{"id":18690,"date":"2015-10-23T09:58:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T16:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/?p=18690"},"modified":"2015-10-23T09:58:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T16:58:39","slug":"artificial-intelligence-is-a-big-part-of-your-life-just-dont-buy-the-hollywood-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/artificial-intelligence-is-a-big-part-of-your-life-just-dont-buy-the-hollywood-hype","title":{"rendered":"Artificial Intelligence Is A Big Part Of Your Life, Just Don\u2019t Buy The Hollywood Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask just about anyone on the street to describe artificial intelligence and odds are, they\u2019ll describe something resembling the futuristic science fiction robot they\u2019ve seen in movies and television shows. However, according to Mathematician, Linguist and Artificial Intelligence Researcher <\/span>Dr. Andr\u00e1s Kornai<\/span><\/a>, artificial intelligence is a reality right now, and its impact can be seen every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say 35 percent of the total commerce taking place on Wall Street (right now) is <\/span>driven by algorithms<\/span><\/a> and it\u2019s no longer driven by humans,\u201d Kornai said. \u201cThis is not science fiction. (Artificial intelligence) is with us today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What we\u2019ve seen so far in the application of algorithm-based artificial intelligence in the financial sector is just the tip of the iceberg, Kornai said. In fact, you don\u2019t even have to own stock to be affected by it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have designed algorithms that will (determine) your creditworthiness, meaning your creditworthiness is now determined by an algorithm,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have substituted human-decision making capabilities in favor of better algorithms to pursue this, and we have given up a huge area of human competence, and money is just one aspect of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kornai points to advances in algorithm-based medical diagnostics, autonomous cars and military technology as some other areas where artificial intelligence is already at work and poised for further growth. While that growth is presented as a good thing, he believes the subtle infiltration of AI has many people missing the larger picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing an uptick in medical decisions by algorithms and I\u2019m not opposed to this, as it\u2019s important to have the best possible information in the medical world. And in 10 or 15 years autonomous vehicles will be a big deal,\u201d Kornai said. \u201cIn military technology, drones are generally human controlled, but there is intense research toward autonomous ground or air vehicles that will work even if someone is trying to cut off their communication. This is not the future, this is here now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Kornai, since algorithms are based on statistics, the problem with algorithm-based advances in those areas is the level of error that is inherent to the system. That built-in error may not be able to cause bodily harm, he said, but it can still cause havoc to humanity as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cA certain amount of error is built into the system in every level of AI. Things work on a statistical basis and they have errors but, on the whole, that\u2019s innocent,\u201d he said. \u201cAlgorithms are not capable of hurting people directly. But once it comes to money or it comes to your health or your legal standing, (the potential for errors<\/a>) is becoming increasingly serious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In spite of most people\u2019s image of the future of artificial intelligence, that danger is significantly different than the perils depicted on the big screen, Kornai said. To illustrate that point, he highlighted the gap between algorithmic AI and the state of robotics. While technology has already developed a chess algorithm that can beat the best chess players in the world, a ping-pong playing robot that can beat the world\u2019s best table tennis player has yet to materialize.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary worry is everyday, ubiquitous algorithms, the kind of algorithms that are already around us, posing huge damage,\u201d Kornai said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t the Terminator coming along and killing humans. That\u2019s more science fictional.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Looking to the future, Kornai sees AI making the biggest inroads in the business world. Again, he noted that use of those everyday algorithms may not be widely noticed, but their impact will be significant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the business world today, it\u2019s much easier to start a company and those companies will increasingly be driven by AI,\u201d he said. \u201cEventually, AI will play a bigger role in the boardroom. It may not be visible to the man on the street, but it will be very visible to the Fortune 500.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, however, there are still broader risks ahead as AI advances, and Kornai said he generally agrees with the concerns that have been voiced of late by Hawking, Gates, Musk and others. Those perils might not jibe with Hollywood\u2019s idea of them, but the effects will still be notable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys see what\u2019s going on and are doing some far-sighted (thinking). Far-sighted is not science fictional,\u201d Kornai said. \u201cFar-sighted is thinking ahead maybe 10, 15 or 25 years ahead. We\u2019re not talking about affecting our grandchildren, but things that will affect us and increasingly affect our children and grandchildren.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask just about anyone on the street to describe artificial intelligence and odds are, they\u2019ll describe something resembling the futuristic science fiction robot they\u2019ve seen in movies and television shows. However, according to Mathematician, Linguist and Artificial Intelligence Researcher Dr. Andr\u00e1s Kornai, artificial intelligence is a reality right now, and its impact can be seen [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1470,43,1528,39,6],"tags":[2255,2253,2257,2252,2254,2256],"class_list":["post-18690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-automation","category-business","category-disruptive-technology","category-economics","category-robotics-ai","tag-ai-algorithms","tag-ai-economics","tag-ai-error","tag-andras-kornai","tag-autonomous-ai","tag-financial-algorithms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}