AI Advancements
AI will become increasingly more prevalent in everyday life as each year passes. This can be a touchy subject for some people because of the increasing popularity of the notions of AI uprising or the potential loss of jobs. Not to mention the amount of evil robot media out there, The Terminator, The Creator, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Matrix, I Robot, and so forth, but AI could also be a very powerful tool to help advance human society in a way never imagined. Some of the most recent advancements in AI include the following:
1. New video generation tool powered by Sora
“Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions.” — openai.com
Sora can create complex scenes with multiple characters or specific actions in a far more advanced way than any other AI video generator. According to openAI.com, this technology is being wheeled out to some visual artists, designers, and filmmakers to test it and provide feedback on improving it. However, many have expressed concerns about what this technology could mean for the film and art industries, especially if man-made art becomes obsolete.
2. ChatGPT writing advancements
ChatGPT has been a buzzword worldwide for a while now. The technology behind ChatGPT has paved the way for AI to understand and interpret text prompts more intricately. This is a touchy subject in the academic world because many have used ChatGPT to cheat through essays or writing assignments.
ChatGPT scours the internet to produce any output and uses language models to find the most common word or phrase to be produced next. This means chatGPT has no originality and often produces merely surface-level writing.
3. United States AI task force
“ A bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to explore how Congress can ensure America continues to lead the world in AI innovation while considering guardrails that may be appropriate to safeguard the nation against current and emerging threats.” — democraticleader.house.gov
AI applications have so much potential that the United States is setting up task forces dedicated to staying ahead of and guiding these advancements. The bipartisan support of such a committee also showcases how vital having a task force like this will be.
4. Facial recognition technology
Many use facial recognition daily to log into their phones or pay with Apple Pay. However, utilizing the power of AI has the potential to skyrocket facial recognition technology to new heights. We’ve seen it in movies and television shows for years, but advancements in AI technology will take this to a new level. This technology could help law enforcement catch criminals and missing people far more efficiently, not to mention airport wait time and medical treatment, to name a few.
Of course, there are arguments about facial recognition software regarding ownership and invading people's privacy.
Remember, facial recognition technologies have been around for years but have yet to reach the level that will become attainable using AI.
5. AI in video games
You probably know what an NPC is if you have played a video game before. For those who haven’t, an NPC is a “Non-Player Character.” They usually help the player on their journey, provide short dialogue, or play essential roles in the story.
There have been rumors that game studios may begin developing NPCs equipped with artificial intelligence to advance gameplay. These special NPCs would react in real time to player actions and treat them differently based on previous actions. However, this could have drawbacks to potential voice actors whom AI voices may replace.
6. AI in programming
We know chatGPT’s writing abilities, but AI can produce working code for many prompts. As it currently stands, AI can produce a lot of code very fast, but it would still take many human hands to get something meaningful up and running.
However, with constant advancements, AI may soon be able to replace software engineers completely. However, this will only replace some of the need for software development; we will still need people to contribute to the advancement of AI.
7. True Artificial Intelligence
Accurate Artificial intelligence, like the ones we see in movies, is almost entirely human, if not more intelligent than us. These robots were created to simulate human life, like something from Blade Runner. These replicants are the pinnacle of artificial intelligence innovation. They can respond to voice commands and hold conversations to simulate emotions. But at a certain point, do the feelings become real?
If we create a mind and body so advanced that it is indistinguishable from the real thing, could its emotions be chalked up to programming? Or would it be capable of feeling real anger, happiness, sadness, empathy, or love? All computers are currently capable of storing memory, but could an advanced enough artificial intelligence make personal memories and attach emotion to them like a human would?
Once we determine the validity of artificial intelligence is on par with humans, we have to consider if true artificial intelligence like this should be treated as an equal and given human rights, and if they are, then are they classified as humans because they have human rights? What constitutes a human? Body or mind? Are they human because they have a body of flesh and blood or consciousness and a certain level of intellect? The ethics of accurate artificial intelligence have been debated for years; as you can see, it is very complex. Unfortunately, we will never be able to come to a solid conclusion until we have developed true AI that is far more advanced than what we have now.
