What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)Explained With Examples

Can you imagine a world where everything is automated? A world where every important life decision is made according to an algorithm. Well, that is the sort of future we are looking at with Artificial Intelligence. Being the most trending field of research, AI is our next big step to enhancing human lives. But what is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? 

What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? 

Artificial Intelligence is an artificially created intelligence to make our lives easier. It tries to mimic human intelligence like learning, and reasoning (using some set of rules to make an appropriate or conclusive decision), along with realisation and correction of mistakes on its own. 

Coined by John McCarthy in 1951, AI is considered an umbrella term which includes automation, robotics, and so on. For example, achieving Optical Character Recognition (OCR) was once a distant dream, but with modern advancements and research, it’s now a mundane technology everyone uses. PDF to .txt converters, Google image search function are some examples of OCR.

Why Artificial Intelligence? 

There are many negative sentiments surrounding the real-world applications of Artificial Intelligence. Contrary to popular opinion, it cannot completely replace human intelligence in any field. Although, it can make a monotonous job less tedious by automating it. Moreover, with recent developments, deep learning (an AI field) algorithms can predict the future by analysing past trends and even learning from their mistakes. AI has seen many applications in specific fields that require higher accuracy and high task executions. 

Applications of Artificial Intelligence 

AI has many applications in almost every field. Here we will discuss the applications of Artificial Intelligence in some of the most important sectors.

1. Healthcare sector – It is one sector that has heavily benefitted from AI. In recent years, many robots have been developed that can assist and perform complex surgeries with high accuracy. Machine learning is used for more accurate diagnosis, making the process faster and less expensive. AI has also proved effective in detecting diseases and improving treatment outcomes.
2. Education sector – This sector has some repetitive tasks, like grading papers and assigning remarks, that can save a lot of time for teachers when automated. It can recommend study material to students according to their grasping power, helping them learn at their own pace. AI can even replace teachers in the future by revolutionising education and how students learn. 
3. Manufacturing sector – Manufacturing involves a lot of repetitive tasks requiring high accuracy and efficiency. One of the most trending AI technologies in this sector is Additive Manufacturing (or 3D Printing) which is modernising the manufacturing sector and supply chain ecosystem. 
4. Business sector – The business sector has adopted robotics and AI to perform work faster and more efficiently. For instance, machine learning algorithms are used to analyse previous year’s market trends and make future decisions. Moreover, it is integrated into CRM platforms with chatbots providing great customer service at all times.     

Examples of Artificially Intelligent Technologies 

There are many examples of artificially intelligent technologies, such as:

1. Robotics process automation: Some commonplace examples of robotics process automation are:

• Finance & Accounting (Invoice Processing) 
• Human Resources (Hiring & Onboarding) 
• Retail (Inventory Management) 
• Customer Support

1. Machine learning: Machine learning algorithms are used to make decisions by analysing previous data trends. Deep learning, a subset of machine learning, is used for predictive analysis as it learns from a dataset to mimic humans in gaining knowledge. Some examples are:

• Speech and image recognition. 
• Traffic alerts in Google Map.
• A chatbot (online customer support) 
• Google translation. 
• Auto-friend tagging suggestion.

1. Computer vision: It analyses pictures and videos recorded and takes action based on that. Some examples are:

• Smart farming
• Drone monitoring of crops
• Automatic pesticide spraying
• Weather predictions
• Radiology
• Pathology 

1. Natural Language Processing (NLP): It is a technology that can process human language using a computer program. Some examples of NLP are:

• Email filters
• Smart assistants
• Search results
• Predictive text 
• Google translation
• Digital phone calls

Read more: Trace the History and Evolution of AI

Conclusion

Today, AI is one of the trendiest technologies due to its applicability in different fields ranging from healthcare to the military. Apart from having applications in almost every sector, AI is gaining traction for its scope of making work possible without any human intervention. AI is the key to our future.