Page 58 - Insight 2018

ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE

BANE OR BOON?

By Hassan Khan (Manager, Wireless Products)

Many would have watched viral videos of Sophia, the humanoid Although there is much hype surrounding a technology in its
robot created by Hanson Robotics, standing behind a podium, infancy, it is undeniable that AI is poised to proliferate into
addressing the United Nations. Sophia has been granted every industry and sphere of life in the very near future. AI
citizenship by Saudi Arabia, endowed with multiple types of represents an opportunity that will be reaped and leveraged
facial expressions, AI algorithms, the ability to accurately by solopreneurs and massive enterprises, alike. It is not
detect different faces, and is able to hold spontaneous implausible to imagine how the rapid pace of AI development
conversions with humans on a level that is dumbfounding. could trigger an explosion of intelligence, which may surpass
human intellect, twenty to thirty years from now.
Not long ago, Lockheed Martin, the renowned American Global
Aerospace, Defence, Security, and Technologies Company The improvement in growth, productivity, innovation, and job
announced the launch of its AlphaPilot Innovation Challenge; creation, as a result of AI adoption, is virtually guaranteed. In
inviting the public to develop and create AI for fact, a study conducted by PwC forecasted a 14% increase in
drones; enabling them to beat p r o - h u m a n global GDP by 2030 due to AI implementation. The study also
drone racers. revealed that 27% of respondents from different organisations
had incorporated AI technology into their key processes, 46%
had one or more AI pilot projects in the pipeline, and only 6%
claimed that their organisations had no plans of adopting AI.

China, with strong support from its government, is leading the
pack in AI adoption with the United States, Japan, the United
Kingdom and Germany, hot on its heels. While robots are
currently extremely expensive, a report from ARK (a
research company), indicates that the prices of industrial
robots will drop by 65% within the next 25-30 years.
This will create a sharp spike in their demand. Moreover,
emerging economies will be less able to leverage their low-
cost workforces in the future. This is because companies will
be able to get the work done in a much faster and cost-effective
manner by relying on AI in homegrown solutions.

As with everything, AI has had its fair share of skeptics who
have envisioned a future where robots take over (terminator
fans most likely), and AI guided weapons wreak havoc across
the world. I for one, am keenly awaiting to reap the benefits from
radical innovations in healthcare where AI becomes capable of
scouring patient’s medical records at the speed of light, and
indicate illnesses at a treatable stage. I am hopeful, however...
only the future will tell.

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