- Autonomous cars are far from new. But the inflection point for the development of this technology came in 2004, with a contest sponsored by DARPA.
- Some of the key components of an autonomous car include video cameras, Lidar (lasers that help process the environment), and sensors (such as for detecting other vehicles and obstacles like curbs).
- In terms of defining what is “autonomous,” there are five levels. The fifth is when the vehicle is fully autonomous.
- Some of the challenges for autonomous cars are infrastructure (existing highways are not ideal), regulation, costs, and consumer adoption.
- The United States is considered the global leader in AI. But this could change soon. China is investing heavily in AI and has major advantages like enormous amounts of data and large numbers of skilled engineers.
- One of the fears of AI is that it will lead to mass unemployment, whether for blue-collar or while-collar jobs. It’s true that technology has already impacted industries, like manufacturing, but the markets have proven adaptable. But if AI is transformative, it could lead to quite a bit of disruption. This is why there will likely be a need for training and re-skilling for new careers.
- Drones have had a major impact on warfare. But with AI, it’s becoming possible to allow this technology to make the decisions on the battlefield. Now there are many people who see this as a big problem. However, the United States, Russia, and other countries appear to be focused on pursuing autonomous weapons.
- But when it comes to warfare—at least in the near term—AI may have a more immediate effect with the spread of false information. We saw this with the Russian’s interference with the 2016 presidential election.
- AI is expected to greatly help with the drug discovery process. Already mega pharma operators, like Gilead, are exploring the technology. AI can not only process huge amounts of data but also detect patterns that may not be discernable for humans.
- As AI becomes more pervasive, there will be growing concerns about privacy and transparency. Because of this, there have been moves in the Congress, including cities and states, to impose regulations. It’s not clear what may transpire, but it seems likely we’ll see more restrictions. In the meantime, some companies are trying to be proactive, such as by setting up ethics boards.
- Artificial General Intelligence or AGI is where a system has human intelligence. We are likely a long way from this, though. The reason is that there will need to be new innovations in AI, such as with unsupervised learning and the creation of new hardware.
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