Artificial intelligence is ready for us, are we ready for it?
This month, Portugal is descended upon not by tourists in search of sunshine but by some estimated 55,000 tech-savvy individuals to attend an event quoted by Bloomberg as ‘Davos for Geeks’. I am of course talking about Web-Summit.
Facebook's Mike Schoepfr
For those unknown about Web-Summit, it’s Europe’s largest Technology Marketplace and invites companies within the tech industry to share their knowledge, and inspire through talks on how to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues through new cutting edge systems and intelligent innovation.
Whilst watching these talks one message resonated louder and clearer than all others – the future of technology is accelerating at an alarming rate, leaving all others who do not keep up the pace by the wayside. This message didn’t, however, alarm me but rather triggered hope that we are advancing towards a technological level where we can tackle vital, real world issues such as:
Climate change – our planet is warming causing problems such as rising sea levels and the first ever climate refugees.
World hunger – as a species in 40 years we will need to produce 70% more food than we do currently for a rising population.
Disease treatment – our current methods of treatment are failing as bacteria evolve immunity faster than we can discover another cure.
These can be addressed within our lifetime and are no longer a pipe dream lying beyond some distant horizon.
These rapid advancements can be attributed to development in one key area – artificial intelligence (AI).
Whilst Hollywood has conditioned the public to view AI as an evil sentient being (images of Terminator come to mind), let me ease your mind with a sentence quoted this weekend by Data Collective’s Managing Partner, Zachary Bogue – ‘AI is only a set of mathematical functions, nothing more’.
This however underwhelming sentence, doesn’t give justice to AI’s immense roll in tech development and its future potential to change the world we currently know.
One conglomerate in particular which is fast innovating with AI is Facebook.
Attending a talk hosted by Mike Schroepfer – Facebook’s CTO – I was not only astounded by how blissfully ignorant I was to the level of tech advancement our species has acquired, but the level of advancement we will acquire in 10 years’ time.
In his talk, Mike delivered three subgroups to Facebooks 10-year plan – Connectivity, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality.
With connectivity, Mike spoke of solar powered drones with the ability to provide internet to the world’s rural areas, connecting individuals to our ever more interconnected world.
Moving on to AI, as mentioned earlier, we have seen an increase in computing power by a factor of 10 million in the last two decades, this along with the world’s data increasing two-fold year on year.
This allows Facebook to advance with its third subgroup virtual reality. Not shoddy gimmicks, but fully immersive virtual experiences with motion recognition. It was truly amazing to witness. VR is now at a stage of such a high quality that it can even be used, with the right treatment, to assist in recovery and reactivate neurons of patients once thought paralyzed. Facebook are looking to connect us beyond our Laptop and Smartphone screens, and with the development of AI it could be a strong possibility within the next decade.
Whilst still on the subject of AI a talk hosted by Ben Goertzel of Hanson Robotics, titled ‘The face of the robot revolution’,has left a lasting impression on me.
Ben had developed an advanced robot subtly ‘Sophia’. Whilst her features were still fairly basic she could hold a full, in depth conversation with a complete stranger and could smile and joke. This is almost more than I can hold with a good friend.
If this wasn’t sobering enough Ben went on to conclude with a future he envisions in the next 20 years. A future where AI can become self-replicating, i.e. develop itself without the need for humans. At this point we wouldn’t know how the AI develops itself as we would never be able to decrypt it – scary stuff. If that wasn’t enough he ended with a premise that robots will develop to a stage where it will be impossible to differentiate them between a human.
AI and Deep data are set to change the pace of technology development forever. There is no doubt of all the benefits AI holds for our society and world development. That said, I’m in firm belief that in the midst of all this development there needs to be a human element, ever vigilant and in control.
Oh - and as for Web Summit – I’ll be back.
Chris Lund is a creative and versatile marketing student with a highly multicultural background. Above all, he is an extrovert at heart and inherently open to new challenges. Currently pursuing a career within the advertising sector, he is undertaking a 15-month placement with Mirum as its Business Development Manager.