The Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an extensive branch of computer science that involves building smart machines capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. AI enables computers and machines to mimic the perception, learning, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities of the human mind. AI is an intelligent entity created by humans to make machines capable of thinking and acting humanely.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF AI

Advantages of artificial intelligence applications are enormous and can help revolutionize any sector. A few of them are:

1. Reduction in Human Error

Human errors are defined as mistakes made by humans; however, computers don't make any errors if they are programmed appropriately. Artificial intelligence uses previously gathered information to make decisions and apply algorithms to them, leading to greater precision and reduced chances for errors.

2. Machines take risks instead of humans

Taking risks could be considered one of the most significant advantages because it helps overcome human limitations by handling the tasks that would otherwise involve risks. An AI Robot can perform some dangerous tasks like defusing a bomb, coal mining, exploring the deepest parts of the ocean, and crash testing for vehicles.

3. Full-time availability

Humans are designed to require some time off to refresh themselves, get ready for the new workday, and be granted weekly offs to maintain their work-life balance. An average human might work for 4-6 hours a day, but if we use AI, the machines can work 24x7 without any breaks and won't even get bored like humans.

4. Helps in repetitive jobs

A human performs various repetitive tasks in his/her day-to-day life. With artificial intelligence to perform specific tasks, we can easily automate the tedious tasks, which will leave the creative jobs for humans and save time at the same time.

5. Provides digital assistance

Various organizations use digital assistance to interact with their users to save the need for human resources. Digital human assistance, in the form of a chatbot or voice bot, provides the users' solutions to all their queries. Chatbots are designed in such a seamless way that it's hard for humans to determine whether they are talking with a chatbot or a human being.

6. Faster decisions

If AI is used along with other technologies, it can make faster decisions than a human, also performing them more efficiently. A human being will consider emotional and practical factors, whereas AI will work according to its program and deliver the desired result quicker.

7. Daily applications

Apple's Siri, Windows Cortana & Google's OK Google are some of the applications used frequently to perform various tasks like making a phone call, sending a mail, searching a location, and replying to a mail.

8. New Inventions

AI has powered various new inventions in most domains, helping resolve many of the major complex problems humans face.

A coin has two sides. Let's look at the disadvantages of artificial intelligence:

1. High costs of creation

Since AI usually has complex machines, it comes with a higher cost. Installation, as well as its repair and maintenance, have extravagant costs. The software program used in these AI machines needs to be upgraded frequently as the device needs to cater to the changing requirements. In case of a technical breakdown, the procurement cost is expensive, and recovery requires a substantial amount of time.

2. Makes humans lazy

Even the smartest machine cannot replicate a human's morals and emotions as machines are rational but extremely inhuman at the same time. Machines don't recognize ethical and legal situations, which makes them lack their judgment-making skills. They perform the task as they are programmed, with no judgment of wrong and right. In unfamiliar situations, they might break down or perform the task inaccurately.

3. Unemployment

This is the riskiest factor and will severely affect society. Human requirements have decreased due to various industries using capital-intensive technologies. Humans should add to their skills to retain their jobs; if they don't do so, they will be replaced with machines in no time. Unemployment is the root cause behind stagnant or depreciating GDP. Due to the lack of required essential skills, there is a huge demand and supply void.

4. No improvement with experience

If no different commands are given to the machine, they will perform the same function and won't improve with experience, leading to wear and tear as time passes by. The way to access and use the stored data is very different from human intelligence. They are unable to cope up with the dynamic environment changes. There is no sense of belonging, passion, or togetherness for AI machines as they don't have feelings. Often they fail to distinguish between inefficient and hardworking individuals.

5. Lacking out-of-box thinking

Machines can't be creative as they can only perform what they are programmed to do. They can assist in designing and creating but can never match the power of the human brain. Humans are sensitive and creative beings that can come up with some out-of-the-box ideas. Unlike machines, humans can see, hear, think and feel. Human thoughts depend on their feelings, and machines can't inherit the human brain's intuitive abilities.

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APPLICATION OF AI

Some typical applications of artificial intelligence:

1. Virus and spam prevention: Current virus and spam detection software utilize deep neural networks, which are quick to detect new types of virus and spam as soon as cybercriminals come up with them.

2. Image Recognition: Image recognition is also known as Computer vision or machine vision. This is the technology able to identify and classify objects, people, writing, and gestures within stationary or dynamic images. This recognition is also powered by deep neural networks and is an efficient application of AI. Some of the many uses of image recognition are fingerprint ID systems, video or medical image analysis, mobile check deposit applications, and, last but not least, is self-driving cars.

3. Speech Recognition: This is also known as speech to text(STT). This is the AI technology that recognizes and converts the spoken words to digitized text form. This feature steers the dictation software in computers, voice-enabled text messaging, tv voice remotes, and GPS.

4. Automated stock trading: These AI-driven high-frequency trading platforms are designed to optimize the stock portfolios and successfully make millions of trades per day without any human intervention. Examples of such platforms are Zerodha, Meta Trader 4, Interactive Brokers, Wunderbit, and Botsfolio.

5. Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP enables software applications, machines, or computers to understand, interpret and generate human text. NLP powers digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, chatbots, and various other text-based virtual assistance. NLP also utilizes sentiment analysis to detect the attitude, mood, and other subjective qualities in language.

6. Ride-Share Services: Various ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft use artificial intelligence technology to match the passengers with suitable drivers to minimize wait times and detours. AI also assists in eliminating the need for surge pricing during variable high traffic periods.

7. Autopilot technology: This is the technology that has been flying military and commercial aircraft for decades now. Autopilot currently uses a combination of sensors, image recognition, GPS technology, collision avoidance technology, robotics, and natural language processing to steer an aircraft safely through the skies and provides the human pilots' updates as required. Autopilot technology has decreased a commercial pilot's manual piloting time to three and a half to four minutes. Self-driving cars are also powered by autopilot technology. Companies like Uber and Google are vying to develop the first consumer-ready self-driving car.

8. Disease Mapping and Prediction: AI has made predicting and preventing disease easier by learning how diseases spread from the epidemiologist. AI progresses quicker on data analysis and prediction modeling than any human could do alone.

9. Search engines: AI enables search engines to rummage through their databases and display potential results that are the most suitable for your search. Search engine algorithms are one of the best examples of robust algorithms. Google uses 200 data points to determine the rank of the results on each results page, and with a billion pages in their database, the algorithm runs all the data through its queries.

10. Recommendation engines: Many applications and websites use recommendation engines, with Apple Music, Spotify, and Netflix being the most well-known ones. They gather and analyze data about previously watched or heard songs and then suggest suitable songs or movies to the user. Social media platforms are successfully utilizing recommendation engines to connect people to content or brands they are more likely to endorse.

To gain more knowledge about Natural Language Processing, one can move forward with Python Deep Learning Projects (Part 2: Natural Language Processing).

REFERENCES

  1. https://towardsdatascience.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-artificial-intelligence-182a5ef6588c
  2. https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence
  3. https://algorithmia.com/blog/artificial-intelligence

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