The Future of Artificial Intelligence

The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Science fiction has long been focused on the theme of having machines with artificial intelligence (AI), capable of creating, thinking and producing the same way human beings are intrinsically able to. While the extent to which AI can achieve real consciousness is not the subject of discussion here, AI technology as a means to achieve improved productivity and progression within all spheres of life is already underway.
AI is one of the major underpinnings of future technology applications finding its way into a multitude of areas which will usher in great advancements as a result. All smart innovations, the IoT, nanotechnology, autonomous vehicles and others, owe their present and future to the artificial brain powering them.
What makes AI systems so commanding is their ability to analyze and cross reference vast amounts of information instantly, using this information to make decisions and above all to learn. This learning aspect makes AI systems very powerful as they are no longer dependent on statically fed information; they start to resemble organic minds that can think within the programmatic boundaries set within their computer DNA code.
This allows them to build information relationships and cross correlate massive datasets together at breakneck speed which in turn greatly benefits the human beneficiary with insights, reasoning, simulations and ideas from their learning that would otherwise be very difficult for humans to deduce.
The field of modern AI can be traced back to 1956 at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire where the term artificial intelligence came about. Since then, work in the field of neural networks and machine learning have fueled AI progression leading to billions of dollars being pumped into research and development. This has become the new space race with companies and nation states now fiercely competing to bring about bigger and better AI systems for a range of different applications.
Such technology will allow us to address the healthcare challenges here-to-fore impossible to address, such as those suffering from spinal cord issues that may end up causing paralyisi as a result. Artificial implants with built-in AI technology will allow movement to be restored, empowering severed parts of the spinal cord to communicate once more and even improve with AI controlled bionic limbs. AI implants could take over sections of the brain within patients who have suffered brain trauma and quite literally make them human again. AI-enabled exoskeletons will be life-changing for the elderly and sick, giving them free movement once again.
The boundary between human and computer will distort as they become progressively intertwined. AI will not exist as a paradigm on its own but will in fact change to become IA, an Intelligent Augmentation of human with AI, magnifying human intelligence to unprecedented levels and powering the Singularity.
Hypotheses and conceptions formed by the human mind will be aided by AI to cross reference billions of cumulative global datasets to allow humans to attain much more precise and informed conclusions, thereby furthering the boundary of the Singularity at an exceedingly immeasurable rate. The AI intellect will surpass our current human brains, being able to digest and synthesize millions of books on a particular subject in seconds and having all data thereof available as though we always knew it.
AI will revolutionize the way in which national crises are tackled, autonomously dealing with critical situations such as search and rescue after an earthquake or clean-up operations in situations toxic to humans. Current civil defense setups will comprise AI-controlled vehicles and robots as a front defense line against hazards, with their work being overseen and managed by human counterparts.
AI robots will be able to zoom out to the scene of accidents, lift vehicles with ease, cut through car chassis with safety, scan passengers for injuries on the fly, pull out victims, disable fires and other hazards and even administer first aid. Work has begun on all these applications and it is no exaggeration to say that such technology will be in our cities in the near future.
The same type of robotic AI machines will be used in sectors which are perilous to humans such as mining, deep sea occupations, nuclear facility operation and maintenance, plus many other hazardous activities, providing a level of safety and accuracy never previously seen.
Factories and manufacturing plants will be complete black box environments, totally robotized and controlled by AI from start to end. This will almost abolish any human intervention in factories prone to huge consequences on the skills required by the workforce of the future, which will be led by knowledge workers. Lifelong learning will be the key skill the future workforce will need to ensure they remain employable, focusing on creativity, ingenuity and out of- the-box thinking.
This matter has become such a concern to many to the point that some have suggested a type of Universal Basic Income (UBI) be provided to compensate for the lost human jobs taken over by AI. It would be funded out of additional taxes that AI-enabled factories would have to pay and compensate human workers. This could certainly be possible as the economies of scale that AI will provide will allow companies to massively increase their volume and output quality thus generating greater revenues.
The implementation of UBI remains to be seen and will certainly be an interesting concept to follow while moving forward, but I strongly believe in empowering workers with knowledge in order to increase the value they provide to their employers and the society at large.
Space travel will become a largely robotic affair with AI-controlled robots furthering our knowledge of space in a way humans would never be able to. Such sentient beings would be able to go to the most inhospitable locations in our universe and be able to perform many years of research and space exploration without having to put human lives at risk, all the while reporting their feats to their earthly masters. Deep sea exploration, mining and underground exploration will also be transformed in a similar manner.
The financial establishment worldwide will be controlled primarily by AI algorithms, improving transparency and eliminating fraud as a result. The next generation of traders will be AI machines which will compete to predict trends within markets and identify profitable investments. No doubt competition between investment houses will rise to develop the latest and most sophisticated AI machines, enabling them to widen investing choices by processing massive sets of variables and selections. Human trading floors will end up becoming a thing of the past.
The intelligence within AI systems will develop to become able to respond as humans do to any conversation, throwing in all the semantic and syntactic morphologies which go into everyday conversation making, such as banter, small talk, emotion, proper contextual comments, objective facts, subjective ideas and all the other associated day to day idioms and expressions.
Eventually, AI will be able to far surpass the Turing test; a challenge developed by Alan Turing in 1950 to test a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from that of a human.
The future of AI is indeed exciting as it is set to impact many aspects of our lives. My hope is that this technology is used to launch mankind into a new model of existence where humanity is better shared between fellows and where disparity between societies is reduced.