The Power and Potential of AI: How It's Changing Our World

It feels like artificial intelligence (AI) has suddenly dropped from the skies into our laps over the past year, doesn't it? It's everywhere now! Yet AI is not new; it's actually been around for a long time quietly assisting the human race.

The Power, Still Unfolding

Artificial intelligence began as a theory, some argue, in the 1700s with the use of statistics. Of course, computers weren't part of that concept, and a variety of subsequent attempts to develop it fell by the wayside until the middle of the twentieth century.

For the modern era, AI essentially began in the 1950s when Alan Turing standardized a test to see if a human could tell the difference between another human and a computer program. If a person can't make the distinction in a given timeframe, the computer is said to possess artificial intelligence.

Engineers still run this basic test even while more elements are added daily to help AI develop into a useful companion for humans.

While some worry the robots will take over, à la Hal the supercomputer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the truth these days is that engineers are working on ways for AI to assist humans rather than annihilate them.

For example, the latest winner of the Loebner Prize, Steve Worswick, won for his chatbot's ability to engage in authentic discussions with humans and treat all users as individuals with empathy. Worswick's goal? A computer that can provide human-like interactions important for reducing loneliness in humans. 

That's not just a lofty aim; it's representative of the sheer power AI offers the world to help humans get things done in more efficient ways, whether at home, work, or play.

AI Where We Live and Play

The state of artificial intelligence today is that it's here, it's been embedded into our lives for many years now, and it's not going away.

Today, we see that power in everything from smart home assistants to common apps we use–like Outlook, Excel, and Powerpoint, where the addition of the AI tool Copilot is already making it easier to connect with others, get things done, and share information.

It's already in many of our homes, too. Robotic vacuums have been a thing for a hot minute now (at least in this home), and today's versions use AI to determine where to clean, which areas need a second pass, and which areas they can skip–all without your intervention (some can even automatically clean their own bins now).

AI is also in your kitchen, whether or not you realize it.

If you use a virtual assistant, you already know about using AI in the home. For example, if you're not sure what temperature or how long to cook air-fried chicken thighs your assistant will tell you (and probably suggest the right spices to use, too).

It's used in farm production for cost reduction, food standards surveillance, product testing, tracking of products from harvest to distribution, and much more.

By the time you grab that item at the grocery store, it's already passed through numerous AI processes.

At restaurants, it's helping staff deliver meals to tables so they can focus on preparing food. It can also help with spotting issues in supply-chain processes and reducing overall complexities for restaurant crews.

If you're not feeling well, artificial intelligence can now help medical professionals determine what your ailment is. AI also helps your docs take notes, enter required information into healthcare systems, and even analyze medical imaging data (x-rays, MRIs, etc.) or provide insights to help patients with improved health outcomes.

When you're ready to play, artificial intelligence is, too.

Hop on to any social media app you like, for instance, and it's waiting with an algorithm to determine what shows up in your feed and how your content is distributed to others. Every like or share is silently recorded along with other data to continuously adjust and (hopefully!) improve your experience.

In sports, it's helping an athlete analyze their performance or a coach make tactical decisions about the next play in the game. In some countries, AI-powered platforms are now providing real-time, play-by-play commentary in different languages to improve accessibility for fans.

Where will you spot AI next?

Where We (and AI) Are Headed

AI is already showing us that it can help us do more, faster, and often better. The potential for it to help humans is unlimited; the trick will be for humans to ethically contain and deploy it.

There are hundreds of ways artificial intelligence programs can learn, both from humans and from computers. Combine that with the hundreds of thousands of potential uses for learning, and the possibilities are truly endless.

Predictions about where it can go, say experts, are likely to be outdated within months. That's because the technology is now moving at such a frantic speed that, as it becomes integrated into more and more products, services, and applications, it will only increasingly allow humans to find new ways for it to help society.

Will the day come when we just expect it to be there, much like we expect our car to start up in the morning or our smartphone to find the right Wi-Fi signal? Some argue that day is already here. The reality, however, is that we just don't know yet where the technology can go because it's almost too mind-blowing to imagine.

Take, for instance, the idea that a software program could tell us the weather for the entire world in just seconds. Don't believe it? It's already happening, thanks to artificial intelligence.

Microsoft has developed an AI weather prediction model called Aurora that can accurately forecast weather and air pollution for the whole world in less than one minute. That kind of AI application takes science into the future by leaps and bounds instead of baby steps (current technologies rely on conventional mathematic models; Aurora instead applies machine learning to atmospheric chemistry).

The application of artificial intelligence models into new arenas of science and expansion into our overall lives in so many other ways is only in the first throes of what's possible.

We've already seen what happens when the average person can interact with AI: Chat options that allow consumers to connect directly to AI tools in a conversational way, such as ChatGPT, have lit a fire in the general public to learn more about the technology and understand it better.

Every time you use AI, it learns. That, in a nutshell, is its power and its potential.

What do you imagine for AI?