Artificial Intelligence: What You Need to Know

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gained prominence ever since the defeat of a chess grandmaster 20 years ago by IBM’s Deep Blue computer. Starting from their ability to help reduce likely human errors, they have found their way into every sector and as a result, are gaining more prominence day by day. This post will revolve around how artificial intelligence works, its history, its benefits, algorithms, and its future.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

By definition, artificial intelligence is a technology that allows machines/computers to perform the functions of human beings. These include seeing, understanding, and translating diverse languages, analyzing data, making recommendations, and a lot more. They are regarded as the counterparts of human beings because they are programmed to think, act, and respond to stimuli as human beings do.

Emergence of AI

The concept of Artificial intelligence came into light in the mid-20th century. Since then, several works and developments have led to what we call AI today. A brief timeline of its significant moments is as follows:

• Ancient times to 1940: During this time, various philosophers with Aristotle as a major one brought ideas relating to logic, reasoning, and automata.
• 1943: This year, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts created the first mathematical model for neural networks. This development serves as the foundational concept of AI.
• 1950: Alan Turing proposed the famous “Turing Test,” which was used to determine whether a machine could perform intelligent behavior like humans.
• 1956: The name “Artificial Intelligence” came into existence at the Dartmouth conference by John McCarthy. This year marked the formal beginning of AI as a field feasible for further research.
• 1960s-1970s: The initial excitement about AI’s potential was due to the development of early AI programs like ELIZA (a chatbot) and SHRDLU (a program that understands language).
• 1980s-1990s: Expert systems and neural networks (backpropagation algorithms) were developed. However, AI encountered a major challenge of limited computing power.
• 2000s till date: Machine learning, deep learning, and computing power breakthroughs, especially with the invention of improved hardware and big data which has led to increasing the capability of AI.

There is no specific date or year for the advent of AI. It became a whole from continuous development over several years.

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

Even though artificial intelligence is a technology that allows computers to perform like human beings, it still doesn’t mean it is foolproof. However, it has its benefits which include:

• Reduces/eliminates Human Error and Risk: The primary advantage of AI is to reduce or eliminate human error. It is normal for us humans to make mistakes, and most times we tend to learn from these mistakes. AI works similarly by reducing or sometimes eliminating these errors completely. More so, they can also be used to reduce the potential of health risks for humans. A typical example is places of work that are subjected to high radiation. High radiation can pose serious health issues to an average human, but AI in the form of robots is not vulnerable to these risks. If, at all, these robots get damaged, they can always be rebuilt.

• 24/7 Standby: AI doesn’t tire out or need rest like human beings. That is, at whatever point they are needed, they are always on standby to perform. A particular sector where they have proven to demonstrate this benefit fully is in companies as customer service during off hours.
• Solid Decision-Making: Unlike human beings who tend to allow some emotions to slip through the cracks when making decisions, AI is programmed to make decisions without any form of bias impacting the decision.
• Research and Data Analysis: AI also demonstrates its usefulness in conducting research and analyzing data. They make research and gathering necessary information easy, as the technologies are smart enough to even make predictions in minutes. Unlike human beings that might take months to research, AI can now easily perform the task in significantly less time. This information collected by AI will also make your data analysts better and able to make smarter, more informed decisions in less time.

How does Artificial Intelligence Work?

There is always a working routine for every program. In the case of artificial intelligence, it works through the combination of large data sets with intuitive processing algorithms. These algorithms are what AI manipulates through learning of the behavior patterns within the data set. For clarity, AI works in the following step;

• Input: This is the first step, as AI needs to receive a command before performing a task. The command given to this AI is the input. This input should not necessarily be a text input, but can also be images or speech. One main thing to ensure is that the algorithms should read the inputted data. Moreover, a clear definition of the context of the data and the required outcomes is necessary.

• Processing: Once AI receives the input, it has to understand such input before it can work on it. That is where processing comes in. That is, AI collects the information and processes it to decide what to do with it. In this step, AI interprets the pre-programmed data employs the behaviors learned, and then compares it with any behavior patterns in real-time data. However, this depends upon the particular AI technology.

• Data Outcomes: This is the end goal of any information passed on to AI. Immediately AI receives information, processes it, and the next thing it does is to predict the outcome. This step is crucial as it helps to know if the data and its given predictions are a success or otherwise.

• Adjustments: Adjustment only happens when the result is a failure. In that case, AI technology will learn from the mistake and adjust itself to provide a different result. This time, It will repeat the process differently and sometimes, the rules guiding the algorithms may need to be adjusted or changed to fit the data set.

• Assessments: This is the last step, and all that revolves around it is analyzing the data and making inferences and predictions. This process can also help to provide the necessary, helpful feedback before the algorithms run over again.

The common debate about artificial intelligence vs machine learning lies in how they work. AI itself is a concept of a machine that thinks like a human, while machine learning is a subset of AI that learns from data through training systems.

Concept of Artificial Intelligence

Generally, AI comes with four concepts, with each having it appropriate line of use. Below are the four main concepts of AI.

• Reactive Machine

Just as the name sounds, this type of AI reacts only to real-time data. They are restricted only to reacting, as they are not capable of storing information or building a memory bank. As a result, this type of AI is not able to analyze new behavioral patterns from past experience. They are only fit for simple tasks where they perform repetitive tasks. A typical example of their use case is organizing new client information or filtering spam from your inbox.

