What was once just a segment of imagination for almost every science fiction writer, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is today taking roots in our everyday lives. We are just a few years away from having robots at our beck and call. However, AI has already started impacting lives in subtle, yet profound ways like that of email spam filtering, weather forecasts, search predictions, voice recognition etc.. All these variant technologies work on Machine Learning algorithms which allow their responses and reactions in real time. The evolution of the AI technology will bring in positive effects which could provide immeasurable efficiency. As per estimates, in 2018, the global AI market is expected to be worth approximately 7.35 billion U.S. dollars. In the next four years, we expect the AI industry growth to explode and its impact on business and society will then emerge. Statista estimates the following size of the Artificial Intelligence market worldwide, from 2016 to 2025.

Is AI really artificial?

Has AI become more of a marketing tool, a buzzword that gets attention and makes companies look like they’re on the cutting edge? Ian Bogost dove deeply into this matter and cut to the chase by defining what qualifies as AI. He said, “Machines warrant the name AI when they become sentient—or at least self-aware enough to act with expertise, not to mention volition and surprise. In most cases, the systems making claims to Artificial Intelligence aren’t sentient, self-aware, volitional, or even surprising. They’re just software.

The term Artificial Intelligence is a misnomer. Considering the nature of intelligence, it is not really a thing. In fact, it is a property of the system. For instance, a machine can have a blue cover where blue is its property and not a component of the system. ‘Intelligent’ in itself is a property of animal species, specifically humans. At this point, even the computers are not adequate enough for the AI architecture. There are many components in computing which belong to AI but need to be reviewed. Most among them are heuristic techniques which are closer to numerical or symbolic models. Thus, the term “artificial” needs to be dropped from the subject. Even the term “intelligence” needs to be defined clearly and consequently separated from the computing domain. An unreal, yet necessary distinction made was that it’s only artificial if it is made by humans. AI is evolving from science fiction to reality, therefore, it should no more be termed artificial.

AI’s impact on different sectors

• Blockchains can be managed better by AI: There’s a reason why humans are called similar to the stupid conventional computers. They cannot get a job done unless instructions are provided to them explicitly. Thus, managing blockchain information on computers would take up a lot of processing power. The incorporation of AI will help operate on jobs with an intellect.
  Different organizations across the country are realizing the actual power of this technology and are using it to enhance their decision-making, alongside the provision of actionable intellect. We at DiscoveryIoT have come up with a futuristic innovation in order to revamp the technology of blockchain and proliferate it across the country. We have set up Discovery Labs which are some completely distinctive research centers, allowing the exploration of the organizational use cases of the blockchain; the Backscatter X-Ray imaging technology; and of course the multitude of Artificial Intelligence in the field of Blockchain.

• Predictive analytics in Healthcare: Predictive analytics in healthcare refers to the ability to monitor patients and prevent patient emergencies before they occur, by analyzing data for key indicators. Real-time data collection helps monitor the health status of patients.
  While currently in the R&D phase, the initial goal is to use the results of these analyses to help inform more customized treatment options for Mayo’s cancer patients. Mayo joins a small consortium of healthcare organizations in partnerships with Tempus including University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and Rush University Medical Center.

• Agriculture: Through Crop and Soil Monitoring, companies are leveraging sensors and various IoT-based technologies to monitor crop and soil health. Along with the means of predictive agricultural analytics, various AI and Machine Learning tools are being used to predict the optimal time to sow seeds, get alerts on risks from pest attacks, and more.
  The Singapore-based company, ADDO AI launched a pilot program in Lahore, Pakistan aimed at assisting farmers in improving their crop yields this summer.

Will AI take over humans one day?

Humans are not the strongest or the fastest species on the planet, yet, they are the most dominant ones owing to their intellect. Our ability to communicate, share information, learn from mistakes, make rational decisions, and increase our standard of living is exponentially better than that of any other species and makes up for our lack of physicality. Knowledge is power. Through our intellect, we are able to domesticate other species for our own selfish needs, such as entertainment and food. What happens when a new species that outperforms us, both physically and intellectually, is introduced into the ecosystem? That species will domesticate us, exactly how we domesticate other animals. That’s what AI is.

Machines do all the strenuous physical labor for us, from cranes that carry metal beams to building skyscrapers to car crushers that squash old cars like printer paper. Undoubtedly, they possess more strength than us, and their limits are endless. Machines are very durable. If a robot’s arm is blown off, the robot does not die. We can simply replace the arm with a new arm as if nothing happened. If a human’s arm is blown off, he/she will die of blood loss. Machines are starting to get smarter too. A computer can do millions of computations in a matter of seconds, and Machine Learning allows robots to learn with experience, just like babies learn from the scratch. Put those two things together and it is possible for a 30-minute old robot to have as much experience as a 100-year-old man, given the abundance of data on the web. Now put this intellect into an iron, replaceable body and boom! You have the next ruler of the universe! Now, even if a scientist tries to shut down the robot for being too smart, he would be reverse manipulated by the robot which has the power to analyze every single outcome. Humans cannot do that as they react to events in real time. We aren’t at this stage yet. Hence, as of now, AI cannot take over humans. Someday it will, even if not in our lifetime.

To Conclude

The answer to this question might be contradictory. In the past few years, Artificial Intelligence has become a big controversy among scientists. Some believe that AI can immensely benefit humankind, while some fear that it will destroy humankind and become an ‘Immortal Dictator’. We are growing at a huge rate in all aspects, say it in terms of population, scripted knowledge, tasks etc. Increasing in scale also increases entropy in the system, thus demanding a huge number of tasks to be automated and centralized. Essentially, AI is implementing human senses in machines. Humans will surely benefit from AI. Even though the automation of tasks is causing job cuts in the present, the long term viewpoint says that it will turn out to be a major benefit. AI can process all trivial tasks at a much higher pace than humans. Even though an existential threat to the humanity, AI is a boon.