The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) includes not only technologies that allow you to create intelligent machines (including computer programs).
Artificial intelligence is also one of the areas of scientific thought.
What is artificial intelligence?
Intelligence is the mental component of a person, which has the following abilities:
- adaptive;
- learning through the accumulation of experience and knowledge;
- the ability to apply knowledge and skills to manage the environment.
The intellect combines all the abilities of a person to cognize reality. With the help of it, a person thinks, remembers new information, perceives the environment, and so on.
Artificial intelligence is understood as one of the areas of information technology, which is engaged in the study and development of systems (machines) endowed with the capabilities of human intelligence: the ability to learn, logical reasoning, and so on.
At the moment, work on artificial intelligence is carried out by creating new programs and algorithms that solve problems in the same way as a person does.
Due to the fact that the definition of AI evolves as this direction develops, it is necessary to mention the AI Effect. It refers to the effect that artificial intelligence creates when it has made some progress. For example, if an AI has learned to perform some actions, then critics immediately join in, arguing that these successes do not indicate the presence of thinking in the machine.
Today, the development of artificial intelligence goes in two independent directions:
- neurocybernetics;
- logical approach.
The first direction involves the study of neural networks and evolutionary computing from the point of view of biology. The logical approach involves the development of systems that mimic high-level intellectual processes: thinking, speech, and so on.
The history of the development of artificial intelligence
The first work in the field of AI began to be conducted in the middle of the last century. Alan Turing became the pioneer of research in this direction, although certain ideas began to be expressed by philosophers and mathematicians in the Middle Ages. In particular, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, a mechanical device capable of solving chess problems was introduced.
But this direction was really formed by the middle of the last century. The appearance of works on AI was preceded by research on human nature, ways of knowing the world around us, the possibilities of the thought process, and other areas. By that time, the first computers and algorithms had appeared. That is, the foundation was created on which a new direction of research was born.
In 1950, Alan Turing published an article in which he asked questions about the capabilities of future machines, as well as whether they could surpass humans in terms of intelligence. It was this scientist who developed the procedure that was later named after him: the Turing test.
After the publication of the works of the English scientist, new research in the field of AI appeared. According to Turing, only a machine that cannot be distinguished from a person during communication can be recognized as a thinking machine. Around the same time that the role of a scientist appeared, a concept was born, called the Baby Machine. It envisaged the progressive development of AI and the creation of machines whose thought processes are first formed at the level of a child, and then gradually improve.
A special role in the creation of new technologies in the field of AI was played by the military departments, which actively funded this area of research. Subsequently, work in the field of artificial intelligence began to attract large companies.
Modern life poses more complex challenges for researchers. Therefore, the development of AI is carried out in fundamentally different conditions, if we compare them with what happened during the period of the emergence of artificial intelligence. The processes of globalization, the actions of malefactors in the digital sphere, the development of the Internet and other problems – all this poses complex tasks for scientists, the solution of which lies in the field of AI.
Despite the successes achieved in this area in recent years (for example, the emergence of autonomous technology), the voices of skeptics still do not subside, who do not believe in the creation of a truly artificial intelligence, and not a very capable program. A number of critics fear that the active development of AI will soon lead to a situation where machines will completely replace people.
Research areas
Philosophers have not yet come to a consensus about the nature of the human intellect, and what is its status. In this regard, in scientific works devoted to AI, there are many ideas that tell what tasks artificial intelligence solves. There is also no common understanding of the question of what kind of machine can be considered intelligent.
Today, the development of artificial intelligence technologies goes in two directions:
- Top-down (semiotic). It involves the development of new systems and knowledge bases that mimic high-level mental processes such as speech, expression of emotions and thinking.
- Bottom-up (biological). This approach involves research in the field of neural networks, through which models of intelligent behavior are created from the point of view of biological processes. Neurocomputers are created on the basis of this direction.
