Category: The Future of AI

This topic is a good place to end this book, I think. Regardless of all the potential for harm and the adverse consequences, AI truly has the promise for being transformative for the world. And the good news is that there are many people who are focused on making this a reality. It’s not about…

The management consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., has written an extensive study entitled “Applying Artificial Intelligence for Social Good.”37 It shows how AI is being used to deal with such issues as poverty, natural disasters, and improving education. The study has roughly 160 use cases. So here’s a look at just some:

An article from Bloomberg.com in April 2019 caused a big stir. It described a behind-the-scenes look at how Amazon.com manages its Alexa speaker AI system.30 While much of it is based on algorithms, there are also thousands of people who analyze voice clips in order to help make the results better. Often the focus is on…

The advances in drug discovery have been almost miraculous as we now have cures for such intractable diseases like hepatitis C and have continued to make strides with a myriad of cancers. But of course, there is certainly much that needs to be done. The fact is that drug companies are having more troubles coming…

The Air Force Research Lab is working on prototypes for something called Skyborg. It’s right out of Star Wars. Think of Skyborg as R2-D2 that serves as an AI wingman for a fighter jet, helping to identify targets and threats.23 The AI robot may also be able to take control if the pilot is incapacitated or distracted.…

The concept of technological unemployment, which gained notoriety from famed economist John Maynard Keynes during the Great Depression, explains how innovations can lead to long-term job loss. However, evidence of this has been elusive. Notwithstanding the fact that automation has severely impacted industries like manufacturing, there is often a transition of the workforce as people adapt.…

The rapid ascent of China has been astonishing. Within a few years, the economy may be larger than the United States, and a key part of the growth will be AI. The Chinese government has set forth the ambitious goal of spending $150 billion on this technology through 2030.13 In the meantime, there will continue to be major…

When it comes to AI, one of the most far-reaching areas is autonomous cars. Interestingly enough, this category is not really new. Yes, it’s been a hallmark of lots of science fiction stories for many decades! But for some time, there have been many real-life examples of innovation, like the following: But the inflection point for…