Benefits of AI

Background/History

When people hear news about artificial intelligence, they typically hear about all the dangers it can lead to, but that is far from the entire truth. The history of AI is longer than most people imagine, but as of recently, it is becoming more prominent in industries. AI can be found in many professions such as doctors for healthcare studies to improve efficiency, environmental scientists track testing data in a variety of aspects, and financial organizations to make smarter decisions with less work as AI is used to study data patterns. While AI boasts these benefits, it can still be mishandled or put into the wrong hands, and it needs to be handled with care. Although many people fear that AI will take over jobs, many benefits are noticeable throughout its history, including how it can interpret data in many different fields, such as in healthcare to help doctors identify various diseases and help patients, or looking over data from environmental studies to help preserve the environment, as well as using its logarithms to make smart financial decisions for investors. But before learning about the benefits of AI, it is important to know about the background of it, and how it came into existence. 

Many people believe that artificial intelligence is a recent invention, but it has been around for longer than most people know. AI dates back to 1950, but many inventions lead up to this point. AI was invented by Alan Turing. Turring published an essay called, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” in which he proposed the question, “Can Machines Think?”  Turing stated that the only way computers can be considered intelligent is if there is no way to distinguish the difference between a human and a machine (Hiter). AI started as just a small series of simple rules and patterns to perform simple tasks. From the 1950’s until now, the technology has evolved becoming more complex, allowing it to do complicated tasks that nobody ever thought was possible (Roy). Although AI started in the 1950’s, there were many technological advancements previous to AI that paved the way for it. One of these advancements was the jacquard loom. This device is not directly related to artificial intelligence, but it was the first programmable device, which was an important advancement in the use of automation and control (Roy). Artificial intelligence advancements have created many beneficial opportunities for our society and it continues to grow every year.

Healthcare

The first of these benefits is in healthcare. In this industry, groups have used AI to perform screenings and to identify cancers and other diseases. “A group at Mount Sinai used deep learning-based AI algorithms to predict the development of diseases with 94% accuracy, including cancers of liver, rectum, and prostate” (Marr). With this high accuracy people can be diagnosed with their disease earlier and they can be treated earlier. As AI advances, these cancers and other diseases can be treated more efficiently than ever before. Not only can it identify and treat these diseases, but it can also help patients live with them to improve their quality of life. This is a major advancement as a result of AI that will continually improve the lives of people suffering from illnesses. People think about these problems the most when it comes to AI advancing with healthcare; however, AI helps in a variety of ways to assist people overcome different disabilities that they may have. The company, Huawei, created many mobile apps that help many forms of disabilities in a variety of ways. The first app that they created teaches deaf kids how to read by creating sign language from words. Another device, which is affordable and user friendly, finds visual disorders in children early enough so they do not lead to blindness (Marr). An app called Facing Emotions by Huawei translates emotion into ways for blind people to visualize the emotions of the people they are communicating with. The app creates simple sounds based on the emotion of the person using the back camera of a phone. The camera tracks the nose, mouth, eyebrows, and eyes to read facial expressions and determine emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, joy, or surprise (Marr). All of these artificial intelligence creations help people with disabilities, so they can live their lives to the fullest and lead normal lives. Aside from healthcare, AI is also useful in environmental fields, namely, the farming industry. 

Environment

Most who imagine AI in farming imagine autonomous tractors allowing farmers to do the work from their houses. Although situations like this are beginning to happen, that is not all that AI has to contribute to farming. AI can look over millions of data points that allow the farmer to determine which crop is best for planting, develop seeds, and accurately control the amount of herbicide used to prevent damage. AI has the ability to warn people about certain regions at greater risk of crop related dangers. The Nutrition Early Warning System uses machine learning, which is a certain type of artificial intelligence, to decipher which regions have higher risks of food shortages because of crop failure, rising food prices, and drought (Marr). Just as AI can track variables affecting crop growth, it can also track how wildlife can be affected by the environment around them. With the use of AI, anyone can inexpensively run studies. For example, “A team from the University of Hawaii’s Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project used AI to analyze 600 hours of audio to detect the number of collisions between birds and power lines” (Marr). AI allowed researchers to gather this information significantly quicker than without AI to develop fast solutions and save the wildlife. Another group from the University of South Carolina Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society used a drone to locate poachers and animals. They used machine learning to interpret the data collected and attempt to predict future poacher and animal activity (Marr). With these AI advances, crop failures and endangered species will decrease which positively impacts on our environment and society. Not only does AI protect wildlife, but it also helps people and businesses stay safe by helping make important financial decisions. 

Finance

AI allows investors to become more educated and make smarter decisions about the current market. Although this may seem reliable, it is important that finance organizations understand how AI algorithms work and how decisions are determined. If investors do not understand how AI comes up with their decisions, then it could lead to financial chaos (Thomas). Another way AI is able to help investors includes locating fraudulent transactions. The machines find patterns in sets of data and if there is a transaction that doesn’t fit the pattern, it sends an alert in order to stop these transactions from happening. This significantly cuts down on criminal activities such as hackers getting into people’s financial accounts and stealing information (Hiter).

Summary

With these benefits, the lives of people and their businesses will continue to improve and become safer. The more that people become educated about AI, the more they will know the different ways it can be used in different industries such as healthcare, environmental sciences, and finance. Although these people still have worries that AI will take over jobs, many benefits have become noticeable throughout its history, including how it can interpret data in different fields such as in healthcare to help doctors identify different diseases and help patients, looking over data from environmental studies to help preserve the environment, as well as using its logarithms to make smart financial decisions for investors. Because AI does have some disadvantages if it is not used properly, it is important for people to become aware of these benefits, so they learn how to control AI and not let AI control them.