Artificial intelligence and the future of humans is a book-length topic. How do machines learn? Is the power of machine learning all that powerful?
Artificial intelligence and the future of humans, including artificial intelligence applications & how machines learn is making me curious. Let’s tackle this topic.
I can’t remember the last time I called a company and a human answered the phone. And if you’re calling Comcast, eat lunch first so you don’t get hangry!
In fact, computers are calling me, and not to go to lunch. Heck, my friends don’t call me for lunch dates, either. They text!
Phones bring me back to Siri, Alexa, and artificial intelligence. (AI)
And for the record, I am skipping the chess stuff.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANS
To evaluate artificial intelligence and the future of humans, like computers, we need data to draw from. I promise this will be a brief history of artificial intelligence.
I’ll be speedy quick, like the power of machine learning.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLGENCE
In the first half of the 20th century, science fiction reacquainted us with the concept of artificially intelligent robots. One could argue that Frank L Baum’s Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz is a kind of artificial intelligence.
Tin Man is a long way from Hal, the AI in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), where AI takes a darker turn. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by the great Phillip K. Dick inspired Blade Runner, another dystopian AI-themed work.
The 1980s brought Neuromancer, The Matrix, and The Terminator (watch the original if you haven’t), which shows mankind’s distrust of artificial intelligence.
Is this view of artificial intelligence and the future of humans deserved? Do we need to fear AI?
(links above for rotten tomatoes if you care to catch up on your sci-fi movie viewing and to amazon affiliate for reading the classic Neuromancer)
Enthusiasm abounded about the potential of this new field with high amounts of optimistic press coverage.
And no chess games!
WHEN WAS THE TERM A.I. COINED?
In 1956, during the Dartmouth Summer Project. (DSRPAI)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANS
During the 1950s and 1960s computer scientists sketched out dreams & designs of advanced problem-solving machines that, in many cases, mirrored the robotic creations of science fiction novels.
If you’d like a few sci-fi book recommendations for your kids, hover your cursor on this sentence.
All this enthusiasm dropped off as mathematicians and researchers struggled.
Why?
Because in the 1950s, computer processors could not store information, only spit it back out.
In other words, computers could be told what to do but couldn’t remember what they did
Over the next half-century, many of the most ambitious fantasies of artificial intelligence were often met with prosaic, real-world limitations.
Progress was made, but slow progress. These long fallow periods have been dubbed an A.I. winter.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLGENCE : ANOTHER LIMITATION
Plus, computer science was expensive. In the early 1950s, the cost of leasing a computer ran up to $200,000 a month.
I thought 2K for a laptop was expensive!
Can you imagine time traveling to 1956 & renting out your laptop for $200,000 for 30 days?
I bet that tough crowd above would be all in!
In the 21 C, it may seem that AI is taking over, but innovations took time.
Look at the history of flight.
The Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903 but it wasn’t until the 1930s that aviation saw the beginnings of commercial transport.
And 100 years later, we’re planning to go to Mars! (to read my post on Mars, click here)
That was a brief history of artificial intelligence! Let’s stay in the 21st C, fast-forwarding from the 1950s & our brief history of artificial intelligence!
HOW DO MACHINES LEARN?
Once that limit of computer storage –which was holding us back decades ago, was no longer a problem, we could start coding computers so they’d remember what to do.
The power of machine learning snowballed!
How do computers learn? When we humans give them data & parameters to look for. These instructions are called algorithms.
Don’t worry! We are avoiding the nuts and bolts of the algorithm aspect of machine learning.
Let’s approach the question of how do computers learn, with a recent success story involving supervised learning.
HOW DO MACHINES LEARN ? SUPERVISED LEARNING
Halicin is an amazing win & an amazing artificial intelligence application!
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a major worldwide problem.
Researchers plan to broaden the AI supervised learning approach to find more new antibiotics & to design molecules from scratch.
If there is supervised computer learning, it follows that there is unsupervised computer learning.
HOW DO MACHINES LEARN ? UNSUPERVISED LEARNING
From marketers to biologists to bankers to fraud specialists, unsupervised learning allows AI to find patterns or anomalies in the masses of data at our fingertips.
