What is Artificial Intelligence and How does it work?

Artificial Intelligence or AI is an interdisciplinary science that is concerned with the advancements in machine learning and deep learning that will help build smart machines capable of performing tasks that would typically require human intelligence. The term artificial intelligence was first coined in the 1960s when a group of scientists and mathematicians met at Dartmouth College to discuss the idea of a computer that could think on its own.

While science fiction movies, television shows, and novels have made us believe that AI is sentient robots, however, in actuality artificial intelligence refers to the development of algorithms and learning systems that are based on a simple principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic and execute the task on the basis of it. Many believe that AI systems will soon exceed the capacity of humans to learn or reason because of the pace at which artificial research and development are taking place.

Types of AI

Artificial intelligence is divided into four categories-

1. Reactive Machines- Reactive Machines are the first type of AI system. These systems were task-specific and had no memory. The most famous example of reactive machines is Chess -playing AIs. While it uses its reactive systems to come up with the best strategy to win the game, however, since it has no memory, it cannot use past experiences to inform new decisions. They are unable to learn or adapt to novel situations.

2. Limited memory- The second type of AI system is the Limited Memory AI. As the name suggests, these AI systems have memory and can use their past experiences to inform future decisions. However, they have limited memory capacity. Generally, limited-memory AI models are used in self-driving cars.

3. Theory-of-mind AI- Theory-of-mind AI is the third type of AI system and refers to AI models that have the social intelligence to understand emotions. This type of AI system is able to predict human behaviour and intentions. However, they are not self-aware.

4. Self-aware AI- Self-aware AI systems, as the name suggests, have self-awareness. Although this type of AI is still in the making, theoretically, they would have the self-awareness to understand their current state and will be sentient and aware of their own existence.

What is AI used for?

The applications of artificial intelligence are endless. AI is being used extensively in the car manufacturing industry, the medical field, financial industry, and even the agricultural industry. In agriculture, AI systems are expected to help farmers to use their resources more efficiently and even help them market their products to the highest bidder. Let’s take a look at some interesting applications of AI-

1. Streaming services- Have you ever wondered how Netflix, Prime Video, and other streaming services are able to recommend movies that match your interests specifically? Streaming services use algorithms that learn about your viewing preferences and then recommend you movies, tv shows, and documentaries based on your pattern.

2. Banking industry- AI technologies help banking and other financial institutions identify fraudulent transactions, automate manually intense data management tasks, and even adopt fast and accurate credit scoring.

3. Threat prevention in cyber security- Cyber security vendors are constantly developing Artificial Intelligence technologies that will help them detect flaws in their systems and even update them whenever necessary. It will install firewalls to rectify potentially faulty codes that could lead to danger. Artificial intelligence is also used to detect unusual behaviour and remove the infection and repair the fault to guarantee that such an incident does not happen again.

Artificial Intelligence-driven technology is only going to expand in the coming decades. AI is set to revolutionize how the world works.