When we talk about artificial intelligence, we sometimes tend to imagine a world full of robots that we can interact with. We may be ”scared” to think of artificial intelligence as something that will one day kill us, but that is only due to the influence of movies, books, and video games that took science fiction one step further than they should.
A ”Terminator” cannot occur, since we would take care of turning off Skynet (like Google or Facebook with one of its AIs) and, although the artificial intelligence that we can see in movies like Ex Machina are being tested in some laboratories (without body, of course) the truth is that it is something that surrounds us and that we use daily, sometimes without realizing it. And now, they even beat us at video games.
Therefore, as we are destined to coexist with artificial intelligence, here are 10 uses of AI that no one would have imagined and that are already within our reach to make our lives easier:
Table of Contents
1. Helping us take photos.
Perhaps it is one of the uses of AI that we have more at hand. Mobile manufacturers are betting on artificial intelligence in various ways and Huawei, for example, has incorporated AI into photographic software to help us take better photos with the Huawei P20.
Simply, the AI in the phone allows us to take better pictures in low-light conditions. Huawei knows that we do not have a very firm pulse and, therefore, it helps us to take photographs with a long exposure with an AI that recomposes the image and ”straightens” the photo when we tremble.
There are other uses, of course, like autofocusing objects with greater precision.
2. Autonomous driving.
Autonomous vehicles are the ones that are (currently) testing the validity of artificial intelligence the most in everyday life.
Specifically, autonomous vehicles rely on deep learning, the ”complex” branch of artificial intelligence to learn on the go where to drive and the objects and signals that are in their path.
All this is processed and shared in a kind of hive mind so that the car becomes ”smarter”.
3. AI in video games.
If you are a gamer, surely you have come across an AI. We are talking about a real AI, not just simple bots.
Electronic Arts is already testing advanced artificial intelligence, but Microsoft included it in Forza Motorsport 5 in 2013 and has been developing it ever since.
The vehicles in the game take ”patterns” from real players so that when we play offline, we experience more realistic races with erratic behaviors in the vehicles and ”human” failures.
Valve also used an AI in Left 4 Dead to analyze the behavior of human players and create hordes of zombies accordingly.
4. Getting ahead of our tastes.
Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and the other tech giants use artificial intelligence to analyze our tastes and recommend objects that may interest us.
It is a very basic use and you see it every time you enter the Internet. This is how personalized advertising is achieved.
5. Coloring pictures.
”How easy”, you will say, but no, it is not that simple. An artificial intelligence, specifically one of the uses of deep learning, is to color images in black and white. This is important, as it allows us to enjoy black and white photos and videos, historical documents, with a realistic color palette.
Digitizing WWII videos, for example, and its new color palette is something that takes a lot of work for a human but can be done faster by an AI using deep learning.
They analyze patterns, recognize objects, and know what color tone each item should be based on what they know and the monochrome intensity of the image.
6. Finding malware.
This is something we use on a daily basis without realizing it. Thanks to machine learning, or deep learning, Google filters emails to find out which ones are carrying SPAM or some type of malware.
With each action, the system learns, makes decisions, and makes predictions to allow us to navigate our mail in a more pleasant and safe way.
7. Counting Species.
There are dozens of uses at a professional level for the different types of artificial intelligence, but one of the most interesting is the one that allows controlling the animal population.
Previously, to know the exact number of specimens of a certain species, dozens of scientists and volunteers had to count each animal “by hand”.
Now, you simply have to place cameras, collect the images and videos of them, and upload the data to the cloud, where an AI (machine learning) is in charge of keeping track of the population. This is also done by Microsoft with the Snow Leopard Trust association.
8. Translating from other languages.
Translators, both verbatim and oral, use AI to learn. Although they still have a lot to improve, little by little they are loaded with more human expressions, more correct semantics, and even set phrases that we usually use on a daily basis.
Thanks to the actions that humans introduce, these AIs are learning to improve and give us more precise results.
9. Automation in factories.
And, speaking of learning machines, factories are also incorporating artificial intelligence for process automation, such as building a vehicle.
Not only that, in the Chinese cockroach factory, in the city of Xichang, an AI is in charge of controlling the population, regulating the humidity, temperature, and food so that they reproduce as quickly as possible.
10. Real-time facial recognition.
This is one of the most controversial uses of artificial intelligence. The facial recognition of the iPhone X is fine to unlock our phone, but is it a violation of privacy?
The Chinese and British police already use special cameras to recognize the population and find criminals and, recently, the company Axon has presented its rules for the AI of facial recognition, a technology that, it seems, will be extended in the future among police forces.
Of course, there are organizations that are against this system, since facial recognition AI has a lot to prove. However, there have already been positive cases of arrest thanks to this technology.
So, you know, don’t be afraid of AI, even if Elon Musk doesn’t like it too much to get out of control. When there are cases like those of Google or Facebook, which had to turn off one of their artificial intelligences to develop their own language, it is not because it is going to start to become violent ( although it does ) and launch nuclear missiles, but because if we do not understand it, it is out of our control. Relax, Google has its button to turn off the AI well at hand.
