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The Applications of AI

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Brief Description: Artificial Intelligence is a relatively new technology that aims to make machines behave the way humans do. This means that it can have applications in countless industries, some of the most promising included below.

Transportation:

Remember all those times you were stuck in traffic? We have a solution to that and it’s more current than you may think… autonomous vehicles! There are many semi-autonomous vehicles already on the market, but fully autonomous ones are starting to emerge as well. Waymo’s self-driving cars have been in progress since 2009 and are now on trial in Arizona. Uber also has self-driving taxis on trial that were recently re-introduced to the road. These cars use the computer vision and machine learning aspects of AI to navigate the road. They are helpful as they can help reduce accidents and also give passengers time to do work as they don’t have to drive. Likewise, another AI application in cars is so popular, most people barely think about it: … GPS. GPSs use AI to find the quickest and easiest route to get to your destination. They consider factors like distance and traffic then figure out the best route.

Healthcare

It may not seem like there are applications for computers in healthcare, but there are actually AI healthcare products in use today! First, there are AI computer programs that can identify certain types of diseases/sicknesses. This can help get faster results to patients about their medical condition, or completely eliminate a trip to the clinic. AI also has made a big impact on genomics. By using AI to sequence a genome we are able to collect so much more data in the same amount of time because it can read and process numbers faster than a human. Another example of using AI in genomics is Deep Genomics. They’re a company currently working on using AI to identify the best drugs for patients based on their genetic makeup. AI can also be used in hospitals to help monitor patients, and better notify doctors if the patient’s condition changes.

Finance

Finance is something that a lot of people struggle with, whether it’s balancing money between work and play or investing the right amount. Luckily AI here to help with all your financial needs. AI can not only help with balancing money, but it can also help with fraud prevention. It realizes when your account has been broken into faster than a human can and can also help increase security in the first place. A company currently up and rising in financials is Wealthsimple. They’re a company that uses AI to invest your money based on your risk level and amount of money.

Exploration

Space exploration has always been a dangerous activity for humans as many things could go wrong. This is why we rely on robots to go up to space and explore for us. For a while, we had to control the robots from the earth, which was tricky as it could easily lose contact with the controller or run out of charge quicker if it was constantly relaying information. This is why we use robots like Nasa’s Curiosity rover that has AI integrated into the system. They use computer vision to move and identify rocks then blast them with lasers so that they can analyze the dust and learn. This means that they only have to transmit back to earth once or twice a day, saving a lot of battery and time. Another application of AI in exploration is OceanOne. This is a small robot that dives underwater to explore places that are dangerous for humans. The robot collects and records data about what it is seeing and feeling then sends it to humans to be analyzed. Although the robot is controlled by humans on land, it still uses AI for computer vision.

Personal Service

“Hey google, play Fortnite dances on YouTube”
“Alexa, initiate intruder mode.”

Yes, those are both examples of AI in personal service. These types of robots were designed to serve you and make your life easier. They use machine learning to learn your preferences so that they can become quicker and more efficient the next time. They also use it to understand what you’re asking them to do. The same goes for a chatbot. Many companies use chatbots to speed up customer service and conserve the workers time. Both of these types of devices are often even quicker than a human’s answer as the human may not be well informed and would have to look it up but the machines can quickly access the internet and find the answer almost immediately. Another application of personal service can also be a beneficiary app. An example of this could be a mental health app. They use machine learning to find out what works for you in improving your health so that they can give more personalized advice and tips.

Entertainment

Special effects. Yes, we all love our special effects, with Tom Cruise jumping out of exploding helicopters… but did you ever think to yourself, “HOW did he jump out of an exploding helicopter?!?!?” The answer is AI. Imagine if someone had to individually draw in a fireball every time one was thrown. The movie would take way too long to come out. This is why we have stored drawings of a fireball. We can use AI to insert them into the movie and smooth out the rough edges. This is only one application of AI in movies and another is IBM’s AI system that makes movie trailers. They trained the system with examples of other movie trailers, then put it to work on a horror movie called Morgan. The system was successful and the trailer resembles any other horror movie trailer. Another application of AI in entertainment is a personalized experience, which slightly ties in with personal service. A personalized experience is something like Netflix being able to predict what you would want to watch next based on what you have been watching. This is a very useful tool for many Netflix addicts.