Looking beyond the data, researchers seek to train AI not in a passive environment but to operate dynamically.
This type of AI learning is called reinforcement learning.
HOW DO MACHINES LEARN ? REINFORCEMENT LEARNING
“Reinforcement learning is an iterative process where an algorithm seeks to maximize some value based on rewards received for being right.”
It’s a strange concept to grasp w AI.
Reinforcement learning linkTHE POWER OF MACHINE LEARNING
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANS
Artificial intelligence and the future of humans is right now!
The power of machine learning has potential to perform tasks from analyzing EKGs to reading video surveillance to detecting beach litter (for more on plastics & our oceans, click here! )
Artifiical intelligence applications for space include combing through data for exoplanets. (if you want to go to Mars, click here to see how!)
Up to 70% of custom software development could eventually be passed on to AI.
In 2021, AI was utilized to predict missing words, fragments and sentences from cuneiform tablets that were up to 4500 years old!
Artificial intelligence and the future of humans is now! What do you think? Do we have to be afraid?
Which artificial intelligence applications do you find the most intriguing?
I’d be a sucker for reinforcement learning, too. (maybe not for treats, but dangle a pair of sandals in front of me and I’d be all in!) Great post, thank you!
I’m all in for shoes, too! I’m happy that you found my post informative! Thanks so much.
I did wonder about AI after Stephen Hawking’s comments. I’m feeling far more grounded & informed, thanks to your post and how you deconstructed AI learning. Thank you!
I also like to stay informed. (Hence my posts!) Thanks!
Artificial intelligence is talking the world now. You should read Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s about robots.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I’ll check it out!
I guess we don’t really need to worry about AI unless we grant it consciousness or the ability to develop it. But I guess such decisions will be made without my input, so no point worrying about it until the machines rise up
No one is asking me, either! Good attitude not to worry about it. Thanks!
I’d love time saving applications like self-driving cars, vacuums, etc. Leaves time for the fun things.
That’s a positive point, Amy! Thanks for sharing it.
Wow, I had studied AI as one of my main lessons back at university. It is impressive to see how much everything has evolved since then. However, I remain a romantic. Human created machines so eventually even if machines take over at some time we can and we will win. Thank you for this read Sue!
I agree, humans will remain in charge of machines! Thanks so much, Eri!
I studied CS in college and did my thesis on AI, so this topic is near and dear to my heart!
How intriguing! If I’d known, I could have interviewed you! Maybe next time. Thanks!
Interesting as always! My son and I were just talking about whether AI will get to the point it ‘thinks’ and we realized we were having a hard time defining ‘thinks’.
How lovely that you and your son are having such cerebral discussions. I researched an article for Highlights a few years ago that delved into this very topic. Are animals self-aware? The issue being that they may be, but our tests skew towards human ways to think. It’s mind boggling and fun. Thank you, Eileen!
I love the way you presented this information, it’s very approachable! I was fascinated to learn that AI had been “utilized to predict missing words, fragments and sentences from cuneiform tablets that were up to 4500 years old!” That’s pretty amazing!
What about AI used in social media and search engines? Learning that social media companies use AI to try to capture as much of our attention as they can, and then sell it to advertisers is disturbing. When search engines show different results based on providing more of what people are already looking for in different areas of the county, it contributes to bias & prejudice.
My favorite application was reading cuneiform tablets, too! On the other end of the spectrum, I find social media advertising disturbing as well. I’m sure you clear your cache every time you exit your browser. My post here talks about how we are remotely controlled! Awareness is the first step to fighting back. Thank you so much, Kathy!
Very interesting read! Sometimes I stop and wonder about what would life be with robots everywhere, but I’m assuming this will be our ”reality” very soon! & it makes me excited! Thanks for sharing. xx Penny / http://www.whatdidshetype.com
I would love a robot cleaning person! I agree, I am excited at the amazing applications already in use with A.I! (marketing excluded) Thanks so much!
I have always been so fascinated by AI and its endless possibilities. Great post.
Me, too! Thanks so much, Kelly!
