We hear so much about artificial intelligence, but what exactly does it mean? “When I think of artificial intelligence,” Justin C. Williams of Park City Utah says, “I can’t help but think of the cartoon show I watched as a child every Saturday morning called The Jetsons*.” The Jetsons was a fictional portrayal of a family living thousands of years from now who used fascinating futuristic inventions, often with hilarious outcomes. The show featured artificial intelligence in several ways, with the most memorable one being, Judy, their robot maid who interacted with the family as just another family member.
“That’s what I always thought artificial intelligence was,” Justin C. Williams of Park City Utah says. He says he had always thought of it as an idea, task, or routine, broken down into its most basic steps, and then replicated via machine or other automation.
He’s not far from the truth. An article* in Investopedia about artificial intelligence defines it as “the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.” The article says AI is based on “the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from the most simple to those that are even more complex.”
“AI is big in gaming, but it’s not just for gaming,” Justin C. Williams of Park Utah explains. It’s evolving and shaping the futures of other industries like healthcare, he says, where automated drug dosing has become the norm and in operating suites where robots are programmed to replicate minute surgical procedures previously done by hand. It’s a part of self-driving cars, he says, where sophisticated computers anticipate and prepare for any sudden moves with automated programmed maneuvers. AI is found in the banking industry, Justin C. Williams says, and helps with security and detecting fraudulent activity. “It’s also big in online trading,” he says, “and makes complex transactions much less complicated.”
Even with all this progress, Justin C. Williams of Park City Utah says AI is not without drawbacks. There’s ongoing debate about the usefulness of machines that could eventually be hacked and the potential of computers that learn so quickly that they could eventually turn against humans. Another drawback he explains, is that robots will end up replacing a high proportion of humans in jobs that currently only humans can do. “Personally, I think AI is a good thing, as long as we can monitor it carefully,” Justin C. Williams adds. “I believe so much more will be developed in the next 50 years, but I also have faith in humans to adapt in ways we’re just beginning to explore,” he says.
The Jetsons* – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jetsons
article* – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/artificial-intelligence-ai.asp
