AI Taking Things Further – As Far As We Can Image, Machines Can Learn
Would you be surprised if I told you that we have been using AI for at least two generations? Early applications of AI date back over 100 years.
One of the first uses of AI was actually autopilot in airplanes, used as early as 1914. [1] Of course, it was not as sophisticated as the solutions used in aviation today, but every technology has to start somewhere. The most important thing is to have an eye on its potential where it’s going. We want to reflect on uses of AI that have been around a little longer than one might expect, and that have reached nowhere near their full potential.
Retail Market optimization – AI Fixing Neighbourhoods
Early steps have been taken in using AI to help better design our cities. For example, a joint effort by Harvard and MIT has used AI to help understand what makes a neighbourhood safe. Although this is very early days, the potential is vast.
“Using a new machine-learning algorithm, researchers at Harvard and MIT combine photos from Google’s Street View with human perceptions of a street’s safety to score whether a city block has improved or declined over time.” – By Garage Staff, Modern Life
Although this is very early days, the potential is vast. Similar technology is already being employed to understand the retail make-up of neighbourhoods and streets. This functionality, when spliced with market trends, footfall tracking and other factors can go a look way to make better decisions about our cities. From a commercial perspective, there are already many AI powered marketing tools which we all experience when browsing online. Soon, machine-learning algorithms driving individualised advertising at street level will be the norm. This means that as consumers, we better know what we want. Otherwise, AI will make up our minds for us!
Algorithms Giving To The Poor
One interesting application that would serve us well when perfected came from Uber. Rumour has it, Uber’s AI adjusts pricing based on the neighbourhoods you usually travel to and from. If you are sticking with underdeveloped neighbourhoods, the chances are more likely that you will pay a smaller fee, regardless of the milage. This goes to show that Machine Learning can be used to give access to services to a broader range of people and arguably improving accessibility.
AI Teaching Us to Learn Better
Traditional education systems are being augmented by AI. In the US, AI is being used to identify students who are at risk of falling behind in their studies. Furthermore, Artificial Intelligence can offer personalized curricula and exercises for students.
We have all seen Google Assistant’s Demo a few weeks back where the unbearable answering machines were turned into assistants that would fool real people! Just as there are no limits to human imagination, there are no limits to how we will further develop AI and reach the potential it has so clearly demonstrated to date.