The closest we have gotten to developing accurate artificial intelligence is the artificial intelligence robot Sophia. A Hong Kong-based robotics company called Hanson Robotics created Sophia. Hanson Robotics website had this to say about their dreams with Sofia, “Sophia is also a framework for cutting edge robotics and AI research, particularly for understanding human-robot interactions and their potential service and entertainment applications. For example, she has been used for research in the Loving AI project to understand how robots can adapt to users’ needs through intra- and interpersonal development.” Her existence is a love letter to AI and robotics, and they are using her to continue to develop even more profound, more complex AI systems.
8. Artificial intelligence in healthcare
Artificial intelligence is being integrated into every career path imaginable, including healthcare.
“Several research studies already suggest that AI can perform as well as or better than humans at key healthcare tasks, such as diagnosing disease. Today, algorithms are already outperforming radiologists at spotting malignant tumors and guiding researchers in constructing cohorts for costly clinical trials.” — The National Library Of Medicine
Just like writing, artificial intelligence can already do some monotonous tasks for humans, giving professionals more time to focus on what matters.
If artificial intelligence can diagnose patients and find issues in CT scans faster than humans, doctors will have more time to act. Also, if humans can be accurately diagnosed by artificial intelligence, many people would save themselves pointless trips to the hospital.
60% of people with lung cancer caught at the earliest stage survive due to AI. That number drops down to 10% for people if caught at a late stage. — Cancer Research UK
The American Cancer Society estimates that around 234,580 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States alone in the year 2024. If we have artificial intelligence saving 60% of them with early detection, then that is 140,748 lives saved just in the United States.
9. Artificial intelligence replacing human jobs
Many have expressed concern about artificial intelligence taking jobs away from those who need them. While this is a genuine issue that will affect many people, the
The Future of Jobs Report 2020” says that artificial intelligence will replace 85 million jobs by 2025 and produce 97 million jobs. -World Economic Forum’s
Some professions will most likely be eradicated by artificial intelligence. — builtin.com
The list includes Customer service representatives who have already begun to be replaced by robots, car and truck drivers because self-driving cars are advancing rapidly, and computer programmers because Chat GPT is already capable of writing loads of code.
Research analysts because artificial intelligence can compute and store mass quantities of data. Because basic administrative tasks come easily to artificial intelligence, paralegals can quickly draft legal forms. Factory workers because more and more warehouses are becoming fully automated. Financial traders are perfect for artificial intelligence because they look at the data of market trends and predict the best times to buy and sell. Travel advisor because based on any previous data from the user, artificial intelligence can predict what you would most likely want to do next based on trends of people who made the same trip. Graphic designers will soon become obsolete because of new advancements in artificial intelligence art that may quickly dominate the space.
10. Artificial intelligence in prosthetics
Losing the ability to do what you love over the loss of a limb is a sad reality for many people in the world. Alicia Lakey was a promising ballet student who had to have a leg amputated after an accident while traveling that left her unable to perform. In an interview she shared with NBC News, she talked about the new generation of prosthetic limbs she is helping to test at MIT. The doctors attach the remaining muscles to a pulley system you can flex. Then, the prosthetic is connected to the leg and senses when the muscles are flexed or stretched, and the limb acts accordingly. Hugh Herr, who is the head of MIT’s lab, has had both of his legs amputated.
“I envision a world in which we can normalize function. Imagine a person with an arm amputation freely playing Mozart. Or a person with a leg amputation is exhibiting an extraordinary ballet piece. That’s the future we’re trying to build.”
Artificial intelligence is advancing at a crazy pace, touching every industry imaginable. In 5 to 10 years, AI will be so integrated into our society that AI use will become an average household thing. In 20 to 25 years, AI will become so advanced and helpful that some will question how we have ever lived without it, just like the iPhone. It will undoubtedly be a bumpy ride with ups and downs. Many jobs may be replaced, but in their place, new jobs and new industries will take their place entirely. AI advancements are happening, and all you can do is try your best to stay on top of them and be wary of any time-traveling Austrians who will always be back.