Turing test
In a general sense, this approach involves the creation of AI, the behavior of which does not differ from human actions in the same, normal situations. In fact, the Turing test assumes that a machine will be intelligent only if, when communicating with it, it is impossible to understand who is talking: a mechanism or a living person.
Science fiction books offer a different way of assessing the capabilities of AI. Artificial intelligence will become real if it feels and can create. However, this approach to definition does not hold up in practice. Already now, for example, machines are being created that have the ability to respond to changes in the environment (cold, heat, and so on). At the same time, they cannot feel the way a person does.
Symbol approach
Success in solving problems is largely determined by the ability to flexibly approach the situation. Machines, unlike people, interpret the data they receive in a unified way. Therefore, only a person takes part in solving problems. The machine performs operations based on written algorithms that exclude the use of several abstraction models. To achieve flexibility from programs is possible by increasing the resources involved in the course of solving problems.
The above disadvantages are typical for the symbolic approach used in the development of AI. However, this direction of development of artificial intelligence allows you to create new rules in the calculation process. And the problems arising from the symbolic approach can be solved by logical methods.
Logical approach
This approach involves the creation of models that mimic the process of reasoning. It is based on the principles of logic.
This approach does not involve the use of rigid algorithms that lead to a certain result.
Agent-based approach
It uses intelligent agents. This approach assumes the following: intelligence is a computational part, through which goals are achieved. The machine plays the role of an intelligent agent. She learns the environment with the help of special sensors, and interacts with it through mechanical parts.
The agent-based approach focuses on the development of algorithms and methods that allow machines to remain operational in various situations.
Hybrid approach
This approach involves the integration of neural and symbolic models, due to which the solution of all problems associated with the processes of thinking and computing is achieved. For example, neural networks can generate the direction in which the operation of a machine moves. And static learning provides the basis through which problems are solved.
AI investment development
According to Gartner experts, by the beginning of the 2020s, almost all released software products will use artificial intelligence technologies. Also, experts suggest that about 30% of investments in the digital sphere will fall on AI.
According to Gartner analysts, artificial intelligence opens up new opportunities for the cooperation of people and machines. At the same time, the process of human displacement by AI cannot be stopped, and in the future it will accelerate.
PwC believes that by 2030 the global gross domestic product will grow by about 14% due to the rapid adoption of new technologies. Moreover, approximately 50% of the increase will provide an increase in the efficiency of production processes. The second half of the indicator will be the additional profit received by introducing AI into products.
Initially, the United States will receive the effect of the use of artificial intelligence, since this country has created the best conditions for the operation of AI machines. In the future, they will be overtaken by China, which will extract the maximum profit by introducing such technologies into products and their production.
The introduction of new technologies will also create an additional 800,000 jobs. Experts note that this figure offsets the loss of vacancies due to process automation. Analysts, based on a survey among companies, predict their spending on factory automation will rise to about $46 billion by the early 2020s.
In Russia, work is also underway in the field of AI. For 10 years, the state has financed more than 1.3 thousand projects in this area. Moreover, most of the investments went to the development of programs that are not related to the conduct of commercial activities. This shows that the Russian business community is not yet interested in introducing artificial intelligence technologies.
In total, about 23 billion rubles were invested in Russia for these purposes. The size of government subsidies is inferior to the amount of AI funding that other countries demonstrate. In the United States, about 200 million dollars are allocated for these purposes every year.
Basically, in Russia, funds are allocated from the state budget for the development of AI technologies, which are then used in the transport sector, the defense industry, and in projects related to security. This circumstance indicates that in our country people are more likely to invest in areas that allow you to quickly achieve a certain effect from the invested funds.
The above study also showed that Russia now has a high potential for training specialists who can be involved in the development of AI technologies. Over the past 5 years, about 200 thousand people have been trained in areas related to AI.
