All of us are excited about the future and the advancements we will get from the technology that is about to be discovered or that has already been found, but perfected over the past years.
With new bits of knowledge and new technologies, we are surely up for new trends and a new and brighter future, if we used it for good of course. History is filled with cases where new age and tech brought nothing but sorrow and sadness, and we are hoping that all of us have grown out of that and that we as a human race can work together toward a brighter and prosperous future.
As you can see from the title, today we are discussing AI or Artificial Intelligence and what it will bring to the table. Most of us are excited about this notion and we are all expecting to see what we get from it, but some are rather cautious when it comes to AI development and implementation.
Most of the good and bad things came from sci-fi movies because those are the only ones that could show us what AI is, could be and will be, at least through the imagination of the director, but as time progresses, we see that some of those things we saw and learned along the way weren’t correct.
The AI is so much more than just robots walking around and Sky Net trying to take over the world, and the best example of that is AfroLingo which uses AI to translate anything from email and messages to speak directly.
Now let’s go on with the article and try and name all the things that AI has changed so far and what it might change in the future. Enjoy!
1. Wider connection
AI is just more than robots we learned about in movies. AI is something that keeps everything connected and running. Imagine a world where everything, not just your smartphones, is connected and synchronized. Imagine trucks connected to pallet systems in warehouses, connected to packaging, then connected to products and all of that connected to the drones in the sky delivering and monitoring the road.
Imagine all of this tied to each other and constantly communicating information regarding road conditions, warehouse status, products on the shelves, speed, flow of traffic and much, much more. This would all be done through an AI that would be in charge of controlling everything and sending the information where and when needed.
Some of this is in use now, but it is a highly simplistic method and bare-bone usage of an AI computer to run this info and calculations.
2. Anticipation
What is an interesting side of AI and algorithms is the fact that they are right now, although bare-bones and as simple as it gets, cutting down costs and speeding up worldwide processes. Some mathematical formulas and algorithms are in place working to anticipate every need we might have and place an order for it. It will arrive in stock or on the shelf if you close the supermarket, a few days before you need it.
It’s something that economists call just-in-time delivery and it is supposed to cut down costs of unused items, storage spaces that we will run out eventually, cut down fuel prices, pollution and many more things that are closely attached to that. So there is an AI already doing the work of anticipation and stocking up with whatever we need when we need it and not a minute before which is remarkable.
3. Better data processing
Our world revolves around data and data processing. You can use that for good or for bad, hopefully, we are mature enough to use it for good finally. Data is everything, from your preferences, your likes and dislikes, your shopping and eating habits, clothing traveling and so much more.
All that data may be used, and in some cases, it is already, by an AI that will do some number crunching and offer you a better deal on your next car, your next travel point, a better deal at your grocery store, clothing store or a better term on your next job. There are so many things to consider here and all of them are pure data that an AI reads and anticipates every second of every day.
Thanks to that we have a lot of benefits in all areas of our lives, we just haven’t given it a thought before.
4. Constant adaptation
When you think about it and when you simplify the meaning of AI you get a way for a computer to learn to problem-solve, learn based on past mistakes and create new ways to solve complex and simple issues. Now, this is an oversimplified definition of artificial intelligence but you get the gist. Now what this means is that we have developed a computer capable of prediction and constant adaptation to new situations and scenarios.
This means that we have found means to have someone deal with our problems and our tasks way faster and more reliable than we have. A computer will use all data available, past present and crunch the future numbers and predict data to get a piece of information out or to find a solution to a problem that may take us years to solve. This is how these things are advanced and good.
5. Skill sharing
One thing that we humans have going for us is that we are also capable of learning, each of us at our speed. What is interesting here is that a skill we learn may take us some time, but when we do learn it it is just ours, only we know how to use it. Like playing chess for instance.
When you learn it you know it, and no one else in your household doesn’t if they don’t start learning it. The same goes for skills and other pieces of knowledge. An AI would learn a certain skill and the best part about it is that it would be instantly available to all other machines that are tied to that central brain let’s call it. There would be one place of collective knowledge where all others would be able to approach and instantly know what it knows.
This would save a lot of time when it comes to certain jobs where you would have to invest money into learning, into operators, into practices. With AI you would need to learn it once and all others would be instantly equipped to do the same thing.
Kim Marks 
Nicola Holder