Some find it scary. Many find it useful and others simply use it to finish their homework. Artificial intelligence or AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time. And for better or worse, it's here to stay. So whether you are a student, a professional, or just someone who's curious about this fascinating technology, it's time to plug into the matrix and see what the machines of the past, present and future have in store. This is the evolution of AI Not so long ago, the average person's perception of AI came mostly from the realm of science fiction, where robots would become sentient beings and develop humanlike thoughts and emotions. While there have been some wholesome imagined on paper and on screen, such as Bicentennial Man or Baymax, do not worry, I will manage the cafe the majority of books and movies like 2001 A Space Odyssey, Open the Pod Bay Doors. I Robot, one Must Stay. Oh Hell no. The Matrix, and even the Avengers Age of Ultron have tended to showcase AI as something dark and menacing. There are no strings on me. It's a technology that will become smarter than mankind and use its superior intelligence to rule over us all, at least until a hero can save us. But that's just science fiction, right? To see how far AI has developed in the real world and to determine its potential level of threat for the future, we need to start looking in the nonfiction section at the actual evidence. The term artificial intelligence was first introduced by John McCarthy back in the 1950s and was defined as “Any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity” “we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task” Researchers like Alan Turing, the man who helped crack the Enigma code during World War Two, played crucial roles in laying the theoretical foundations for AI The Enigma code was a complex cipher used by the Germans to encrypt their military communications. And Turing's groundbreaking work in decrypting it not only gave the allies a significant advantage in the war, but also paved the way for the development of modern computing and artificial intelligence. He was the subject of the film The Imitation Game, which dramatizes these historical events. Turing introduced the concept of the Turing Test, a benchmark for assessing the machine's ability to exhibit humanlike intelligence. However, it was McCarthy who organized the now famous Dartmouth Workshop in 1956, which took place at Dartmouth College in the United States and is considered to be the birthplace of AI During the workshop, researchers developed a series of problem solving programs. These programs allowed computers to be taught strategies for playing the game of checkers, as well as solving word problems and algebra, proving logical theorems and speaking the English language. With the advancement of technology and a better understanding of the human brain. The capabilities of AI would change drastically over the following years. Fun fact: Did you know that the concept of artificial intelligence dates back long before the development of modern computers? The ancient Greeks had myths about automatons, and in the 13th century there were plans for a mechanical man called a “golem” in Jewish folklore. So while the algorithms and hardware may be new, the idea of creating intelligent entities has been around for centuries. During the 1960s and 1970s, an era often referred to as the symbolic AI phase, researchers primarily concentrated on the development of neural networks. Delved into the cognitive processes that underlie human thought and explored the intriguing possibility of autonomous self thinking machines. This involved representing knowledge and reasoning using symbols and logic. The development of early programing languages like LISP played a significant role in this phase. Researchers aimed to create expert systems that could mimic human decision making in specialized domains. Fun fact: One of the first virtual assistants can be traced back to 1966, when Joseph Weizenbaum, a computer scientist at MIT, created Eliza. This early chat bot was designed to simulate a conversation with a psychotherapist. Please tell me your problem. What's this all about? Eliza simulates the sort of conversation that you might have with a psychiatrist. And although limited in its capabilities, Eliza paved the way for more advanced virtual assistants During the 70s and 80s Progress in AI faced significant challenges, leading to a period known as the “AI Winter”. High expectations, coupled with limitations in computing power and the complexity of AI problems, resulted in decreased funding and interest in AI research. Many projects were abandoned due to unrealized goals. However, due to the limitations of symbolic AI throughout the following decades, researchers began exploring connectionist models inspired by the human brain's neural networks. This sparked renewed interest in neural networks and machine learning. Just one problem, though. The computer tech needed to train deep neural networks was still severely lacking at the time. Fun fact: Fun fact A landmark event occurred in 1997 when IBM's Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov, proving that I could excel in specific, highly intellectual tasks. And he should get $300,000 for it And wooow! Kasparov... After the move, C4 has resigned. Role on the new millennium. And with increased computing power and the availability of vast amounts of data, AI Research had a new lease of life. Algorithms like convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks showed remarkable success showed remarkable success in image and speed recognition, language processing and more. But still, the world of AI continue to evolve, and a huge change was on the horizon. Until the 2010s machines were being developed that could learn from data identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention. Since then, though, AI has progressed to the next stage known as “Deep Learning”. Instead of machines following specific instructions and programing, deep learning sets up basic parameters or guidelines and trains the computer to learn on its own. Essentially, it encourages machines to think more creatively and take the initiative. This is very difficult, of course, as computers still require some sort of input from humans. Plus, there are complex aspects of human behavior, such as humor, that are extremely difficult to program or for a computer to learn. Currently, a lot of the systems we interact with daily utilize a form of AI known as “Narrow AI” specialized in carrying out specific tasks. These include everything from Internet searches to suggestions of what to watch on