What is Artificial Intelligence, And Will it Take Over the World?

Rodrigo Erthal

Artificial Intelligence has taken the world by storm. However, what is AI and what are the impacts it will have on humans?

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think and learn like humans. The concept of AI has been around for decades, but it is only in recent years that technological advances have allowed for significant progress in the field.

There are many types of AI, including rule-based systems, expert systems, and machine learning. Rule-based systems are programmed with rules and conditions that determine their behaviour, while expert systems are designed to mimic the decision-making processes of a human expert. Machine learning, on the other hand, involves training a computer to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed.

In the past months, new programs have been developed, creating a large commotion on how AI should be properly used and managed. ChatGPT for example is the most popular amongst the programs. It is a website where users can write down a prompt about nearly anything, and it will answer using a massive database of text which it has been trained on. The website is capable of understanding context and generating coherent and fluent responses, making it well-suited for tasks such as conversation, language translation, and text summarization. Additionally, ChatGPT can also generate creative text, such as writing stories and articles. As a matter of fact, ChatGPT is so popular that (as seen in the image below) it reached 1 million users in five days, which took Instagram two and a half months, ten months for Facebook, twenty-four months for Twitter, and fourty-one months for Netflix.

OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, received over 13 Billion dollars total from the tech-giant Microsoft as an investment. They hope to get an edge over other companies such as Apple, Google and Meta.

AI has the potential to revolutionise a wide range of industries going from healthcare and finance to transportation and manufacturing. In healthcare, for example, doctors and scientists can use AI to analyse large amounts of medical data and identify patterns that could lead to new treatments for diseases. In finance, it can be used to detect fraud and identify investment opportunities. In transportation, AI can be used to optimise routes and improve safety, and in manufacturing, AI can help optimise production processes and improve efficiency.

The impact of AI on the future of work is also a topic of much debate. Some experts predict that AI will lead to widespread job loss as machines and algorithms take over tasks that humans were previously responsible for. However, others argue that AI will actually create new jobs, as businesses and organisations seek to develop and implement new AI technologies.

One of the biggest challenges facing the development of AI is the issue of bias. Since AI systems are trained on data, they can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in the data. For example, an AI system trained on disproportionately collected data from men may have difficulty recognizing and understanding the needs of women.

Overall, AI has the potential to bring about significant benefits, however it also poses substantial challenges. As AI continues to evolve and advance, it will be necessary for businesses, governments, and individuals to work together to ensure that the technology is developed and used responsibly and ethically. Controlling AI will involve not only addressing issues of bias and fairness, but also investing in research and development to ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed equitably across society. With careful planning and management, the population can harness AI to improve our lives and create new opportunities.