Prospects for the development of artificial intelligence
AI technologies are developing in the following directions:
- solving problems that bring AI capabilities closer to human ones and find ways to integrate them into everyday life;
- development of a full-fledged mind, through which the tasks facing humanity will be solved.
At the moment, researchers are focused on developing technologies that solve practical problems. So far, scientists have not come close to creating a full-fledged artificial intelligence.
Many companies are developing technologies in the field of AI. “Yandex” has been using them in the work of the search engine for more than one year. Since 2016, the Russian IT company has been engaged in research in the field of neural networks. The latter change the nature of the work of search engines. In particular, neural networks compare the query entered by the user with a certain vector number that most fully reflects the meaning of the task. In other words, the search is conducted not by the word, but by the essence of the information requested by the person.
Abbyy recently introduced the Compreno system. With the help of it, it is possible to understand the text written in natural language. Other systems based on artificial intelligence technologies have also entered the market relatively recently:
- Findo. The system is able to recognize human speech and searches for information in various documents and files using complex queries.
- Gamalon. This company introduced a system with the ability to self-learn.
- Watson. An IBM computer that uses a large number of algorithms to search for information.
- ViaVoice. Human speech recognition system.
Large commercial companies are not bypassing advances in the field of artificial intelligence. Banks are actively implementing such technologies in their activities. With the help of AI-based systems, they conduct transactions on exchanges, manage property and perform other operations.
The defense industry, medicine and other areas are implementing object recognition technologies. And game development companies are using AI to create their next product.
Object recognition technologies
Over the past few years, a group of American scientists has been working on the NEIL project, in which researchers ask the computer to recognize what is shown in the photo. Experts suggest that in this way they will be able to create a system capable of self-learning without external intervention.
VisionLab has unveiled its LUNA platform, which can recognize faces in real time from a huge cluster of images and videos. This technology is now used by large banks and network retailers. With LUNA, you can compare people’s preferences and offer them relevant products and services.
The Russian company N-Tech Lab is working on similar technologies. At the same time, its specialists are trying to create a face recognition system based on neural networks. According to the latest data, Russian development copes with the assigned tasks better than a person.
How does AI affect humanity?
According to Stephen Hawking, the development of artificial intelligence technologies in the future will lead to the death of mankind. The scientist noted that people will gradually degrade due to the introduction of AI. And in the conditions of natural evolution, when a person needs to constantly fight to survive, this process will inevitably lead to his death.
Russia is positively considering the introduction of AI. Aleksey Kudrin once said that the use of such technologies would reduce the cost of maintaining the state apparatus by about 0.3% of GDP. Dmitry Medvedev predicts the disappearance of a number of professions due to the introduction of AI. However, the official stressed that the use of such technologies will lead to the rapid development of other industries.
According to experts from the World Economic Forum, by the beginning of the 2020s, about 7 million people in the world will lose their jobs due to the automation of production. The introduction of AI is highly likely to cause the transformation of the economy and the disappearance of a number of professions related to data processing.
McKinsey experts say that the process of production automation will be more active in Russia, China and India. In these countries, in the near future, up to 50% of workers will lose their jobs due to the introduction of AI. Their place will be taken by computerized systems and robots.
According to McKinsey, artificial intelligence will replace jobs that involve manual labor and information processing: retail, hotel staff, and so on.
By the middle of this century, according to experts from an American company, the number of jobs worldwide will be reduced by about 50%. People will be replaced by machines capable of carrying out similar operations with the same or higher efficiency. At the same time, experts do not exclude the option in which this forecast will be realized before the specified time.
Other analysts note the harm that robots can cause. For example, McKinsey experts point out that robots, unlike humans, do not pay taxes. As a result, due to a decrease in budget revenues, the state will not be able to maintain infrastructure at the same level. Therefore, Bill Gates proposed a new tax on robotic equipment.
AI technologies increase the efficiency of companies by reducing the number of mistakes made. In addition, they allow you to increase the speed of operations to a level that cannot be achieved by a person.
