Before writing this article, like many of us, I had absolutely no idea what the term Artificial Intelligence or AI meant. Just from looking at it, it’s clearly a non-human function, but once you properly research into how AI works like I have done and how it will shape our future, you will be amazed by all the different areas and activities it is encompassing and developing.

Artificial Intelligence, in a nutshell, is the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. AI can also have traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.

In today’s culture, popular films such as I, Robot portrays AI to be an exhilarating and dystopian concept. This is known as General AI. But it is important to remember that AI is not just a theme of Science-Fiction but is rather an evident factor of real life as we know it.

A clear example of this would be the popular Amazon Alexa (don’t read this part out loud, she will wake up and want to chat haha) but just like that, Alexa is programmed to act almost as a virtual assistant and answer any questions you have as if you were talking to a real person! This is known as Narrow AI.

Forrester Research accurately predicted that AI, Internet of Things and Big technology will be worth $1.2 trillion by 2020. Now, its very clear and obvious that machine learning and automation will be much more widely spread in the future, but the big question on my mind and perhaps yours now is how will this shape our future?

The machines and devices we use daily are getting smarter, meaning that AI is not seen as the futuristic technology that it once was. However, still just as fascinating, AI is integrated into our lives far more than we realise. For example:

When it comes to jobs, AI can be seen as both beneficial and damaging. For example, a lot of ecommerce websites have AI assistants often referred to as chatbots which are programmed to answer questions and are available for 24-hour customer service. This is an example of Narrow AI.

A benefit of this is chatbots are not restricted to limited working hours so when customer service professionals are out of the office, there is always a system to help manage customer queries. It is understandable that there is concern around AI and possibly leading to a decrease of need in human customer service agents and therefore leave a lot of people without jobs.

However, it is always important to remember AI has been designed as a result of human creativity and training, so humans still play a big part in the operations of Artificial Intelligence.

Furthermore, AI can optimize the workplace and business operations. Administration and paperwork can dominate a large percentage of the working day and is seen as tedious tasks for some workers.

There are AI systems, such as ‘Hyperscience’, that can automate data entry and offer back-office solutions, freeing up staff to focus on bigger responsibilities. This type of Artificial Intelligence is rightly seen as valuable as it makes workplace processes easier to manage and more time efficient.

We are definitely entering the age of artificial intelligence and although the rapid development shows AI to be quite smart and powerful alone, the primary reason for implementing Artificial Intelligence will be to support people rather than replace them. As long as there is a healthy balance between humanity and AI, shaping our future with advanced technology will be for the better!

Written by Lucid Support