After watching Google Duplex demonstrations at this year’s I/O conference, one thing is clear: Artificial intelligence will change our lives. All manner of practical applications are being explored by leading AI companies like Microsoft and Google. To help you wrap your head around what the future holds, we’ve rounded up 10 ways AI will be changing your life forever!
Speech Recognition
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The technology that powers all AI assistants, speech recognition tech is very exciting going forward. The ability to organize your life and appointments with your voice alone is engaging and exciting to a degree that is hard to overstate. Alexa, Google Assistant and the like all make excellent use of this technology to power their unique promise of being user-friendly, dynamic and useful to users of all skill levels. This technology can also help disabled people type by using their voices, increasing the accessibility of personal computers and other platforms.
Making Appointments
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Assistant calling was unveiled at 2018’s I/O conference by Google, in the form of their Google Duplex technology. This revolutionary AI functionality allows the Google Assistant platform to make phone calls for users, setting up appointments, reservations and the like. This is exciting for users with phone anxiety or trouble speaking, or just for users who are busy and don’t have time to call in themselves. While this raises a few ethical questions regarding machine voices being indistinguishable from human voices, the practical applications of the technology are undeniable.
Machine Learning
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Machine learning is largely considered the marker of “true” artificial intelligence. By synthesizing concepts encountered and reacting based on past information, AI with machine learning capabilities would be able to react in ways humans can’t predict. These applications could be applied to market trends in order to assist stock brokers or as assistants to surgeons during procedures. The potential uses of this type of learning are staggering: imagine intelligences reasoning and problem solving with the speed and accuracy of a machine during such tense activities as piloting a spaceship or during peace talks between warring nations.
Advertising
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People are still understandably anxious regarding companies like Facebook using algorithms to target them with content. However, this will hardly stop the future of learning algorithms and, eventually, true AI using their data collection to target users with advertisements and articles. As with many AI-related fields, this is a hotly debated subject, raising ethical questions as to the responsibility of advertisers and media platforms. It seems unlikely that such reservations will stop companies from leveraging the considerable power of machine learning in order to boost their profits.
Personal Assistants
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The most obvious and immediate effect artificial intelligence has on the lives of everyday consumers is through the virtual assistants we all now carry in our pockets. Using a virtual assistant has become second nature to most smart phone owners. The act of asking Siri or Cortana or Google to make a phone call for us is natural and easy. Incorporating similar technology into smart speakers and smart displays was a logical next step: Google and Amazon want to bring their brand of AI into your life and make themselves indispensable. Individual reliance on AI assistants will likely become as commonplace as reliance on cell phones and the internet is now.
Data Gathering
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A pressing application for businesses, sifting through and organizing data is likely to be the primary role of corporate AI. For companies with extensive logs and ledgers, the ability to instruct an AI to quickly sort data and parse it for relevant information is likely to change the face of business. Reading market trends and sales data at speeds impossible for humans, AI could give companies an edge over competition and help them make smart business decisions. Similar to artificial intelligence applications in advertising, AI use as information comb is likely to be a primary function of AI for business.
Biometrics
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For consumers, thumbprint scanners that unlock their phones are a well-known application of biometric technology. Biometrics also, however, have many applications in relation to AI. Using AI to learn about people from their biometrics would allow for numerous advances. For example, early warning of diseases like cancer and diabetes would become more common. Additionally, such AI could help in developing treatments and cures for diseases monitored through biometrics. Market applications of biometric AI tech would likely include AI interfaces in retail stores that allowed for checkout using thumbprint or facial recognition. Technology in this vein is already in use via services like Apple Pay.
AI-Optimized Hardware
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As computer processors and graphics cards have begun pushing the limits of what their hardware is capable of, manufacturers have begun speculating on the potential of AI-assisted hardware. Using advanced learning AI to make micro-adjustments on the fly could help high end graphics cards or processors speed up beyond their current limitations. Coupled with experimental quantum computing techniques, such technology would likely reshape the face of computing as an industry and redefine what computers are capable of. Such a leap ahead could potentially dwarf previous technological advancements.
Automation of Processes
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Much like the robotics boom that helped automate factory labor, AI technology will likely see automation of numerous work tasks previously able to be done only by humans. Utilizing Google Duplex-like technology, phone customer service could be fully automated. Rather than staffing buildings full of workers to answer phone calls, companies could outsource all phone calls to an AI programmed to answer questions. This is only one example: programming, research and development, analytics and market research could all be tackled by learning AI. Such advancements could be monumental, allowing for full automation of nearly all virtual jobs.
Robotics
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Beyond just automating jobs that occur in a virtual space, complex AI software housed in advanced robotics could automate physical labor on a scale previously impossible. Agriculture, construction and maintenance work could potentially all be automated by AI-powered robots. While this likely sounds like high-concept sci-fi, such a future is becoming more possible, and more likely, with each passing day. As companies continue to push the boundaries of what AI is capable of, a future where all work tasks are automated becomes more and more likely. This could lead to a utopia where all people are free to pursue their own desires, or a dystopia where people are ruled robots. Just kidding! Or maybe not. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it! For now, I’ll suspiciously eye my Amazon Echo and hope it doesn’t try to kill all humans anytime soon.
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