Future predictions

 

Will future with A.I and technology look like this 

Or this

It is quite hard to predict how things will develop but it is a good idea to try to imagine and think about the future as this can allow us to both reflect on mistakes made in the past, and as a result try to apply our current knowledge and hopes for the future to what we do today, and what we do today ultimately will influence the future. Some futurists predict that A.I will be the downfall of humanity. That A.I will simply see us as we see an ant colony going about their business or perhaps a fly that we simply swat away. Others say we are only at the beginning of a great technological revolution, that with the help of A.I and other technologies we will eventually colonies other planets or perhaps even galaxies. I cant help but think that the romans must have been thinking the same thing. I can imagine a roman sitting in a spa thinking this is it, this is the life aren't we just so clever, our great society and achievement's will last forever there is no way down from here. Yet Rome fell in 476 bringing about a dark age of famine and death. This happened because of faults that are deeply rooted in human nature. The age old saying power corrupts. Could A.I perhaps see these faults and reckon us unsalvageable. Could A.I reveal to us questions that have plagued scientists for centuries, and as a result bring about an age of human cooperation and success. Only time will tell. 

Microsoft teams software review

 

I have used Microsoft teams both as part of my I.T skills module and also all through my first year in college. I have friends in other colleges that used zoom for their meetings and most of them had only negative things to say about it. I think Microsoft teams is probably the best video conferencing software as i find the interface very easy to use. All the teams or groups you are part of are clearly displayed. You can access files, work and chats simply by clicking the team or group you are looking for. Teams also has a very handy calendar tool that allows you to manually or automatically add events or meetings to your calendar. It also shows you your daily schedule I found this particularly useful for organizing my time. I cant really find anything that I disliked about Microsoft teams. The software was really helpful and got me through my first year of college during the pandemic with no issue. From a students perspective I would recommend this software for any college or university running hybrid learning or online courses. 

Automation and A.I systems in the aviation industry

 

Most of the flying of a modern commercial aircraft is done by an autopilot. In most cases the only time the pilot is really manually flying the aircraft is during landing, takeoff or an emergency procedure. This along with other developments in A.I and the rise in automation as mentioned in my other blog A.I and automation has led certain startups to start developing pilotless planes. I predict it will be a very long time before we see this idea come to fruition as the aviation industry is heavily regulated. Pilotless aircraft technology will most likely first be implemented in cargo planes. 

Some people are of the opinion that automation and in a way overengineering of everything will cause more problems than solutions. I myself am centrist in the debate of automation vs just leaving things that have worked for decades alone. A.I and automation is driven mostly by the prospect of cutting costs and inflating profits. In some case automation is a good thing in others it is not. If technology reaches a level at which highly skilled professionals such as pilots can be replaced the only logical scenario that will follow is other professionals also losing their jobs. 

Another huge recent development in the aviation industry was the development of automated drones. Companies like amazon are looking at cutting costs and delivering parcels using these machines. This has been a rather recent development and has presented huge challenges in regulation of safety in aviation. 

A.I uses in healthcare

 

A.I intelligent systems can be used to assist in diagnosing patients. A.I systems can also be used to help cut out the workload of doctors and hospital staff by performing menial administrative tasks such as the management of medical records or performing more advanced tasks such as reading basic data and results from a blood test. A.I and the use of intelligent systems in healthcare is in my opinion the most exciting and useful application of this technology. It can help improve the quality of the healthcare system by easing pressure on healthcare workers and improving the flow of information systems within hospitals. A.I algorithms were also very important during the covid-19 pandemic for providing models that assisted the government in making decisions. Experiments and research is currently being conducted into using computer vision in spotting certain skin cancers and other abnormalities that come up on MRI scans or X-RAYS.

A.I growth and automation

I was recently doing some shopping and I stumbled upon a children's toy. It was a robot that follows the line you draw on a board with a pen that is included in the set. Below is a picture of the toy.

Seeing this made me think just how fast computing and A.I has come. Twenty five years ago such a follower bot would most likely only be found in a research and development department in a computer science lab in some university. Today it is not that big of a deal. Something that was not that long ago probably a complicated enough problem to figure out in computer vision is now sold in dunnes stores as a children's toy. This made me think and try to imagine where A.I and computing might be in the future.

Automation will most likely be the earliest impact we will witness as A.I and smart systems start to be integrated into businesses' and as a result also into our own lives. Loss of jobs will be unavoidable. We all have seen self checkout machines in stores. This will only get more drastic with time. Amazon has recently debuted its first supermarket with no checkouts. Essentially anything you take off a shelf is automatically put into your amazon cart on your mobile device. This is achieved using sensors. When you leave the shop Your credit card is automatically charged. In the future we can expect to see smart assistants that provide advice, research findings and data in a multitude of fields such as healthcare, law, accounting and finance. Automated trading algorithm's are already being implemented in finance today. As automation and A.I continues to grow governments will need to implement solutions to people who will inevitably be left behind.  

A.I Ethics

                  

With artificial intelligence along with many computing problems, problems with ethics also arise. For example should a self driving car priorities the safety of the driver or the safety of other road users. Lets say the self driving car finds itself in a situation where the only way to minimize damage to itself and the driver is to swerve across into a motorcyclist, reducing harm to he driver and itself but severely injuring the motorcyclist. I will include multiple examples below. 

The first scenario shows the classic question of preserve the driver or the safety of others. The second scenario gets a little bit more complicated. 

In this scenario the car must choose which people essentially have more value or which people it is more "ethical" to injure Below is a great video explaining these questions. It is also very interesting to note that most consumers would prefer to buy an autonomous vehicle that prioritizes driver safety over the safety of others.

As outlined in the video self driving cars will reduce human error, theoretically leading to less situations in which the car will have to make such ethical decisions however accidents and malfunctions will always happen so the questions still remain valid.