This article has been written by Palok, pursuing the Diploma in Content Marketing and Strategy course from Skill Arbitrage and edited by Koushik Chittella.
Table of Contents
Introduction
As the global panorama of technology flickers and fluctuates rapidly in the face of a humongous amount of data, the need for better technology is being felt by scientists and technocrats alike. An information vortex, stemming as a direct corollary of this data deluge, is staring hard at humanity and threatening to run amok in every walk of our lives. The world is witnessing a massive convergence and integration among different fields of human activity. However, the emergence of artificial intelligence that promises to infuse machines with smart decision-making prowess, comes with the power to make sense of this fast-evolving state of affairs.
Need for AI technology
Spurred by the convergence among different disciplines of study and technology around us, this techno-renaissance is riding high on the shoulders of cutting-edge innovations. The volume of data being churned out daily would now take seconds to overwhelm the technology of yesteryear. Not only the technology but also our entire approach, would be outwitted by such large datasets. The legacy model of scientific experimentation and discovery is no match against the pressing demands of today. However, this gap in technology can be bridged with the help of artificial intelligence and its phenomenal power. With artificial intelligence, the brethren of the scientific fraternity feel truly empowered and are all set to reap rich rewards arising out of these multidisciplinary convergences.
Use of AI
With time, the ambit of scientific research has expanded manifold and grown extremely complex since the datasets have become colossal in size and complexity. Sifting through the labyrinthine datasets to find both similarities and anomalies required a revamp in technological infrastructure to undertake the task at hand. Artificial intelligence with its astounding computational power, assumes a crucial relevance here. From decoding the genomic structure to the jaw-dropping vastness of the cosmos, artificial intelligence is now at the forefront of many such human endeavours. AI technology with its sheer computational power can liberate the scientific community from the clutches of everyday nitty-gritty, which otherwise used to dot the path of discovery even a decade ago. The power to automate an entire process is truly revolutionising the process of inventing and discovering any new thing in an endto-end manner. AI algorithms are playing a pivotal role not only in deciphering the cryptic codes of mother nature but also in pushing the farthest periphery of human knowledge so that humanity makes commensurate steps to understand its unique place in the grand design of God. AI technology is being used, for instance, to improve various e-commerce applications so that the Gen Z and millennials are served in an exclusive way leading to an augmented shopping experience. AI technology is transforming the purchasing process and behavior of consumers so that a thoroughly personalised shopping experience is delivered to all consumers thus triggering a chain of repeat purchases. This creates a unique brand value specifically from the retention point of view. Quite concurrently, such clientele often go on to act as the natural brand ambassadors of the company while forming the first line of resistance against the poaching tactics of the rival companies. Artificial intelligence is also making deep inroads into providing thoroughly individualised shopping recommendations to all high-value consumers. Taking the technology a couple of notches higher than the present level of competition, companies are deploying chatbots that offer impeccable value in a 24*7*365 manner.
Our world is fast shaping up to be a hyper-connected civilisation where intelligent and optimised transportation is becoming a corollary reality. Thanks to AI technology, clogged road arteries in modern cities are soon becoming a thing of the past. Intelligent route recommendations are being suggested by the system that is taking real-time traffic conditions and congestion into account thus paving the way for optimised navigation through route planning.
Evolution of artificial intelligence
A system that can mirror human activity, emotions and decision-making prowess has long been an impossible dream for thinkers and intellectuals alike and perhaps can be traced back as early as Hellenic times. The history and evolution of artificial intelligence are essentially the history of progress and advancement of technology itself. From Aristotle’s syllogistic logic to the pathbreaking paper by Alan Turing in 1950 to the generative AI systems, the common thread of technological advancement can be found in each of them, irrespective of their time and age. From the nascent algorithmic and mathematical model to the very latest GPT4 generative AI model, the path and progress of AI technology seem to have been punctuated by crucial discoveries and inventions in each decade. The process of computing, to begin with, was monstrously expensive and cumbersome and the cost of leasing a computer was so high that the very technology proved to be affordable only to a select few.
However, efforts from the scientific community, requisite funding from influential organisations, powers that be and breakthroughs in computer science made today’s AI technology what it always promised to be. Today, the imprints of AI technology can be seen in various walks of our lives like transportation, supply chain management, robotics, education, healthcare, etc. Now, in many areas, AI is already churning out results and products that are difficult to differentiate from the products made by humans.
The future of AI technology
So, what does the future hold for humanity? As the world embraces newer concepts and ideas, the involvement of AI will be far more ubiquitous and comprehensive, making us breach the boundaries of possibility in an unprecedented way. Automobiles sans drivers, embodied AI, and sentient robots are just some of the possible examples that artificial intelligence can give shape to. AI technology is already helping us in our mission to cut down all sorts of redundancies and waste through design and architectural tools like BIM (Building Information Modelling). Through BIM implementation, we can weed out all the design flaws and excess at the conceptual level through sophisticated simulation, augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR). This is opening up a completely new door of improvement, where we can optimise the entire process even before the project has started.
