Author: Rob High / Source: VentureBeat
The value and utility of artificial intelligence is a hot topic today. In fact, a recent report by MIT Sloan Management Review asserts that almost 85 percent of executives believe AI “will allow their companies to obtain or sustain a competitive advantage.
”But there’s also a lot of confusion about terminology, the kinds of applications businesses can make use of, and where AI is ultimately heading. In my experience, it’s not uncommon to hear business professionals use “AI” and other terms — such as “machine learning” and “deep learning” — interchangeably when there are, in fact, distinct differences between them.
AI is the next era of computing, and it’s important for the business world to understand just how to unlock its potential. In a recent Facebook Live event, I talked with Amy Webb, professor of strategic foresight at NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the Future Today Institute, about how AI is not a silver bullet and how real value comes from a tailored combination of tools designed to address a specific business problem.
The stakes are high for companies looking to invest in AI, and incomplete understanding can lead to unsuccessful implementation and lack of ROI. So just what do all these terms actually mean?
AI
The academic pursuit of AI came about after World War II, and the technology was originally intended to replicate the human mind. This included efforts to mimic how we perform general reasoning, value-assessment, and internal inquiry.
As time passed, researchers realized that our brains are much more complicated than had been previously supposed. And while human beings are good at what they do, there are things we simply don’t have the capacity for. For example, a doctor can’t read and understand the millions of articles published by PubMed as quickly as an AI system can. With AI technologies, the goal is to enhance human capabilities, thought, and reach, not to replicate or replace them. Just as construction workers use bulldozers and backhoes instead of simple tools, AI allows us to dig through tremendous amounts of data, uncover patterns, and make better decisions based on those insights.The ultimate goal for AI is what I like to refer to as augmented intelligence, which will help inspire humans to leverage insights for better ideas and alternative perspectives but will also help us see through our cognitive biases to points of view that might not have otherwise occurred to us.
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