Last year was the year of widespread acceptance of artificial intelligence. Even if the mere notion of AI was present long before, 2016 brought a clear perspective of the future of artificial intelligence. Increasingly, the focus is put on interconnecting and automating numerous processes and services. Artificial intelligence is at the very core of that movement and rightly so.
As we slowly gaze through 2017, there is still some uncertainty about what the artificial intelligence future really means for the average Joe. While the talk of AI systems designed to independently learn and perform new tasks sounds exciting, it essentially boils down to one part only – the narrow AI. Also known as weak AI, this is a part of artificial intelligence technology that is dedicated to a single purpose. Most of the existing advanced systems today are some form of narrow AI as they can only deal with specific problems.
Narrow AI is in contrast to strong AI, often referred to as artificial general intelligence. Strong AI presents a system with cognitive intelligence that matches and surpasses human performance in any way. The key difference here is that strong AI is still a theoretical concept, thus being the ultimate goal of AI research.
So, having a non-sentient artificial intelligence in actual life differs from the general perception. What we’re used to seeing in movies or hearing scientists and researchers hope to achieve is still far off. However, present AI can be put to a lot of good use when it comes to shaping our lives and making them easier.
The future of Artificial Intelligence for Transportation
Obviously, this is one of the most recognized AI applications today and with good reason. Autonomous cars have long been a dream of many, not just automakers. There are many reasons why, but one undoubtedly stands out – road safety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.25 million people die each year in road accidents. While there are many factors that contribute to such situations, the vast majority of them have the human factor as the one common variable.
There are countless examples of working autonomous vehicles successfully navigating traffic, predicting and preventing accidents thanks to its deep learning capabilities. Still, there is much to benefit from AI alongside saving lives. Less traffic congestion, an easier commute, less fuel consumption and an overall better environmental outcome are just some of the projected improvements in AI transportation. The new business models that revolve around mobility as a service will be a welcome economic boost.
However, there’s still some way to go before we come to a general adoption of autonomous vehicles. There are many legal, safety and privacy concerns to address before this happens, but the Teslas of tomorrow are coming. There is no doubt about it.
Future of AI for Communication
Moving on to something more tangible at the moment, artificial intelligence currently provides a great deal of help regarding communication. There are many facets of both written and oral communication that’s been driven by artificial intelligence. Businesses are increasingly using it for various aspects of their services, most notably as customer support for a more targeted interaction. When it comes to personal use, things are even more interesting.
● Speech recognition
One of the staples of AI application, speech recognition has advanced much further than the Hawking-esque voice transcription. Today, there are numerous digital voice agents that perform a great deal of work. Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa are just some of the many personal voice assistants that carry the workload of both menial and important tasks by responding to your voice commands. Providing various information on news, weather, general knowledge, directions, setting reminders, organizing your files, scheduling meetings and much more – these voice-powered assistants are almost in a league of their own.
● Translation
This is where natural language processing plays a vital role. Human input (both oral and written) goes through a pattern-recognition process that automatically translates it back into human-sounding translations.
Apps like Microsoft Translator already offer advanced translation options such as real time translation supporting up to 100 speakers, face to face communication using native language on personal devices and more. Due to many nuances and the use of context in a language, machine translation will probably never be spot-on precise as natural, human translation is. But, it does make communicating and understanding foreign people much, much easier, especially as a momentary solution for a quick chat.
● Internet of Things (IoT)
On its own, artificial intelligence has many uses and applications that benefit a wide array of industries and business. Most of those benefits encompass the Internet of Things. This is the ultimate goal of AI assistance and the culmination of decades of research and development. IoT is the realization of dreams that many have about the computer’s potential. Everything is connected, forming one closed environment called a smart home. Usually, a digital personal assistant is the centerpiece, performing actions like dimming the lights, adjusting room temperature, providing various information and so on. Possibilities are almost endless and equally exciting as the IoT market grows.
Artificial Intelligence Investing (big data)
The continual rise of AI is inevitably linked to big data. Making sense of the ever-growing large amounts of information is a task only narrow AI can perform. However, going beyond the routine work is where AI provides the best data-driven insights. While businesses are the primary users of big data, there is one rather intriguing consumer use for it – investing.
Investing is slowly falling into the AI domain with simple investment strategies based on precise calculation algorithms called machine learning. Just as professional traders and investors do, AI looks to identify patterns and trends for use in investing. It also provides detailed technical analysis and emotion-free rationalizing which is often a significant cause of market losses. Because it’s faster, more accessible and processes a much bigger volume of work, AI is becoming a viable option in the investment world.
Future of Artificial Intelligence in E-commerce
The future of artificial intelligence in retail is something that already affects online shoppers. The increasing use of information bots is making the shopping experience more focused, personal and less time-consuming. Online cognitive tools that help shoppers get information are fairly a recent addition to the AI repertoire. However, these go beyond the momentary experience as they are developing into comprehensive guides to customers, while better understanding their needs and concerns. It also works for in-store shopping too, with specifically developed mobile tools. Product recommendations will enter a whole new level thanks to AI personalization, exploring products and services how you want to.
Closing words
As artificial intelligence further evolves, machine learning abilities will enable it to play an even bigger role as time goes by. With so many potential applications of AI, living in today’s world is rather exciting. Still, as advanced AI is, there are certain fears and concerns regarding its rapid evolution. Security and privacy issues go hand in hand with every mention of artificial intelligence. The notion of machines reaching superintelligence is a recurrent theme when talking about AI downsides. While it may look far-fetched at the moment, it’s understandable as people are usually afraid of the unknown.
Artificial intelligence still needs people to train, guide and improve it along the way. This is why we shouldn’t take artificial intelligence for granted. Instead, we should celebrate the many ways it is making life easier through more efficient methods. We as consumers are in for an incredible ride. While AI is currently largely about providing personal assistance, it is also used to improve various products and services. Perhaps, one day it will even recognize the need for new ones that do not exist at the moment. The scalability of computers, their consistency and speed, coupled with the human intuition is the combination of the future of artificial intelligence. As each day passes by, we are getting closer to it.