THE NUANCES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are some terminologies that we hear quite often, especially now, more than ever. It doesn’t come as a surprise to someone like you and me who is well versed in its nuances. However, for a newbie or an amateur who has just decided to foray into this space, the entire idea of AI/ML and NLP might prove to be a tad intimidating, don’t you think? This piece is thus intended to do away with the intimidating aspect of AI and make it even more appealing to all of you. After all, there might come a time when we have to co-exist with AI-powered humanoids!?

So, let us kickstart with what is Artificial Intelligence. What is all this hullabaloo surrounding it?

According to John McCarthy’s 2004 paper:?What is Artificial Intelligence??“It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.”

Going by nature and the amount of data that gets generated in today’s times, it surpasses humankind’s ability to take in, interpret and make decisive conclusions out of the same. The reason why AI is becoming increasingly important is that artificially intelligent systems are integrated with the power of absorbing and interpreting these kinds of an ever-increasing amount of data, with much ease. AI is thus rightly considered to be the future of all complex decision-making processes.

Artificial intelligence provides opportunities across several industries/functionalities:

Needless to say, artificial intelligence can make our lives easier. It is an amazing man-made functionality that can be used to the maximum possible extent to solve complex business problems and take equally crucial business decisions. Several industries like health care, logistics, human resources/human capital management (HCM), financial services, marketing/sales, logistics, and supply chain to name a few, stand to gain a big deal from AI-based solutions.

Keeping in mind the relevance of Covid-19 in today’s times, I am going to focus more on AI in healthcare and HCM in this piece. How did the virus impact human lives? How did AI step in? Did it manage to save the day? Read on!

In healthcare:

I’d daresay that the concept of AI is now at the top of the mind of several healthcare professionals and organizations across the globe. AI is slowly but steadily gaining momentum in this domain and is getting better and better at imitating humans but in a much more efficient manner. Take, for instance, applications like HealthifyMe. The use of AI and other interrelated concepts like the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is aiding people to extents that were unimaginable a few decades ago. Such applications take in certain data (Yes, data is everywhere!) about your lifestyle, and in return, they provide you with tailor-made diet charts and other ways and means of keeping that weight in check.

Alternatively, AI is also being used to detect diseases, such as the killer disease: Cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, a huge number of mammograms yield false positives. The integration of AI in this space is making lives a lot easier and more convenient because of its accurate nature.

Let us take up a more prevalent example. What do you think about smartwatches? The otherwise fashionable and sleek smart bands/watches that anyone and everyone today desire on their wrists are nothing but extremely well crafted, artificially intelligent timepieces that not only tell you how many steps you’ve treaded throughout your day but also allow you to keep a tab on your heart rate and other health aspects. Now isn’t that intriguing?

In human capital management:

Believe it or not, there has been an impending debate in recent times that revolves around whether or not Human Resource Management or Human Capital Management can be entirely usurped by Artificial Intelligence. Well, if you ask me, I’d say, not really. While AI does make the lives of HR professionals a lot easier, I would always stick to the fact that it is always going to be an integration of both – human AND artificial intelligence. For example:

In recruitment and onboarding:?Have you ever felt that an organization’s job application portal/form is quite mundane and monotonous? Did you ever feel like skipping questions and just getting done with it? Well, I cannot blame you but I do have a solution! During the recruitment process, AI can be put to use to make the application processes seamless by crafting applicant-friendly forms that a job applicant is more likely to complete, thus effectively scaling down the number of half-completed job applications! Now that’s a win-win, don’t you think?

In employee retention:?Some AI software is intelligent enough to capture employee performance and measure them against the key performance indicators of an organization. This means that those who do well shall be very easily pinpointed by the system thus making it a cakewalk for HR professionals to reward them adequately in order to keep their motivation (and performance) at the peak. AI is also used in many organizations today to predict which employee might just leave the organization prematurely, based on historical records. This aids the HR department in stepping in just at the right moment with preventive measures. Now if that ain’t smart, I don’t know what is!

Thus, all in all, it can be said that AI is surely here to stay. However, it shall be a matter of time to see whether or not it takes over human intelligence and human jobs. The answer to this is quite debatable and the entire scientific community is quite divided when it comes to this question. A few decades down the lane, whatever the case may be, I think it would do one good to remember and bear in mind that it is humankind that has created AI and it is humankind that will propel it ahead.?

Both AI and human intelligence are interdependent on each other and either of them alone will be quite ordinary!