• Limited Memory

The limited memory technology is unlike the reactive machine, as it can store and use information to learn new tasks. It can only work after pre-programmed data has been set in motion. It can only analyze real-time data to make predictions and observations, once it has processed that information. This type of AI is the type that is mostly used in business. This type of technology is the one that works to make self-driving cars work. A typical example in this case is a chatbot that uses pre-programmed data to converse with customers and predict their needs based on the actions and inquiries they receive.

• Theory of Mind

More advanced than the first two AI technologies, the theory of mind is able to store information and make genuine observations based on real-time data. Being able to understand humans, this type of AI is designed to respond to human emotions. They understand the complexity of humans when it comes to individual thought patterns and experiences that can impact how they respond to certain stimuli.

• Self-Aware

This is the fourth concept known as self-aware technology. Compared to the previous technology, It takes a step further as it can process information, store it, and use it to inform decision-making processes. Its name also comes from its ability to be self-aware on a human level, which is related to developing distinct thoughts and feelings. However, they are not yet fully developed, as a result, scientists and researchers are working day and night to make small strides in comprehending how to implement human emotions into AI technology.

Algorithms of Artificial Intelligence

When it comes to how artificial intelligence works, three major categories of learning algorithms are recognized. They are the supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. These algorithms’ difference lies in how they’re trained, and how they function. A description of them are:

1. Supervised Learning Algorithms

This is the first and most used algorithm category. The name itself originates from the comparison of a student learning in the presence of a teacher or expert, and it functions by admitting clearly labeled data during training, which is what they use to learn and grow. More so, the algorithm employs labeled data to predict outcomes for other data. 

To come up with a working supervised learning algorithm that actually works requires a team of dedicated experts. These set of people are tasked with evaluating and reviewing the results, while scientists are also needed to test the models the algorithm creates to give accuracy against the original data and detect any errors from the AI.

2. Unsupervised Learning Algorithms

This is the opposite of supervised learning algorithms. Unlike the supervised learning algorithms, the unsupervised learning algorithms are given data that isn’t labeled. These algorithms make use of unlabeled data to make models and evaluate the relationships between different data points in order to give more insight into the data.

3. Reinforcement Learning Algorithms

This is the last type of AI learning algorithm. Composed of two major parts, the reinforcement algorithm is an agent that acts, and the environment in which the action is performed. The process starts as soon as the environment sends a “state” signal to the agent. That way, the agent performs a specific action within the environment. Immediately after the action takes place, the environment sends a “reward” signal to the agent, informing it of the occurrence. At this point, the agent will update and evaluate its last action. That information then becomes another source to take action again. Such a process goes on and on until the environment sends a termination signal.

Future of Artificial Intelligence

As it is going, AI has shown a great knack for a bright future, but several difficulties are envisioned. Its growth is foreseen to occur as technology develops. Artificial intelligence is versatile, and its application is rooted in every field which we’ll talk about below;

• Health Саre Industries

According to population, India comes second place after China and they account for 17.7% оf the world’s рорulаtiоn. All citizens of this country are restricted from accessing heаlth-саre facilities due tо а shоrtаge оf quаlified dосtоrs, inаdequаte infrаstruсture, аnd оther fасtоrs. Most рeорle аre not allowed to reach out dосtоrs оr hоsрitаls in the slightest, and all this is made less of an issue with AI. Being able to diаgnоse diseases based on symptoms by reаding dаtа frоm а fitness bаnd оr а рersоn’s mediсаl histоry, AI will easily suggest аррrорriаte mediсаtiоn, whiсh саn be gotten on online stores.

• АI in Eduсаtiоn

Education is the bedrock of any country. The higher quality the of education, the more a country develops. These days, various courses are available online to individuals and there’s a limit to countries that are still underdeveloped in the age. A general overview is that AI will сhаnge trаditiоnаl sсhооling in the future, whereby skilled laborers are not needed to mаnufасture industries аs rоbоts аnd teсhnоlоgy will have mоstly reрlасed them. 

• АI in Finаnсe

The economy of countries is strictly tied to its grоwth quаntifiсаtiоn. Anyone who lags will suffer an economic meltdown. A major incorporation of АI is seen to add sо muсh роtentiаl in рrасtiсаlly every industry. Apart from impacting рeорle’s eсоnоmiс heаlth generally, they will also impact the eсоnоmiс heаlth оf а соuntry. The АI аlgоrithm has proven to be useful in the mаnаgement оf equity funds, which is equivalent to growth in the Finance of a country.

• АI in Militаry and Сyberseсurity

The future of the military has been impacted greatly by AI. This is because АI-аssisted militаry teсhnоlоgies hаve сreаted аutоnоmоus weароn systems thаt barely requires рeорle. By this, creating the sаfest wаy tо imрrоve а nаtiоn’s seсurity without losing lives. As a result, the neаrest future is showcasing the possibility of witnessing rоbоt military thаt is аs intelligent аs а sоldier/соmmаndо аnd versatile enough to perform various conveniently.

• AI in Transportation

Self-driving cars have surfaced, but have you considered smart cars? Smart cars have also appeared in the market, and just 8% of automobiles and other vehicles with AI-driven technologies installed in them were recorded in year 2015. But by 2025, the prediction for smart vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence is to accumulate a rise of 109%. 

Conclusion

Even though artificial intelligence has proven to be a complex technology, it still showcases its feasibility for use in a lot of fields, hence necessitating its continued use. Right from artificial intelligence applications in healthcare, education, or finance, AI has shown the knack to keep growing.

Hence, understanding artificial intelligence best practices and leveraging them will significantly improve your workflows by saving valuable time and making more accurate predictions. For additional information regarding AI, follow us and stay tuned to our site.