Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

Is artificial intelligence (AI) part of the future? AI funding projections paint a $86 billion spending spree by 2023. Billions in cash, coupled with rapid technological breakthroughs, give us a future where AI seems plausible. Superintelligence may or may not happen, depending on which expert you ask. Today, we're using some form of artificial intelligence to power our daily tasks. Smartphones have AI that helps with routines, search, and taking photos. Vehicles also come equipped with a form of AI that assists with parking, collisions, pedestrians, and even cruise control. Despite the fears about artificial intelligence taking over humankind or simply not happening, there is one takeaway from all this: The technology has many benefits and near-endless applications.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

From Cortana to autonomous vehicles, the rapid progress of AI development is showing no signs of slowing down. Artificial intelligence can encompass nearly anything, from search engine algorithms to robotics. Here's a more detailed definition of AI: Artificial intelligence (AI) is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science that builds smart machines. These machines are capable of performing complex tasks, even ones that require human intelligence. AI uses a variety of approaches, such as deep learning and machine learning, to make jobs more natural to do. The vast improvement of these two capabilities has caused?a paradigm shift?in all sectors of the technology industry. There are two types of artificial intelligence: narrow AI (weak AI), and general AI (AGI or strong AI).

Narrow Artificial Intelligence

This type of AI is what everyone is using today. The design parameters for narrow AI is that it can only perform a "specific small task." For instance, facial recognition software is "only" used to identify faces, not cars or other objects. This type of AI can outperform humans at specific tasks such as chess, but nothing else.

General Artificial Intelligence

General AI (AGI) is what every researcher is aiming to create. While narrow AI deals with specific tasks, AGI has a much broader reach. This type of artificial intelligence will blow humans out of the water when it comes to cognitive tasks. Think of androids or robots that look and act human, but are smarter, faster, and stronger.?

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence holds both great promise and many benefits.

1. For the Economy, Business, and Industries

Artificial intelligence can benefit the economy by helping the evolution of work. Robots and AI will help people perform their tasks better, not take their jobs. The combination of man and machine will be unstoppable.

With deep learning and machine learning, AI can become smarter over time, thus increasing a business' efficiency. AI will also significantly reduce the?probability of human error?and study historical data to cut costs.

Facial recognition, pattern identification, and digital content analysis will be huge. Academic research, health sciences, and tech companies will enjoy enhanced capabilities.

2. For Humanity and Society

AI enhances information throughput and efficiency, helping people create new opportunities. We're talking about new streams for revenue generation, savings, and jobs.

By using search algorithms that provide targeted information, artificial intelligence enhances users' lifestyle choices. AI will handle all mundane tasks, such as data entry and answering emails. AI-powered smart homes can cut down on energy use and provide better security.

Throughout?the history of humanity, the improvement of technology has resulted in the improvement of the human condition. Think of electricity in homes and the automobile. But AI has the potential to eclipse these because machines will be able to help people solve more significant and more complicated social problems. Innovation will reign, and the quality of life will get better.

Artificial intelligence can significantly expand human creativity and ingenuity by handling tedious tasks. People will have more time to learn, experiment, and explore.

3. For Health care and Medicine services will be better at diagnostics because an AI wearable can monitor users 24/7. Artificial intelligence can help people extend their knowledge and understanding of medicine. Image-based AI diagnoses can help doctors better treat their patients.

AI in the Criminal Justice System

As crazy as it sounds, AI has already made it into the criminal justice system. Many police departments and courts are turning to artificial intelligence to mitigate bias. A machine now handles profiling and risk assessment. AI looks for patterns in criminal records and historical data to make a recommendation. The analysis should be free from racial, sexual, or other biases in theory. There have been reports that AI is using data to send people to jail for the wrong reasons. Predicting a person has a "high risk" of future criminal activity without any context is wrong. It's like the movie "Minority Report," where people get arrested before they commit a crime. If the justice system is going to use AI for the long term, it has to be 100% vetted and accurate because lives are at stake. One welcome benefit of AI in the justice system is that the retrieval of information is going to be faster. Algorithms can help people check someone’s criminal background or any public documents online. Lines at the courthouse or police department will be shorter, putting less strain on police officers and court officials.

Bad Robot?

Many people are afraid of AI becoming self-aware and wiping out humanity. For years, popular science fiction provided the backdrop for the public's knowledge of technology. Movies such as The Terminator, I, Robot, and Ex-Machina all give a glimpse of what the future with AI could be like. A common theme among these stories is that artificial intelligence can be dangerous if left unchecked. The myths about AI becoming conscious and evil are wrong. Artificial intelligence will become competent, not evil, and its goals will be vastly different from those of humans. While the threat is real, there are safeguards in place to prevent an AI apocalypse from happening. We're many decades away from a super-intelligent machine, and for now, the benefits of AI far outweigh the risks involved.