Eventually, artificial intelligence will surpass human cognitive capacity and power and help unlock newer dimensions of possibilities while solving what remains unsolved till then. The domain of pharmaceutical research is another area, where AI technology can work wonders in terms of drug design, testing and implementation in a much shorter period thereby making new vaccines available to us even before the next epidemic strikes.
Embodied AI
One area that AI technology is most likely going to go into is embodied artificial intelligence. At present, AI models work according to the algorithm and data sets that are fed into it. But with embodied AI, not only the AI will have a definite shape and size (like a robot or something like it) but most importantly, it will transcend mere data processing and algorithm-fed mechanisms. Embodied AI will in all probability, mingle with humans and roam the natural world and will start to develop empathy and knowledge. In a way, in the case of embodied AI, it will start to “learn” in a first-hand manner about the natural world and its objects. Embodied AI will be able to experience things and will not be dependent on algorithms alone. In that way, AI will become much more intelligent and creative at the same time.
Embodied AI will, apart from its inherent capabilities, encounter, experience, and empathize in a much more natural and flexible manner, thus bringing it much closer to humans in a certain way. Endowed with embodied AI, these humanoids will be attuned in a far more subtle way to the range of complex human emotions that make humans, human. Another crucial and intriguing aspect of this entire thing is that these humanoids will be able to view and judge ethically the complex set of situations in which the question of ethics is very much involved. And in doing so, a very interesting and whole new chapter of human history will unfold where the machines will be interacting for the very first time, with us, the humans, in a far more nuanced and emotive manner. With embodied AI, they will have the capability to act more like a robotic counterpart to us in a range of different situations. In a nutshell, with embodied AI, artificial intelligence will cease to be a unidirectional and academic thing from a human perspective and will begin to reciprocate with us in a much more holistic and multi-directional manner.
The danger that lurks within
As the grip of technology over society becomes far more sweeping and strident, AI technology will need an architecture that pivots around accountability and truth rather than a hedonistic pursuit of technological sophistication. Sooner than later, humanity will arrive at the point of no return, where there will be an utmost need for accountability so that ethics and morality are not compromised in the name of technological supremacy. As AI technology and its results become starkly evident, there is a high possibility that a frantic race for technological supremacy among the wealthier nations may just kick in, compromising critical issues like the ethical application of AI and data privacy. Artificial intelligence requires large data sets, and exactly this is why the ethical application of AI and data privacy assume crucial significance. If the data sets on which the AI technology is trained prove to be biased, skewed, or doctored, the results will also be biased or prejudiced.
Algorithmic bias in AI technology is one such thing that can imperil the authenticity of the technology. Worse, such skewed results could then be exploited to cause harm to a particular group, person, race, or product unfairly. For example, in the name of providing a personalized shopping experience, some of the crucial personal details of any customer can be leaked to any third party thereby raising the prospect of compromised data privacy. Unauthorized access to personal information, breaches of sensitive and highly classified information, hacking, and the possible leakage of all such information assume paramount concern within the confines of discourse on data security.
Conclusion
As the debates on the specifics of how your personal information is being collected, stored, and monetized assume a raging crescendo, the integrity and confidentiality of all such data create a serious concern for the advocates and enthusiasts of AI technology alike. As the value of personal information takes on a dangerous duality of purpose in the world at large, AI governance, a framework of AI accountability, and ethical usage of such high-end technology become absolute imperatives. A comprehensive framework and a policy for AI governance should always be there to make artificial intelligence more responsible, ethical, and useful to the cause of true advancement and progress.
References
- https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/artificial-intelligence-tutorial/artificialintelligence-applications
- https://www.gao.gov/blog/artificial-intelligences-use-and-rapid-growthhighlight-its-possibilities-and-perils
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20200827STO85804/whatis-artifcial-intelligence-and-how-is-it-used
- https://www.tableau.com/datainsights/ai/history#:~:text=In%20reality%2C%20the%20groundwork%20for, may%20go%20in%20the%20future.
- https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/de inition/AI-ArtificialIntelligence
- https://www.einfochips.com/blog/quantum-computing-in-artificialintelligence-around-the-corner/
- https://www.datanami.com/2023/07/24/quantum-computing-and-ai-a-leapforward-or-a-distant-dream/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2023/03/21/if-you-think-ai-is-hot-waituntil-it-meets-quantum-computing/?sh=5c3683411ff6
- https://alltechmagazine.com/the-evolution-of-ai/
- https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/ lash/2017/history-artificial-intelligence/
- https://alltechmagazine.com/the-evolution-of-ai/#generative-ai
- https://www.unesco.org/en/arti icial-intelligence/recommendation-ethics
