Living with AI

Since the industrial revolution, people have been leveraging technology to augment human work with the goal of maximizing efficiency, productivity and generally making our lives easier.  

Today the the latest technology to hit the scene is Artificial Intelligence or AI, specifically machine learning.

With machine learning computer engineers create robust, accurate, and efficient algorithms which have the ability to start self learning on their own without human input. These algorithms can sift through huge quantities of complex data at an extremely rapid rate and make objective decisions on that data to reach conclusions more quickly than humans ever could.  In many cases these programs can make the decisions for humans themselves as in the case of self driving cars which are run on AI technologies.

Artificial Intelligence today is now revolutionizing many industries, including:

• banking 
• hospitality
• healthcare
• e-commerce
• government Services

And this is just to name a few. 

AI continues the trend of humans leveraging technology to make our everyday lives easier. 

Companies such as Google and Amazon offer products such as Alexis where we can ask a question on just about anything and receive an accurate voice answer within seconds. 

In the next five to ten years algorithms will likely be making decisions which directly affect our health, job prospects, and abilities to get loans. With AI our lives should become much better. Hospital services for example should dramatically improve such as wait times during visits or receiving diagnoses. It will help CEOs and businesses to run much more efficiently and cost effectively.

AI, however, is a two-headed beast and poses some very serious issues to humanity which will need to tackled.   Unemployment, for example, could grow as organizations, companies and governments automate mundane, tedious, and time-consuming operations. No doubt this will result in replacing manual jobs with robotic process automation.

Another tricky issue we face is that no one really knows how the most advanced algorithms do what they do. They are designed to make decisions themselves, and they could make them in ways  we cannot understand. Even the engineers who build these apps may not be able to fully explain their behavior.

If one day they did something unexpected—crashed into a tree, or sat at a green light - it might be difficult to find out why. How well can we expect to communicate—and get along with—intelligent machines that could be unpredictable and inscrutable?

Algorithms could also have inherent design flaws. After all humans design them. Therefore, these algorithms could be subject to human error. This would be a real problem when you consider someone’s life being in the hands of an AI driven program such as in a self driving car or for a health related issue. 

If one's information contained in a government or commercial related AI program was subject to error it could have all sorts of negative consequences such as an inability to secure loans, get a job or get government assistance.

One of the biggest challenges humans face with AI though is with the weaponization of the technology.  Governments around the world are now scrambling to develop autonomous weapon systems (AWS) and integrate AI into their existing military programs. 

Not withstanding a new AI arms race, this is very dangerous because AI algorithms are by design to make decisions on their own. Without human oversight it is possible that they could misidentify targets or respond to threats that don't exist which could accidentally spark off a major conflict.

" Efforts to create thinking machines can pose a threat to our very existence"

Stephen Hawking on Artificial Intelligence

Those are just a few examples of how AI could negatively disrupt human existence. But there is no doubt AI is here to stay. These algorithms are affecting more and more people as the popularity among them increase. AI technologies also hold out the possibility of significantly improving our lives. 

From better healthcare, predicting droughts or eradicating poverty, AI has the potential to have astonishingly positive impacts for mankind.

" Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with AI has the potential of helping our civilization flourish like never before - as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial "

Max Tegmark, President of the Future of Life Institute

Now is the the time for better oversight and regulation of the technology and to address the very complex issues that AI raises. So far there has been very little serious research or coordinated action in this regard. 

Additionally, we need to be more vigilant in regards to the kind of AI programs which are being written today. We need to set more boundaries for AI so that we can co-exist peacefully with this powerful new technology and use it for the benefit of us all.

Peter Logan

AI Institute of Ethics

@aideepmode

AI Brewed Beer

Artificial intelligence (in this case machine learning based AI) is making its way into so many parts of our lives without us even realizing it. Unbelievably one such case is, surprise, the brewing of beer.

Beer lovers and connoisseurs out there might be horrified to learn that their favorite brews are now being made through computers. But there are now, in fact, breweries that are using A.I. to create beer recipients and enhance the production of the golden beverage.

They may be comforted to know though that AI is not replacing the brew master just yet.  AI is being used to give insights to brew masters and beer companies on how to make better beer based on customer feedback. 

The data is processed by an AI algorithm, and then the brewer decides how to incorporate the algorithm's output(s). Using data from customers on their preferences, AI outputs decisions on what ingredients to use and the best possible brewing methods which should be followed.  

Customized AI brews

In 2016, a beer producing company called IntelligentX made headlines when they created the world's first commercially sold solely brewed through the use of artificial intelligence. The company created a beer and then asked customers to follow the URL link provided on the bottles/cans to give their feedback. Then a complex machine learning algorithm sifted through the feedback to determine what consumers liked to help them brew new versions of the beer which were more finely tuned to people’s tastes. 

"So far, IntelligentX has created about 35 or 36 iterations of its beer" 

CEO Rob McInerney. 

IntelligentX is not the only company integrating AI and machine learning into its brew process. In another case Carlsberg, a Copenhagen-based brewery, partnered with Microsoft, Aarhus University and the Technical University of Denmark to create thousands of different beer samples everyday in a project called Beer Fingerprinting. 

This involves using sensors that determine the flavor fingerprint of each beer sample and provides analysis of different yeasts. The data is then fed into an AI system, and it is ultimately expected that new brews will be developed from the information.  The system allow products to get to market faster it can also helps ensure the highest quality.  

In future it could be possible to order a beer based on a recipe solely customized on one's own personal preferences. 

The key question is: will AI be able to cure hangovers by making hangover-free beer?

Your Car Will Soon be Driving You

Last year, a new self-driving car was released onto a quiet road in Southern California. The experimental vehicle, developed by researchers at the chip maker Nvidia, didn’t look different from other autonomous cars, but it was unlike anything demonstrated by Google, Tesla or General Motors. 

The car didn’t follow a single instruction provided by an engineer or programmer. Instead, it relied entirely on a programmed algorithm that had taught itself to drive by watching a human do it.

Getting a car to drive this way was an impressive feat. The test demonstrated the incredible power of artificial intelligence.Partially automated technology has been around for the last few years but this test was for a fully autonomous driver-less car which made its own decisions without any human interference. 

Information from the vehicle’s sensors went straight into a huge network of artificial neurons that processed the data and then delivered  the commands required to operate the steering wheel, the brakes, and other systems. The result matched the responses you’d expect from a human driver.

Fully driver-less technology is now at an advanced testing stages. Most of the major players in the autonomous self driving market such as Google, Tesla, Ford, Nissan & Toyota are now making heavy investments in the the technology.

Autonomous tech is also enjoying heavy investment around the world, especially in the UK. There, the government recently announced an unprecedented £20 million investment into the technology.

With all the interest, activity and investment in fully autonomous self driving technology, it doesn't look like it will be too long before our cars will be driving us.

By Peter Logan
7 hours ago