The Impact of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has been around for a number of years, during World War 2 Artificial Intelligence was used in Colossus to help break the Enigma Code, which in turn helped England win the war. As AI continues to advance, the operations and offerings that companies can offer will bring in what Davenport & Kirby describe as the 3rd era. The 1^st era involved Artificial Intelligence taking away the dirty and dangerous. The 2^nd era involved AI taking away the dull, and now we are transitioning into the final era, which will mean Artificial Intelligence takes away decisions from humans.

With the possibility of Artificial Intelligence taking away decisions from humans, it puts a large number of jobs at risk, particularly those that work with Big Data. However, Davenport and Kirby have identified ways to ensure job security. First of all, you can “step forward.” What this means is that as the use of artificial intelligence continues to grow, IT graduates can develop the next wave of them, using the skills they have. Therefore, by stepping forward, an IT graduate will ensure job security, as they will always be one step ahead. However, not all IT graduates specialise in software development, but that is not a problem, as all other IT graduates can “step aside”. This means, as one recognises human labour is starting to get replaced, one can step into parts of the IT and tech industry that cannot be replaced.

There are a number of sectors Artificial Intelligence are moving into, first of all the automotive industry. The leaders in this sector are Google, who have developed the ‘Waymo’, which is a self-driving car. This is the first example of us stepping into the 3^rd era, as it offers the possibility to take away decisions from humans. Each car has been put through 2 million miles of test driving, to ensure that the car has been taught to drive defensively. With sensors around the car, it can respond rapidly to unexpected scenarios such as pedestrians crossing in a dangerous area or cyclists cutting in front of cars.

Furthermore, Artificial Intelligence can be used to improve security, which can be seen in Cognitecs ‘FACEVACS’ technology. There is a number of ways this form of AI can be used to increase security. Firstly it could be used on mobile phones, to make sure others can’t access the large volumes of personal information that the average phone owner has. Moreover, it could be used as part of passport control in airports, currently, passport control is prone to human error, but with the use of FACEVACS technology, this potential liability gets diminished.

One company who have invested heavily into Artificial Intelligence are IBM, who have invested over 1 billion dollars into what they are calling IBM’s Watson Group. With such a large investment, the number of jobs that are becoming available to develop it increases. It can enhance and improve a variety of industries. Firstly, it can be seen in the health sector, where it’s already been used in Oncology. This is used for cancer patients when generating personalised cancer treatments for patients. Furthermore, artificial intelligence is very good at going through a large amount of data and hypothesising a diagnosis for patients. According to a study by McKinsey, artificial intelligence can be used to save the health sector up to $300 billion per year.

Additionally, it can be seen enhancing the sports industry, where a basketball team called the Toronto Raptors have used IBM’s Watson to improve their team. Sport scouts are employed to spot upcoming talent, in relation to performance, but what Watson offers is more than that. While it does look at the potential of young basketball players, it also looks at other vital factors that are needed for a team’s triumph. Aspects including the team ethic of a player and the loyalty.

While Artificial Intelligence continues to develop, the opportunity for IT specialists grows with it. Companies worldwide will be looking for employees who can help to enhance the potential of Artificial Intelligence. To sum up the potential, Accenture have released research on the likely impact of AI on the customer interface in banking. They report that of 600 bankers surveyed, 75 per cent "believe that within three years, banks will deploy AI as their primary method for interacting with customers".

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