Writing Showcase: Artificial Intelligence

How do you think maps and navigation systems help you get to where you want to go? What do you believe is the mechanism through which your phone detects face recognition to grant access? And what do you think generates digital assistants like Siri to operate or perhaps, those famous Chatbots? Just some awesome technology, maybe? Well, you're not entirely off-base. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, as they are sometimes referred to, are the brains behind all those really impressive tools.

Software-coded heuristics that simulate human intellect is what defines the term Artificial Intelligence (AI). These days, it may be found everywhere from consumer apps to embedded firmware to cloud-based enterprise applications like what I had just mentioned.

For instance, the most widely used application is ChatGPT from OpenAI, which has become synonymous with AI in the minds of most users due to its huge appeal. However, it only reflects a small percentage of the current applications for AI technology. Through extensive use of applications of the Generative Pre-Training Transformer, AI entered the mainstream in 2022.

On the other hand, Machine Learning (ML) is a subtype of artificial intelligence. It refers to the idea that computer programs can automatically learn from and adapt to new data without human assistance. Deep learning algorithms allow for this autonomous learning by ingesting vast quantities of unstructured data, including text, photos and video. The ability to reason and take actions that have the best likelihood of reaching a certain objective is the ideal quality of artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence is created through a combination of machine learning algorithms and data analysis. Machine learning algorithms use large amounts of data to identify patterns and learn from them. These algorithms are then used to create models that can make predictions or decisions based on new data. The models are continually refined through further analysis and testing to improve their accuracy and effectiveness.

A lot of people believe nowadays that Artificial Intelligence is simply one of the recently developed products of technology but the truth is, the foundation of Artificial Intelligence dates back to the 20th century and despite the most significant and biggest progress of AIs not being manifested until the 1950s, it wouldn’t have made it this far without the groundwork of it back in the 1900s.

The Second World War served as an accelerator for technological advancements, which were significantly influenced by the quest to understand how to combine the functioning of machines and living humans between 1940 and 1960. In order to create “a whole theory of control and communication, both in animals and machines,” Norbert Wiener, a pioneer in the field of cybernetics, saw the need to integrate mathematical theory, electronics, and automation. Prior to this, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts created the first mathematical and computer model of the biological neuron — also known as the formal neuron — in 1943.

There was a lot of material produced in the early 1900s that was focused on the concept of synthetic humans. So much so that researchers of all stripes began debating whether it was possible to develop an artificial brain. Though most of them were rather primitive, some developers even produced some variations of what we now refer to as “robots”. A term that was first used in a Czech play back in 1921. Most of these were steam-powered, and some of them could even move their faces and walk.

Artificial Intelligence has indeed a very long history. At the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, the phrase "artificial intelligence" was first used, officially launching the subject of study. Since then, AI has seen multiple "AI winters"—periods of heightened anticipation followed by times of disappointment. However, substantial strides in AI and its applications have been made recently because of improvements in machine learning and data analysis.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to help us solve complicated issues and make more informed decisions, which will help us create a better future. For instance, by analyzing vast volumes of data and spotting trends that humans would be unable to spot, AI might help us better comprehend climate change. This might result in better climate change policy and solutions. By supporting doctors with diagnosis and treatment planning, AI can also help us improve healthcare outcomes while potentially saving lives and lowering healthcare costs. AI may also aid in resource management optimization, minimizing waste and harm to the environment.

By helping with predictive maintenance and anomaly detection, as well as via the analysis of vast volumes of data to uncover trends and possible hazards, artificial intelligence (AI) can safeguard us from future threats. AI can also aid in resource management optimization, waste reduction, and the mitigation of environmental harm that might result in future problems.

Artificial intelligence will likely have a wide range of societal effects, both positively and negatively, as a result of its extremely sophisticated technological frameworks. On the plus side, artificial intelligence can help society in the areas of healthcare, education, industry, and security. For example, it can increase work process efficiency, improve decision-making accuracy and precision, enhance safety and security through proactive maintenance and anomaly detection, and improve healthcare outcomes through AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment planning. It can also lessen environmental impact through resource management that is optimized.

As I've already indicated, there are certain unfavorable societal effects of artificial intelligence that may need to be carefully considered. For instance, job loss due to automation, bias in decision-making and the maintenance of social injustices, threats to privacy and security through the collection and analysis of personal data, dependence on AI systems for important decision-making, potentially resulting in the loss of human autonomy and agency, the potential for AI to be weaponized or used for malicious purposes if not developed and regulated ethically, and unequal access to AI technology and its benefits, ex.

It is crucial that AI be created and applied in a fashion that emphasizes ethical concerns and takes these possible drawbacks into account. Government, business, and the general public are just a few of the stakeholders who must work together and participate in this.