Netflix to digital personal assistants like Siri, Cortana and Alexa. Alexa How tall is Mount Everest? Mount Everest height is 29,029 feet. 8848 meters. With the invention of transformers, which are deep learning models, not robots in disguise, AI has been able to take another massive leap forward in recent years. As an example, prior to the use of Transformers, AI used what are known as recurrent neural networks to understand text. RNNs and worked fine when translating a sentence word by word. But say you want to translate a sentence from English to French. If you translate each individual word and keep them in the same order, it's likely to result in many grammatical errors. Due to the importance and difference of word order in both languages. Transformers, on the other hand, can track the relationships in sequential data and learn the context, resulting in much more accurate translations. So if you've noticed that Google Translate has become much more accurate in recent years, now you know why these Transformers, as opposed to Bumblebee or Optimus Prime, were first introduced in 2017 by Google Brain. A deep learning AI team. And since then Pre-Trained models such as BERT Bidirectional encoder representations from Transformers and GPT Generative Pre-Trained Transformer have emerged. Fun fact: the launch of Chat GPT on November 30th, 2022, was so popular that it caused a code red alert at Google! The most up to date statistics suggest a userbase of over 100 million users and in June 2023, the website generated 1.6 billion visits. One of the major advantages of Transformers is their ability to be pre-trained on large amounts of data in terms of their application in the real world, they're already proving valuable when it comes to summarizing and generating documents. Understanding video and even biological sequence analysis, Scientists are using transformers to enhance their understanding of the associations between genes, amino acids and DNA and proteins. This has led to the quicker development and design of drugs. Transformers are also employed to detect irregularities to prevent crimes like fraud, optimize manufacturing processes, provide personalized recommendations and improve general health care. Of course, the average Joe is most likely to benefit from Transformers when using everyday computer applications, including popular search engines like Google and Bing. And with programs like Mid Journey, AI is already capable of creating incredible works of art. It's amazing how far AI has advanced in such a short period of time. On the flip side, some analysts think that its rapid progression is a cause for concern. Fun fact: Mid Journey was a key player in a 2023 lawsuit aimed at shaping the landscape of AI, ethics and intellectual property rights. Artists Sarah Anderson, Kelli McKernan and Carla Ortiz initiated the lawsuit challenging the company's use of their artworks for training AI Interestingly, in July 2023, most of the claims were dismissed. However, the judge permitted the artists to file a new complaint, keeping the door open for further legal developments. As technology continues to evolve. Ethical considerations, regulations, and the societal impact of AI remain important topics of discussion. Faster computers, improvements in algorithms and access to increasingly large amounts of data have advanced machine perception at lightning speeds. High levels of accuracy when performing tasks have led many businesses to adopt artificial intelligence, and some researchers believe that by 2030, AI could take over as many as 20 million jobs worldwide. Whereas in the past, most people thought that we were centuries away from the kind of sci fi robots seen in movies, multiple studios now suggest that so-called superintelligence could be developed within the next 60 years. And as we move ever closer to creating free thinking machines, intellectuals are starting to ask some serious questions about how best to use this unprecedented technology. In addition to Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and many other big names in science and technology have expressed real concerns over the rapid progression of AI. But I think the development of artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Musk even went as far as to call it a “fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization” more so than nuclear warheads. Musk has also called for organizations developing advanced AI, including his own company, Tesla, to be strictly regulated. I try to convince people to slow down, slow down AI to regulate AI. So should we be concerned? Well, the major fear is not so much that AI will destroy humanity by its own choice, but more that its goals will become misaligned with humans that have bad intentions resulting in catastrophe. The thing that's going to be tricky here is that it's going to be very tempting to use AI as a weapon. It's going to be very tempting. In fact, it will be used as a weapon. The danger is going to be more humans using it against each other, I think most likely. If you think about AI as a weapon, like a heat seeking missile, for example, its goal is simply to hit its target. The missile doesn't feel a sense of purpose or emotion. It just knows that it has an end goal and will do whatever it deems possible to achieve it. This could be disastrous for humans, particularly if artificial intelligence identifies barriers where humans do not. A.I. could potentially outsmart us or even manipulate us into doing what it deems necessary to hit its target. Sergeant Taylor wrote this close to winning the war, the AI are developing a super weapon. At some point, it could learn to disregard human commands entirely and even see humanity as an obstacle it must overcome. And of course, depending on who keeps the AI in the first place and sets its boundaries or guidelines, AI could be developed for evil purposes from the outset. Fun fact: In 2016, Microsoft released a chat bot named Tay. It was attacked by trolls on Twitter and in less than 24 hours had learned to tweet out racist, sexist and highly offensive content. Tay was soon removed from the platform with a reporter from the Telegrap calling it “Artificial intelligence at its very worst” and adding “It's only the beginning.” It was a good example of how I can be corrupted. Clearly, there is a need for caution when it comes to AI, and it will take time for laws surrounding artificial intelligence to be passed through various governments around the world. However, at this stage the technology is already providing crucial services and is proving to be more of a help to mankind than a hindrance. Let's hope it stays that way.