For decades now, ‘fantasy’ has been a central theme in books and movies. Mostly, this fantasy world is either taken over by robots or ‘served’ by them. In the perceived awe of special effects, what goes unnoticed is that a robot is just a shell packed with a ‘brain’ which is in effect powerful technology. With every passing day, mankind’s dependency on technology is on the rise. The need for technology to keep pace has grown manifold.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (AI), simply put, is the ability of a machine to make decisions and solve problems based on the data and information presented or ‘fed’ into it - similar to how human intelligence manifests. It often refers to a machine's capacity to think and learn by experience for it to execute tasks performed by humans. Before the invention of AI, a machine like a computer was only used to input and store data. However, as years rolled on, the memory and the speed of a working computer raced and surpassed our needs - it began to analyse and classify data with more accuracy.
Vidhushi Karnani |
It is proven that 90 percent of the world's data has been generated in the past two years only. Hence, we live in the age of ‘Big Data,’ where massive amounts of data are being generated with every passing second. Collecting, sorting, and analysing this data is a tedious job for humans to perform, and this is where machine learning saves the day. By feeding the machine with information, the technology helps it remember and store the information to make predictions for the future.
Artificial Intelligence's use is commonplace
Artificial Intelligence is more common than most people expect, as it is designed in a way to make the user overlook that the computer is making decisions. Social media sites updating your feed, search engines generating more accurate searches, and even virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri are common forms of interacting with AI. Looking at the larger picture, AI is used greatly in technologies of industries like banking, entertainment and even medicine, besides many others.
Children who learn AI at a young age better suited for job opportunities
AI is taking over the world, and businesses are increasingly embracing it to reduce errors and distractions and ensure that the machine can perform its job consistently without getting ‘tired.’ It is essential that the youth of today learn about AI and machine learning to coexist with technology and make good use of it rather than working against it. AI is helping accomplish more in less time, taking away the monotony of jobs and leaving humans with the task of strategizing and building relationships. Children who learn AI at a young age are known to be more creative, are more adept with programming skills, have design thinking abilities, and are better suited for job opportunities. After all, coding is the only way humans can communicate with machines.
Vidhushi Karnani, 15, a student of Bombay International School, is a passionate learner and believes that writing is an incredible way of communication and knowledge-sharing.
