Artificial Intelligence (AI) continuously inserts itself into our everyday lives and businesses. In talking with colleagues within the IT Support Community, we have all dealt with basic industrial automation for years. As AI becomes more prevalent, IT support and services providers must wend their way through the obstacle course of integrating these new programs seamlessly into corporate networks. Not all standard apps play well with networks until the idiosyncrasies are identified and resolved. A Small or Midsized Business (SMB) incorporating AI into its network, it would be wise to steer clear of the run-of-the-mill ‘IT guys’ – you will be better served by looking into Managed IT Services.
What is AI in simple words?
In a nutshell, AI enables machines and programs to learn by finding patterns in data and gaining insights that allow them to do their work faster and more efficiently. Depending on the application, AI offers different types of benefits to different types of businesses, but the foundation for all forms of AI is ‘Cognitive Technology.’
Cognition is defined as: “The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses.” As humans, we all do this even if we don’t think about it. We see something, figure out how it works and what it means, and we apply what we’ve learned to further our goals. At its most basic, it’s our survival instinct taking advantage of everything we find that helps us.
An owner or CEO will use any tool they can find to learn how to beat the competition. Workers want to learn what they need to know to rise in the business through promotions. In either case, the result enables the ability to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, ensuring their physical survival.
152 cognitive technology projects were examined in a Harvard Business Review study which found that they all fell into one of three categories:
1) Robotics & Cognitive Automation (71 projects)
Used for the automation of relatively simple digital and physical tasks. The most basic of AI types.
2) Cognitive Insight (57 projects)
Algorithms detect and interpret patterns in data for further analysis.
3) Cognitive Engagement (24 projects)
Used most often aid the interaction with employees and customers who query a customer service
site or automated phone or email system.
The level of cognitive ability directly corresponds to the degree of responsibility and/or interaction with the humans involved in their processes. The implementation of any form of AI involves coordination with the IT department or Managed IT Services provider to map out how these projects will interact with the existing network infrastructure, and what alteration need to be made to accommodate the integration. This is more crucial in a business-like manufacturing when integrating sophisticated equipment. In a typical professional office such as a law or accountancy firm, the IT services team has little if anything to do to accommodate the types of AI used.
In applications like Quickbooks the AI elements just perform repetitive accounting tasks and do not usually require any special attention from the IT support and services team. Legal firms often use AI programs for research - sorting through mountains of data and legal suits to find those with relevant precedents. This saves paralegals an incredible amount of time, with no need for involvement from IT services providers. In Heavy industry and manufacturing, smart robots and machinery will usually need more oversight for integration with the network systems. As a rule, AI presents only small challenges to IT support.
How is AI being used today?
AI is all around us. If you use Google Search, you’re using AI. The algorithms figure out what you are looking for based on your query and search history. It’s in cars that brake and slow down when an impact seems likely. It’s a heavy component of smart homes, digital personal assistants, and online shopping – and the list goes on.
Bots are not all AI, but they are everywhere you go – and they’re certainly not made to be malicious, although, look at the Twitter ‘fake accounts’ controversy. Those fake accounts are primarily bots. Chatbots in Microsoft Word are what allows you to have a computer voice read back what you wrote – the same way your smart phone’s voice-to-text feature work. Bots are responsible for a ton of spam - and they’re also tweeting.
Does AI cause unemployment?
Robotics have replaced humans in environments such as factories and assembly lines. The first industrial robot used by a major manufacturer was General Motor’s UNIMATE, which entered service in 1962. Machines that perform menial, repetitive tasks are not indicative of AI, but humans that once did that work are gone. For AI empowered machines and programs, widespread use continues to grow. Here are some areas where it’s already happening and those where it soon will be:
AI replacing humans now:
1) Real Estate: AI is already in use connecting sellers and buyers, cutting out the Realtor.
2) Delivery/Couriers: Robots and drones are delivering a lot of goods.
3) IT Support and Services: Managed Services Provider have incorporated AI into their remote help desk
to monitor and assess network anomalies and perform simple, routine tasks. That, combined with
clients’ use of AI, means less to do, meaning less IT people needed.
Not here yet, but coming:
1) Healthcare: Doctors and nurses are not going away in the foreseeable future, but AI performs tasks such as ongoing health monitoring – devices record and isolate important data about a patient’s condition with minimal human involvement. Doctors then evaluate physical changes.
2) Education: Just like doctors and nurses, teachers are going away yet, but virtual teaching assistants
are becoming commonplace. helping students like a human TA.
3) E-Commerce. AI programs already take and expedite orders, collect payments, and arrange deliveries.
4) Transportation: Driverless vehicles continue their march forward. How will you feel driving next to a
tractor-trailer with an empty driver’s seat?
Take a look at any industry and it won’t be difficult to spot jobs that a machine or program can do more efficiently and at less cost than a human – then watch as those jobs go away.
Is AI a threat to human society?
Everybody has seen those movies – Skynet becoming self-aware in The Terminator. The scary fact is that it is a possibility. Everyone has heard the old saying ‘garbage in, garbage out.’ If AI applications have been poorly designed, the ramifications can be harsh – even dangerous. Unforeseen circumstance can cause safety risks to humans who work with them - or they can be maliciously hacked to create havoc. Anyone who considers integrating weapons systems with AI is taking a huge risk. I prefer that only a human has access to nuclear weapons.
AI machines are programmed to be oriented on task-completion. So far, AI can only learn to complete the goals we set for them more efficiently - NOT to develop goals of their own.
Machines have programming - NOT a survival instinct. Our own human survival instincts came about by an evolutionary process, recognizing and managing dangers. No programmer should ever create an ambiguous code that enables the machine to feel danger and initiate actions for self-preservation.
How will AI change the future in society?
Examine human nature and you will see the types of changes which are possible. Militaries are looking at robot soldiers. Humans presently control strike drones, but for how long? Doctors already use monitoring devices on their patients, so how long before robots are performing surgery?
Law enforcement? Does anybody remember Robo-Cop? However, tools like facial-recognition technology are a great benefit for identifying suspects. As more CCTV cameras are installed throughout cities, it will become easier and faster to identify criminals as soon as they pop their head out of a doorway.
With just a little imagination, it’s easy to see how higher-level jobs can be taken over by IA. Is it in our future to become like the Eloi from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine - eating grapes and just lying in the sun all? Use your knowledge of human nature to consider the likelihood of that.
I’m afraid I must cut this blog short – the neighbor’s robot is out there trying to steal my car… again.
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