How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the world!!

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches, but advancements in machine learning and deep learning are creating a paradigm shift in virtually every sector of the tech industry. 

From SIRI to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly. While science fiction often portrays AI as robots with human-like characteristics, AI can encompass anything from Google’s search algorithms to IBM’s Watson to autonomous weapons

Types of AI

Artificial narrow intelligence (ANI) OR Weak AI: It has a narrow range of abilities. Artificial intelligence today is properly known as narrow AI (or weak AI), in that it is designed to perform a narrow task (e.g. only facial recognition or only internet searches or only driving a car.

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) OR Strong AI: It is on par with human capabilities. It is the concept of a machine with general intelligence that mimics human intelligence and/or behaviours, with the ability to learn and apply its intelligence to solve any problem. AGI can think, understand, and act in a way that is indistinguishable from that of a human in any given situation

Artificial superintelligence (ASI) : which is more capable than a human. It is the hypothetical AI that doesn't just mimic or understand human intelligence and behaviour; ASI is where machines become self-aware and surpass the capacity of human intelligence and ability.

Examples of Weak AI(which is commonly used these days)

• Rankbrain by Google / Google Search
• Siri by Apple, Alexa by Amazon, Cortana by Microsoft and other virtual assistants
• IBM's Watson
• Image / facial recognition software
• Disease mapping and prediction tools
• Manufacturing and drone robots
• Email spam filters / social media monitoring tools for dangerous content
• Entertainment or marketing content recommendations based on watch/listen/purchase behaviour
• Self-driving cars

Machine Learning & Deep Learning

Artificial intelligence is a set of algorithms and intelligence to try to mimic human intelligence. Machine learning is one of them, and deep learning is one of those machine learning techniques.

• Machine learning feeds a computer data and uses statistical techniques to help it "learn" how to get progressively better at a task, without having been specifically programmed for that task, eliminating the need for millions of lines of written code. Machine learning consists of both supervised learning (using labelled data sets) and unsupervised learning (using unlabeled data sets). 
• Deep learning is a type of machine learning that runs inputs through biologically-inspired neural network architecture. The neural networks contain a number of hidden layers through which the data is processed, allowing the machine to go "deep" in its learning, making connections and weighting input for the best results 

Importance of AI

Artificial Intelligence has a huge impact on our lives and here are some points which make AI incredibly important to us:

• AI automates repetitive learning and discovery through data
• AI adds intelligence to existing products
• AI adapts through progressive learning algorithms
• AI analyzes more and deeper data
• AI achieves incredible accuracy
• AI gets the most out of data

How AI is transforming the world, and its Applications

While many people agree that AI is the next big thing in technology and is set to revolutionize our lives, they do not realize that AI has already started to make waves in everything we do. We have reached a point in technology where Artificial Intelligence or AI has moved out of the pages of science fiction and is now science fact  AI has made its way into numerous sectors and is already affecting our lives. This could be something as subtle such as a music app creating a playlist based on your tastes, to more dramatic examples such as defeating human opponents in complex games

Applications: 

• Transportation: Although it could take a decade or more to perfect them, autonomous cars will one day ferry us from place to place.
• Manufacturing: AI-powered robots work alongside humans to perform a limited range of tasks like assembly and stacking, and predictive analysis sensors keep equipment running smoothly.
• Healthcare: In the comparatively AI-nascent field of healthcare, diseases are more quickly and accurately diagnosed, drug discovery is sped up and streamlined, virtual nursing assistants monitor patients and big data analysis helps to create a more personalized patient experience.
• Education: Textbooks are digitized with the help of AI, early-stage virtual tutors assist human instructors and facial analysis gauges the emotions of students to help determine who’s struggling or bored and better tailor the experience to their individual needs.
• Media: Journalism is harnessing AI, too, and will continue to benefit from it. Bloomberg uses Cyborg technology to help make quick sense of complex financial reports. The Associated Press employs the natural language abilities of Automated Insights to produce 3,700 earning reports stories per year — nearly four times more than in the recent past.
• Customer Service: Last but hardly least, Google is working on an AI assistant that can place human-like calls to make appointments at, say, your neighbourhood hair salon. In addition to words, the system understands context.

How Can AI be Dangerous?

• The AI is programmed to do something devastating: Autonomous weapons are artificial intelligence systems that are programmed to kill. In the hands of the wrong person, these weapons could easily cause mass casualties. 
• The AI is programmed to do something beneficial, but it develops a destructive method for achieving its goal: This can happen whenever we fail to fully align the AI’s goals with ours, which is strikingly difficult. If you ask an obedient intelligent car to take you to the airport as fast as possible, it might get you there chased by helicopters and covered in vomit, doing not what you wanted but literally what you asked for. 

Artificial intelligence is no longer mere science fiction as it has long gone far beyond theories and assumptions. Even though some of the advanced manifestations of AI, like fully autonomous vehicles or an Online Classroom Program drug that will cure major diseases, haven’t arrived yet, we still can observe its presence in almost any sphere of human activity — from entertainment to automotive, e-commerce to the economy. AI is everywhere — from the smartphone you are carrying around with you to IoT devices. 

The world is fast evolving, with Artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront in changing the world and the way we live. 

Stay tuned to BYJU'S Exam Prep for more Technology articles. 

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