There are so many possibilities, pros and cons and concerns about A.I. etc and I’m pretty sure I don’t know enough about any of it so this was a really good exploration for me to get into — thanks for sharing!
I’m pleased that you found my post edifying! Thank you!
This was such an interesting read! I have to admit books and films about the potential future of AI always intrigue me – it’s weird but exciting to think about what the future may look like! Thanks for sharing.
I agree, the facts are just as weird and exciting as the fiction! Thanks.
This is such an interesting post, so many things to think about. I remember watching minority report and thinking some of things in that would be years and years away but now personalised ads are here and they freak me out 😂😂😂 thanks for sharing
I find personalized ads disquieting, too! Artificial intelligence raises so many ethical questions. We need to keep an eye on AI legislation! Thanks, Sarah.
I quite often shout stop listening to me at my phone 😂 it’s just a bit much
I’d like to see that!
I confess I have some negative feelings towards the way the AI has begun to slip unnoticed into our every day lives. I was most disturbed by the development of AI programs that can write posts and stories that read as though written by the human hand. I do not like the idea that a program can write as well as humans because I still want writing to belong to the emotional aspect of humanity .. .
Thanks for sharing this interesting post!
I also want writing to have an emotional component, non-fiction included! I don’t like the idea of AI programs taking any kind of lead with creative material. I find marketers use of AI, google rankings, social media fake accounts all disturbing! I do love the idea that AI can take over tedious data analysis tasks or help with medical advances, but not at the expense of human privacy. Thanks so much for weighing in!
AI is so interesting! I do think it can be helpful for us and work with us to make our live easier or tasks quicker.
Corinne x
https://skinnedcartree.com
I’m all for speeding up tedious tasks! Thanks so much!
Love this topic about AI. It’s fascinating how machine is taking over the world. I read a book a while ago “Homo Deus by Yuval Harari”. A bit scary how AI might eventually take our jobs because it makes work easier. Regardless, I believe human intelligence is still needed.
I find machine learning fascinating too so I’m happy to find a like mind! I’ll need to check out that title! Thanks for mentioning it and for stopping by.
This is a really interesting post to consider. It would be great for AI to change bed sheets, I hate doing that job ha ha!
Lauren – bournemouthgirl
Bed sheets are right up there with one of my least favorite tasks; folding laundry! ha! Thanks, Lauren!
Another great post. I remember doing punchcards to run a simple program on a computer in the 70s. Now I just asked Siri for anything I need. Pretty amazing. Mike
And Siri doesn’t always respond in the way we want! I agree. Computer science is amazing! Thanks so much!
So many things to think about! This is such a interesting post, thank you so much for sharing. I find machine learning really fascinating, it just amazes me. Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
I find it fascinating, too. I could write half a dozen posts about machine learning and its growing applications. Thank you!
Such an interesting and informative post, as always. I love reading about the history of this subject.
I used to fear technology and how fast it is evolving. However, since starting the blog I am embracing it more. AI is definitely beneficial and something which improves our daily lives.
Knowledge lessens our fear, right? Good for you to tackle technology w/ your blog. Yes, AI is affecting our lives in many ways we aren’t even aware of! Thank you for stopping by!
This was such an interesting read! AI is such a fascinating topic, and as someone who works in the software field, I like to keep myself up to date on the latest happenings in the subject, so I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing!
Software field? Cool! I’m so happy that you enjoyed my post. Thank you!
Such a interesting post!
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing all this info about AI. I didn’t know much about it until I read your post. Very informative and interesting!
I’m gratified that you found my post informative! I appreciate you stopping by! Thank you.
The pros and cons of technology. Makes me wonder what the future would be like when AI fully takes over.
I am also curious about what intriguing innovations scientists will devise using artificial intelligence! Thank you!
Very interesting topic, beautiful pictures..
I appreciate you noticing the photos. I probably spend too much time on them… Thank you so much!
Nice sharing! I am grateful that AI has made my life easier! (except for the annoying ads on the website…)
Valid point about AI and advertising! I took a deeper dive into that topic in my post are you remotely controlled? It is horrifying and fascinating. We’ll need to stay vigilant. Thank you, Sandie!