We live in an age where technology has seeped its way into our everyday lives, impacting the way we live, work, and socialize. A very modern form of technology that has recently gained fresh momentum is none other than artificial intelligence, or AI. In layman’s terms, Artificial intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. It is based on the idea that human thought processes have the ability to both be replicated and mechanized by machines which can learn from external data in a way where they functionally imitate cognitive practices. Currently, Artificial Intelligence is one of the most intellectually diverse aspects of science due its limitless potential to be applied in almost every field. From voice-powered personal assistants like Siri and Alexa to more underlying and fundamental technologies such as behavioral algorithms, the recent advancements in AI have significantly automated our lives and have made it possible to do the things that were seen as just a dream just a couple of decades ago. However, you may be wondering, how did Artificial Intelligence originate and make its way into the ever growing STEM industry?
The history of artificial intelligence dates back to antiquity with philosophers publicizing the idea that artificial beings and other automatons had existed or could exist. The introduction of such a concept made artificial intelligence a more tangible subject from the 1700s and beyond. Scientists theorized how human thinking could be mechanized and manipulated by intelligent non-human machines. This thought process fueled an interest in AI, which led to the invention of the first programmable computer in the 1940s. As a result, the 1950s and beyond brought with it cascade of innovation and findings in AI. Scientists, programmers, and logicians aided in solidifying the modern understanding of artificial intelligence as a whole. Eventually, artificial intelligence began to grow like never before where the world saw it being applied to many different things. For example, in 1956, Claude Shannon, a famous mathematician who is now referred to as the “father of information theory”, used AI methods to construct an algorithm for a chess playing computer program. Multiple of these small inventions were created, until the 1960’s, where industrialists began to use robotics and AI to build industrial robots to automate manufacturing jobs. From there, scientists took an even bigger leap and began to program and build highly advanced robots that were used for space exploration, communication, etc..
This brings us to modern day society, where reputable companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have become capable of producing full-scale humanoid robots that are capable of human and environmental interaction. Instead of merely scratching the surface, let’s take a look of some of the applications of artificial intelligence in the real world.
One example of artificial intelligence application is in self-driving cars. For these types of machines, the computer system must account for all external data and compute it to act in a way that prevents a collision. In order to do so, the machine has a powerful processing unit that analyzes millions of data sets every second, and from these data sets, the car is able to “learn” and make street legal decisions. This technology has been most famously developed by Tesla and is close to becoming a norm. As mentioned before, another popular implementation of AI that many of us can relate to is Siri, or Apple’s virtual assistant software. This software helps us find information, gives us directions, adds events to our calendars, helps us send messages and so on. In order to do so, Siri records the frequencies and sound waves from your voice and translates them into a code. She then breaks down the code to identify particular patterns, phrases, and keywords. This data gets input into an algorithm that sifts through thousands of combinations of sentences to determine what the inputted phrase means. In essence, Siri uses machine-learning technology to get smarter and better able to predict and understand our natural-language questions and requests. These are just a few examples that demonstrate the versatility of artificial intelligence, demonstrating how technology will continue to develop and shape the future.
Nice post! 😁