AI 101: Understanding the Essentials of AI
As you may have noticed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. AI is a rapidly growing field, and while it has been around a part of our lives for years, of late, its presence has been gaining national attention. Artificial Intelligence has tremendous potential to revolutionaize the way we live and work, but there is also much overhype and misunderstanding around what AI is and its impact on society. In this article, we will explore the basics of artificial intelligent—AI 101, if you will. We will summarize what AI is, overview a bit of its history, and highlight several applications of AI in our lives. Obviously, in discussing AI 101, we must also touch on the potential positive and negative impacts of AI on society and examine how society can best prepare for and manage these impacts. While chapters, books, and courses can dive deeper on all of these topics, here, we will provide a brief overview of AI 101.
What is AI?
In future articles and courses, we will dive into various definitions and perspectives of what AI is. But for a basic definition of what AI is for a AI 101, we could summarize by saying that AI is the ability of machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. That is an AI 101 basic summary of what AI is. A few examples of AI doing tasks that would normally require human intelligence: recognizing patterns, providing or making decisions from inputs, or analyzing and learning from experience.
Obviously, there are a variety of responses to machines working for us to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. And AI ethics will and must explore that. However, for AI 101, it is important to recognize that machines are performing tasks that human ask the machines to do. There is a human behind the machine and the machine is working for human beings. In the mist of much hype about the future of AI, it is important to not lose sight that AI is machines programmed from inputs by human beings doing things for humanity.
Types of AI: Narrow AI and General AI (AGI)
Also, within discussions about AI, it is important to recognize there are different types of AI that people may be discussing. For example, there is both narrow and general (or weak and strong) AI. Narrow AI is when machines are designed to perform specific tasks for humans. For example, a machine processing a large database to find patterns can save human beings hundreds of hours by performing a specific, narrow task. There is also general (or strong) AI. Sometime this is also referred to as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Artificial General Intelligence aims at creating machines that has the ability to perform any intellectual task that a human can. When others envision robots taking over the world, the movie Terminator scenarios, or other dystopian futures, they are generally dreaming of a world where AGI surpasses human intelligence. Such fears, at present, are the realm of science fiction. The AI field is a far, far cry from achieving AGI. And then there is the reality that machines are not and never will be human (which is a larger topic of a course and books). But there could come a day when human beings create AGI machines that can simulate human intelligence. And that is really the core of understanding how Agi is different. Narrow AI focuses on machines performing specific tasks; general AI (or AGI) aims at creating a machine that has the ability to mimic or simulate (or even surpass) human intelligence.
History of AI
Oddly enough, the history of AI can be traced back to ancient Greek myths about mechanical robots. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that significant progress was made in developing the technology. The 1950s and 60s saw the birth of AI as a field of research, with the development of computer programs that could solve simple mathematical problems. Since then, AI has rapidly evolved. Today, AI is used in a wide range of applications, from virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to self-driving cars and medical diagnosis systems. For more details, visit The History of AI: A Timeline.
AI 101: How is AI being used?
While we could talk about specific applications for how AI is being used, it might be better to discuss three main, broad applications of artificial intelligence.
First, one of the key applications of AI is in the area of machine learning. AI utilized in machine learning allows computers to learn and improve their performance without having to be explicitly programmed. In essence, human beings program the machines to adapt, to learn. These machine learning algorithms are able to analyze large amounts of data and use it to identify patterns and make predictions. Human beings programming these machines to discover patterns and make predictions (i.e., share its learning) can be used to help make decisions in a variety of fields, such as finance, healthcare, and marketing.
A second area where is AI is being applied is with computer vision. Computer vision may sound weird, but is the terminology used to describe how the development of algorithms can allow computers to interpret and analyze images and videos. Computer vision technology is used in a range of applications, including security and surveillance systems, medical image analysis, and autonomous vehicles.
Natural language processing (NLP) is a third area of AI that is rapidly growing in our world today. In light of news about highly-effective chatbots, like chatGPT, NLP-empowered technology has been gaining national recognition. For many, it’s even surprising—and almost mesmerizing—in how effective NLP can be! But what is NLP? NLP involves the development of algorithms that enable computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. NLP technology is used in wide variety of applications such as speech recognition, machine translation, text-to-speech systems, and even when we write emails, blogs, or documents.
Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on Society
While AI has the potential to bring significant benefits to society, there are also concerns about its impact on the workforce, privacy, and its future. For example, there is a fear that AI may replace human workers, leading to widespread job losses and increased income inequality. There is also concern about the impact of AI on privacy, as the technology can be used to collect and analyze vast amounts of personal data, which could potentially be used for malicious purposes. Others also worry about a dystopian future with machines overtaking human existence. All of these concerns—and many more—will challenge our society as AI continues to develop.
In order to minimize the negative impacts of AI and maximize its benefits, it is important for society to carefully consider the development and deployment of this technology. What ethics and worldview will AI tools be programmed with? How and when should certain AI tools be released publicly? For example, at what point is a self-driving car safe enough. In order to minimize the negative impacts of AI and maximize AI’s benefits for humanity, it will be essential both to regulate AI’s development and adopt ethical standards for AI.
Thankfully, many leaders and developers are already wrestling with AI ethics. For example, in 2017 a group of AI experts came together to develop an ethical standard for AI. Their work on AI ethics culminated in creation of the Asilomar AI Principles. These principles include recommendations for the responsible development and use of AI. They emphasize that those working with AI need to ensure that AI is aligned with human values and that it is transparent and explainable to larger society.
AI 101: Preparing for a future with AI
In some form or fashion, if do any writing with a software program, send an email, conduct a search on the internet, visit social media, or stream TV, we are already personally engaged with—and benefiting from—artificial intelligence. However, AI’s impact on our society and our professional lives is only going to continue to grow. It is important for business leaders, educators, healthcare and government workers, and individuals in society to prepare for a future with AI. One great way to prepare is through education and training programs, like the courses and resources offered through Navigate AI. These AI courses can help individuals acquire the skills and knowledge needed to know how to work and live with an AI-empowered future, to be able to readily and rapidly adapt to the changes that AI will bring to your industry (and they will come), and to ensure that the technology is developed and deployed in a responsible and ethical manner.
Many flashy news stories may predict that AI and robots will overtake the future existence of humanity. However, it is important to come back to AI 101 and remember what AI is—machines that are performing tasks for human beings. And AI-empowered machines are benefiting society in some tremendous ways. Sure, there may be dangers ahead. Any technology can be used for good or bad. AI is no different in that sense. However, we take the perspective that AI, like most technology, can and will be used to help humanity. That said, emerging technologies do change the world in which we live. And that’s why Navigate AI exists—to help people prepare for a future of work and life with AI as a part of it. As we learn to harness the potential of AI, it can lead to greater good.