13 commnly asked questions on artificial intelligence (AI)

There’s no question that artificial intelligence is one of the most important technologies these days. As powerful as it is, people still have a lot of questions about it, like how can it be used and what impact will it have. In this article, I’ll answer 10 Commonly Asked Questions on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

1. What is the definition of artificial intelligence?

Perhaps the most common and accurate way to describe it is as a way of computer systems analyzing data to be able to make decisions like a human would.

Here is a definition of artificial intelligence from European Union:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that show intelligent behaviour: by analysing their environment they can perform various tasks with some degree of autonomy to achieve specific goals.”
– European Union

2. Who coined the term artificial intelligence?

The term “artificial intelligence” dates back to the year 1955 when John McCarthy first coined the term. The concept was so fascinating that just one year later, in 1956, he joined with others to create the very first artificial intelligence conference.

3. Does artificial intelligence exist?

AI does exist and is already being used in many industries. AI is extremely good at dealing with very narrow tasks, analyzing data, and making accurate decisions based on that data. However, it is not necessarily very good at doing several kinds of tasks all at once. This is known as narrow AI. While you can develop an AI tool to go very deeply into one task, it cannot usually do two very different things at the same time.

General AI, which refers to artificial intelligence being able to do multiple things simultaneously, is something that experts have been predicting for many years. However, it could take many years, even decades, to fully achieve this, so for now we should focus on bringing narrow AI into as many industries as possible.

4. AI terminology – What are the most common AI terms you should know?

Here are some of the most common AI terms that you should know:

Algorithm
The step-by-step method that a computer uses to complete each task. Since a computer understands numbers best, the steps are put together as mathematical equations, for example: “If x=1, then….”.

Artificial Neural Networks
The term used to refer to AI systems that simulate connected neural units, modeling the way neurons interact in the brain.

Cognitive Science
A discipline that examines the various processes of the human brain such as linguistics, information processing and decision making. The goal is to discover more about cognition.

Deep Learning
The use of neural networks consisting of many layers of large numbers (millions) of artificial neurons. Deep learning is perfect for projects involving huge, complex datasets.

Expert System
A computer system that models the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are rule-based and normally use “if-then” statements.

Computer Vision

This refers to a computer’s ability to see. It’s important because until now, computers relied on human reporting for things that required vision. Now, computers can mimic this ability. Computer vision can be used for many purposes, especially in the security industry and for quality control.

Natural language translation
This is the ability of a computer to hear something that is said to it and then answer back to the user. You might be familiar with this technology if you’ve ever used a chatbot or a smart assistant like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home.

5. Can artificial intelligence be dangerous?

Artificial intelligence is a tool, and like many tools, its danger is fully dependent on humans and the ways that they use it. One way that artificial intelligence can be dangerous is when it is used to create autonomous weapons. Currently, almost every large nation is spending a lot of resources on the creation of autonomous weapons that can be used in upcoming conflicts.

This is a dangerous precedent for the application of AI. Right now, there is a petition that was created by the Future of Life Institute to help prevent the creation and spread of these kinds of weapons.

Instead of relying fully on AI to make important decisions within a society, systems should always be created in such a way that the AI analysis is used along with human input.

6. How will artificial intelligence change the future?

The impact of artificial intelligence will be greater and will happen sooner than we can prepare for. It will likely change or disrupt just about everything we experience in our lives and in society as a whole.

This will have a positive impact in many ways, creating opportunities for those who are early to adopt new tools and follow trends as changes happen, but it will also be stressful, disappointing and confusing for people who ignore or aren’t fully prepared for the changes that AI will bring.

To stay on top of the changes and challenges that will come about from the introduction of AI tools, I recommend watching new trends on three different levels:

• Individually
• As a society
• For business

7. Why do we need artificial intelligence?

Life would be much simpler and easier to understand if we did not have all the technologies that are growing at an exponential speed (artificial intelligence, blockchain, 3D printing, Internet of Things) and affecting every area of our lives.

The basic premise of AI is that it allows computer programs to learn, rather than needing to be specifically programmed to perform certain tasks.

Because of AI, computers can now learn to do huge amounts of tasks and activities that used to require human intelligence. The more data the AI has, the better results it can produce.

One positive result of this is that AI will make our lives easier in certain areas in which we need to analyze data. Here are four simple examples:

• Health care: analyzing patient data and conducting predictive analysis.
• Agriculture: precision agriculture that helps save natural resources.
• Business processes: AI has the ability to make almost everything better, faster and cheaper.
• Education: Analyzing study data and providing teachers and students with tips on how to study better.

8. Why should you study artificial intelligence?

If you are currently attending college or are interested in learning them, I highly encourage you to do so.

However, it can be much more beneficial to learn how to apply artificial intelligence than to actually code it. This is because finding skillful coders is now easier than ever because of freelance sites such as Upwork or Fiverr.

9. How can we apply artificial intelligence?

How we can apply AI in our day-to-day lives is one of the most common question on artificial intelligence.

Smart Virtual Assistants

Chatbots

Market Research

10. What are the typical jobs related to artificial intelligence?

These are some of the AI-related job titles that are currently in the highest demand on job search portals: data scientists, software engineers, research scientists, machine learning experts, and deep learning experts.

However, there will be an even greater demand for professionals who understand how AI works in general, as well as how to help companies and individuals apply these technologies for the benefit of businesses and society