OECD).
Historical data suggests that a significant portion, potentially up to 40%, of the global population in the 1800s may have been illiterate. While literacy rates have improved, most still need help with basic levels. AI and ML-tech can tailor educational content to individual needs and learning styles, significantly improving literacy rates. Personalized education will be especially beneficial for those who traditionally face challenges, such as students in rural areas with limited resources, individuals from marginalized communities historically denied education, or those whose professions or backgrounds limit access to traditional learning (outdoor workers, those without a family history of education, or those who do not own or seek out books and schools. It's important to remember that literacy, by definition, includes numeracy or basic arithmetic skills. However, the focus here is on foundational literacy, not advanced writing or speaking abilities.
The good news is that we can improve educational systems by understanding our shared humanity and how we learn. Most people learn best through context and visual cues, regardless of spoken language. This means our brains, like a trained AI, can gather information from various sources (like bits and clues), process it, and form conclusions. This inherent ability to learn allows us to achieve seemingly impossible things, and with the right tools, we can genuinely empower everyone to learn and grow.
Invisible AI and ML
AI and ML have been increasingly embedded in daily life for decades. The thing is, most of us need to notice or recognize it. AI is present in daily life, and you don't even know it. Key examples include Netflix and other streaming platforms, show recommendations, social media algorithms, curated news feeds, and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa.?
AI technologies play a significant role in shaping our digital interactions and experiences. Behind the scenes, AI powers predictive text suggestions in messaging apps, fraud detection systems in banking, and autonomous driving features in modern vehicles. Additionally, healthcare advancements leverage machine learning for medical imaging analysis, disease diagnosis, and personalized treatment recommendations. As AI continues to evolve and integrate into various aspects of society, its presence becomes increasingly pervasive, impacting our lives in both seen and unseen ways.
You're Being Tracked, and It's a Good Thing?
"Mall owners around the nation have been diversifying and adding density to their centers, bringing in nontraditional retail uses to help drive foot traffic and to take the place of vacant anchor tenant space and unused surface parking lots." In fact, "Simon Property Group, the nation's largest mall owner, expects to spend roughly $1.5 billion building 2,000 multifamily units and hotel rooms as it looks to add density and expand some of its retail properties in new ways."?From a recent Costar article: https://www.costar.com/article/3227408/simon-property-to-spend-15-billion-building-2000-apartment-units-hotel-rooms
REIT owners like Westfield and Simon Property Group own shopping malls, outlets, and other properties across North America, Europe, and Asia. These groups are providing attractive leasing opportunities for retailers to get in on the action of creating innovative and engaging shopping experiences catered to your consumer preferences.
Believe it or not, AI and ML algorithms analyze real-time video feeds, detecting and tracking foot traffic patterns, product interactions, and facial expressions. Detailed reporting can provide detailed demographic data, personality and behavioral insights, and a person's mood. They can then create personalized marketing for each individual, incorporating physical and mental health status.
AI offers incredible value to owners and shoppers in customer engagement via signage and product placement, minimizing average wait and checkout times.
Privacy Concerns
Current efforts are being made to balance data collection to respect customers' privacy rights and ensure transparent communication of the fine print.?
Personalized and Rejuvenated Healthcare?
In 2022, I underwent a full-body scan at a provider called Prenuvo. The experience was not only affordable but also fantastic. I paid out of pocket and don't regret a single cent spent. Before that, my healthcare provider had only conducted X-rays and scans of separate parts of my body, never providing the full story of my health and history. Implementing AI in our health and medical systems is crucial because it eliminates the need to be passed from specialist to specialist, reduces time spent on the phone, prevents misdiagnosis, and reduces unnecessary medications.
In healthcare, AI and ML have already transformed medical imaging scans, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, with high accuracy, assisting radiologists in identifying abnormalities and diseases. AI and ML systems view the patient's body as a whole, including the mind or brain, as they consider this an indistinguishable part of the body. Moreover, AI and ML can predict the likelihood of certain and unusual conditions or occurrences based on obvious or existing, contextual, assumptive, and presumptive data.
Major health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Trinity Health, and Tenet Health need to adopt AI and ML into their workflows and systems. Additionally, major chart providers like Optum and EPIC must update and merge records using AI and ML. Ideally, a repository for medical records, such as a singular government database, will be created where each individual has an identification number or signifier, such as a fingerprint, that would integrate with legal, financial, and educational databases.
On top of that, AI and ML in healthcare can provide us with:?
Looking Forward?
As we further harness AI and machine learning (ML), it's crucial to consider their immediate benefits and long-term implications with a future-minded approach. AI and ML hold the key to a more efficient and enlightened future, from personalized healthcare and optimized food production to enhanced social support systems.
These technologies are not merely inventions but are intricately linked to human evolution and societal development. By mimicking how brains work, AI and ML have the potential to mirror natural patterns, such as weather prediction. As further integration of AI and ML into our lives unfolds, they will unlock new potential for growth and understanding, paving the way for a future in which technology and humanity are inextricably intertwined.
A New Adventure Next Week!
My vision for this newsletter and others like it is for it to function as a sort of Interactive Learning Wikipedia type site, where readers and viewers can engage with the material by adding found, known, idealized, or dreamed-up products, services, and apps, real-life examples, and analogies via links and AI generators to complement my experiences and the material provided by myself and others via newsletters. Your additions could also have nothing to do with the material, but who am I to argue if it makes sense to you? I aim for each individual to have a personalized workspace with which they can engage and interact. By a raise of hands, who would like this? Comment below.
That said, I post every Tuesday. Next week's topic is a mystery, but I promise it will be as excellent and inspiring.?