{"id":563729,"date":"2024-10-05T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=563729"},"modified":"2024-10-05T13:01:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:01:01","slug":"what-ai-actually-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/ai\/563729-what-ai-actually-is.html","title":{"rendered":"What AI actually is"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You know we\u2019ve reached peak interest in artificial intelligence (AI) when Oprah Winfrey hosts a television special about it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI is truly everywhere. And we will all have a relationship with it \u2014 whether using it, building it, governing it or even befriending it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what exactly is AI? While most people won\u2019t need to know exactly how it works under the hood, we will all need to understand what it can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our conversations with global leaders<\/a> across business, government and the arts, one thing stood out \u2014 you can\u2019t fake it anymore. AI fluency, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI isn\u2019t just about chatbots. To help understand what it is about, we\u2019ve developed a framework which explains the broad broad range of capabilities it offers. We call this the \u201ccapabilities stack\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see AI systems as having seven basic kinds of capability, each building on the ones below it in the stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From least complex to most, these are: recognition, classification, prediction, recommendation, automation, generation and interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At its core, the kind of AI we are seeing in consumer products today identifies patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike traditional coding, where developers explicitly program how a system works, AI \u201clearns\u201d these patterns from vast datasets, enabling it to perform tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This \u201clearning\u201d is essentially just advanced mathematics that turns patterns into complex probabilistic models \u2014 encoded in so-called artificial neural networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once learned, patterns can be recognised \u2014 such as your face, when you open your phone, or when you clear customs at the airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pattern recognition is all around us \u2014 whether it\u2019s license plate recognition<\/a> when you park your car at the mall, or when the police scan your registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s used in manufacturing for quality control to detect defective parts, in health care to identify cancer in MRI scans<\/a>, or to identify potholes<\/a> by using buses equipped with cameras that monitor the roads in Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
The AI capabilities stack is a framework for understanding how AI is used. Sandra Peter & Kai Remer, CC BY-NC-ND<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Classification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once an AI system can recognise patterns, we can train it to detect subtle variations and categorise them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how your photo app neatly organises albums by family members, or how apps identify and label different kinds of skin lesions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI classification is also at work behind the scenes when phone companies and banks identify spam and fraud calls<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Zealand, non-profit organisation Te Hiku developed an AI language model<\/a> to classify thousands of hours of recordings to help revitalise Te Reo M\u0101ori, the local indigenous language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When AI is trained on past data, it can be used to predict future outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, airlines use AI to predict the estimated arrival times of incoming flights<\/a> and to assign gates on time so you don\u2019t end up waiting on the tarmac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Google Flights uses AI to predict flight delays<\/a> even before airlines announce them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hong Kong, an AI prediction model saves taxpayer money by predicting when a project needs early intervention<\/a> to prevent it overrunning its budget and completion date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when you buy stuff on Amazon, the ecommerce giant uses AI to predict demand and optimise delivery routes<\/a>, so you get your packages within hours, not just days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once we predict, we can make recommendations for what to do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you went to Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras tour concert at Sydney\u2019s Accor stadium, you were kept safe thanks to AI recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A system<\/a> funded by the New South Wales government used data from multiple sources to analyse the movement and mood of the 80,000 strong crowd, providing real-time recommendations to ensure everyone\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI-based recommendations are everywhere. Social media, streaming platforms, delivery services and shopping apps all use past behaviour patterns to present you with their \u201cfor you\u201d pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even pig farms use pig facial recognition<\/a> and tracking to alert farmers to any issues and recommend particular interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a small step from prediction and recommendation to full automation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Germany, large wind turbines use AI to keep the lesser spotted eagle safe. An AI algorithm detects approaching birds<\/a> and automatically slows down the turbines allowing them to pass unharmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closer to home, Melbourne Water uses AI<\/a> to autonomously regulate its pump control system to reduce energy costs by around 20% per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Western Sydney, local buses on key routes are AI-enabled<\/a>: if a bus is running late, the system predicts its arrival at the next intersection and automatically green-lights its journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once we can encode complex patterns into neural networks, we can also use these patterns to generate new, similar ones. This works with all kinds of data \u2014 images, text, audio and video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image generation is now built into many new phones<\/a>. Don\u2019t like the look on someone\u2019s face? Change into a smile. Want a boat on that lake? Just add it in. And it doesn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tools such as Runway let you manipulate videos or create new ones<\/a> with just a text prompt. ElevenLabs allows you to generate synthetic voices or digitise existing ones from short recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These can be used to narrate audiobooks, but also carry risks such as deepfake impersonation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we haven\u2019t even mentioned large language models such as ChatGPT, which are transforming how we work with text and how we develop computer code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research by McKinsey<\/a> found that these models can cut the time required for complex coding tasks by up to 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interaction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finally, generative AI also makes it possible to mimic human-like interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, virtual assistants, companions and digital humans will be everywhere. They will attend your Zoom meeting<\/a> to take notes and schedule follow-up meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interactive AI assistants, such as IBM\u2019s AskHR bot<\/a>, will answer your HR questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when you get home, your AI friend app<\/a> will entertain you, while digital humans<\/a> on social media are ready to sell you anything, any time. And with voice mode activated<\/a>, even ChatGPT gets in on the inter-action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the excitement around generative AI, it is important to remember that AI is more than chatbots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It impacts many things beyond the flashy conversational tools \u2014 often in ways that quietly improve everyday processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Sandra Peter<\/a>, Director of Sydney Executive Plus, University of Sydney<\/a> and Kai Riemer<\/a>, Professor of Information Technology and Organisation, University of Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI isn’t just about chatbots. It truly is everywhere and we will all have a relationship with it \u2014 whether using it, building it, governing it, or even befriending it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340972,"featured_media":524576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92837],"tags":[95333,83065,92330,835,5144,51673],"class_list":["post-563729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","tag-apple-intelligence","tag-chatgpt","tag-google-gemini","tag-ibm","tag-mckinsey","tag-oprah-winfrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340972"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563729"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563735,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563729\/revisions\/563735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}