Artificial Intelligence

Introduction 

Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to the simulation of human intelligence by software-coded heuristics. Nowadays this code is prevalent in everything from cloud-based, enterprise applications to consumer apps and even embedded firmware.

The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. A subset of artificial intelligence is machine learning(ML), which refers to the concept that computer programs can automatically learn from and adapt to new data without being assisted by humans. Deep learning techniques enable this automatic learning through the absorption of huge amounts of unstructured data such as text images or video.

Understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI)

When most people hear the term artificial intelligence, the first thing they usually think of is robots. That's because big-budget films and novels weave stories about human-like machines that wreak havoc on Earth. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Artificial intelligence is based on the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from the most simple to those that are even more complex. The goals of artificial intelligence include mimicking human cognitive activity. Researchers and developers in the field are making surprisingly rapid strides in mimicking activities such as learning, reasoning, and perception, to the extent that these can be concretely defined. 

Special Considerations

Since its beginning, artificial intelligence has come under scrutiny from scientists and the public alike. One common theme is the idea that machines will become so highly developed that humans will not be able to keep up and they will take off on their own, redesigning themselves at an exponential rate.

Another is that machines can hack into people's privacy and even be weaponized. Other arguments debate the ethics of artificial intelligence and whether intelligent systems such as robots should be treated with the same rights as humans.

What Are 4 Types of AI?

Artificial intelligence can be categorized into one of four types:

• Reactive AI uses algorithms to optimize outputs based on a set of inputs. Chess-playing AIs, for example, are reactive systems that optimize the best strategy to win the game. Reactive AI tends to be fairly static, unable to learn or adapt to novel situations. Thus, it will produce the same output given identical inputs.
• Limited memory AI can adapt to past experience or update itself based on new observations or data. Often, the amount of updating is limited (hence the name), and the length of memory is relatively short. Autonomous vehicles, for example, can "read the road" and adapt to novel situations, even "learning" from past experience.
• Theory-of-mind AI are fully-adaptive and have an extensive ability to learn and retain past experiences. These types of AI include advanced chat-bots that could pass the Turing Test, fooling a person into believing the AI was a human being. While advanced and impressive, these AI are not self-aware.
• Self-aware AI, as the name suggests, become sentient and aware of their own existence. Still in the realm of science fiction, some experts believe that an AI will never become conscious or "alive".

How Is AI Used Today?

 AI is used to make predictions in terms of weather and financial forecasting, to streamline production processes, and to cut down on various forms of redundant cognitive labor (e.g., tax accounting or editing). AI is also used to play games, operate autonomous vehicles, process language, and more.

The Bottom Line

 AI encompasses various subfields, including machine learning (ML) and deep learning, which allow systems to learn and adapt in novel ways from training data. It has vast applications across multiple industries, such as healthcare, finance, and transportation. The development ranges from weak AI, focused on specific tasks like voice assistants, to the theoretical concept of strong AI or AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), which would perform any intellectual task a human can. While AI offers significant advancements, it also raises ethical, privacy, and employment concerns. The future of AI holds immense potential but also requires careful consideration of its societal and ethical impacts.