Technology is changing our society day by day. Things which were in the science fiction realm 25-30 years ago have now become commonplace. Remember the science fiction TV Serial Star Trek in the 80s. It showed communication between astronauts on a mobile phone type device, which also showed videos. Now it has become commonplace. Remember telephonic communications 40 years back. Talking to someone in another country involved extremely high prices and a lot of time to connect. Now we can talk literally free and without any delay for hours anywhere in the world.
These examples were just to set the frame for the drastic changes brought about by technology in our day to day lives. The latest new kid on the block is Artificial Intelligence, which is revolutionising society as no other technology has ever done.
Artificial intelligence has mimicked the human brain and has far surpassed it in almost all things. This may seem like a controversial statement. But it is the truth!
Below are some examples:
The air defence systems of many advanced Countries is by and large unmanned. Once air defence radars have detected a launch of a missile from an enemy country it reacts based on the algorithms of its software and takes defensive measures in a few seconds. It acts and reacts much faster than a human could. A sophisticated cyber strike could destroy infrastructure in a few seconds much before a human can defend it. Only AI can detect and react fast enough to stop it.
Most stock trades today are managed by computer algorithms that can process more data in a second than a human can process in a year. And react much faster than a human can blink. Some traders in the US have filed lawsuits against trading with the use of computer algorithms since it unfairly discriminates against human traders who cannot react fast enough to compete. Use of artificial intelligence in medicine is equally path breaking. In a recent experiment a computer algorithm was correctly able to diagnose lung cancer cases in 90 per cent cases while human doctors had a correct diagnosis in 50 per cent cases.
In 2011 a pharmacy opened in San Francisco was manned by a single robot. In one year it managed 2 million prescription without making a single mistake while human pharmacists erred in 1.7 per cent of all prescriptions.
In February 2015 an AI program developed by Google Deepmind learned by itself how to play 49 Atari games. It then played all of them much better than humans, using strategies which never occurred to human players.
The future of AI is already here. In May 2014 Deep Knowledge , a Hong Kong venture capital firm dealing with regenerative medicine appointed an AI algorithm named VITAL to its board. Like other 5 board members, VITAL gets to vote whether or not the firm invests in a particular company, based on massive amounts of data which it processes.
It was earlier thought that the arts were beyond the ken of artificial intelligence. It is not so. David Cook is a musicology professor in the US. He created an AI program named EMI which specialised in composing music in the style of various classical musicians. In one day, EMI composed 5000 chorales in the style of the legend Sebastian Bach. When critics said that the music had no soul, David Cook organised a showdown where they were nine pieces of music, 3 composed by himself, 3 by EMI and three by the legendary Sebastian Batch.
After this a large audience of music buffs were asked to identify which piece was by whom. Amazingly, the audience was not able to differentiate between the music composed by EMI , and that by Bach.
In light of the above here are the areas in which AI is going to have a massive impact in the coming times;
Economic impact
Healthcare
Education
Transportation
The integration of AI into society offers immense opportunities for advancements. Collaborative efforts among technologists, policymakers and communities will be essential to shape a future where AI serves the common good while minimising risks.
(The writer is Former Director General of Police, Jharkhand)