Contact Us
×

Tag: artificial intelligence big data

Can Artificial Intelligence be self-aware?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Artificial Intelligence has gradually been spreading its wings to more and more sectors wherein only humans could work until now. A prime example of this is the introduction of an artificial intelligence process to vehicles, making self-driving cars a reality.

While this is a significant development, it pales in comparison to the possibilities that could be unlocked if we have a computer that is completely aware of itself and its surroundings. These machines could be sent to do a variety of jobs that humans find difficult.

In fact, it could reach such a point wherein robots replace humans at every job, leaving humans to live their lives in lazy bliss. This could completely shake up society as we know it and leave humans without a sense of purpose. This also raises the question of legality when it comes to robots. Would be held under the same accountability as humans, or scarily still, would they band together and eliminate humans altogether?

There are varying views among researchers about what consciousness is and whether machines could someday achieve it. Some researchers say that consciousness develops with constantly accepting new information, retrieving the old and processing all of it into thoughts and, subsequently actions. If this assumption is true, then any consciousness developed by computers will be the most advanced one, even more so than human consciousness.

They will be able to access millennia worth of information within a fraction of a second and be able to make decisions which are both more complex and more logical than what any person could accomplish. However, some researchers disagree with this opinion,saying that some factors that contribute to consciousness, such as creativity and compassion, are not the result of calculations and will always be exclusive to humans.

Another view of this topic is the quantum view, which takes into account the quantum theory of physics. According to this view, all the physical aspects of this world and consciousness complement each other all the time. It goes on to say that whenever a person observes or manipulates any physical object, noticeable change could be observed due to that person’s conscious interaction with the object.

This can be explained by considering consciousness as something that exists by itself and isn’t derived through physics, merely needing a medium such as a brain to manifest itself. If this is true, it seems highly unlikely that machines would be able to tap into this consciousness.

Another factor to talk about here is computational programming, which is the basis on which every computer on the planet runs. For a computer to be self-aware, it should have the capability to come up with its own language as a means of processing thought through artificial intelligence training course. However, while this has been done by artificial intelligence processes in recent years, these languages still depend on and are based on the instructions given to these machines by humans.

As such, these machines will never be able to reach the same level of thought complexity that would be required to say, write a poem, or even understand empathy and a sense of belonging to the world. So in short, the answer to the question of whether artificial intelligence could become self-aware is, yes but only to an extent.

The likelihood of these machines reaching the level of thought complexity that humans enjoy is extremely less unless there is a breakthrough in our knowledge of how our minds work and we are able to translate that into the code for these computers.

Artificial Intelligence Provides Operational Solutions for the Food Industry!

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Though Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have supported industries in multiple ways, the key is to identify areas specific to each industry where AI solutions are the most relevant. In the case of the food industry, solving operational efficiencies seems to be the area where AI-based solutions can make the maximum impact. And no wonder, with the relatively short timelines that food can be stored before consumption, make this an understandable challenge.

AI or machine learning relies a lot on historic data and uses this information to make predictive solutions or suggestions that can help in foreseeing certain outcomes. The more data at hand, the more closer to accuracy the solution/suggestion is.

Considering this, here are the potential avenues for the use of AI in the food business in ways that could transform conventional modes of operation by increasing efficiencies and production, predicting, assessing, and accurately solving more market demands and more.

Forecasting
Companies have used AI to determine and analyze demand variations, shopping trends during marketing campaigns, and sales drops. Stored data for these variables help machines identify problem areas and solve for them specifically.

It answers questions like – what is the optimal shelf space for this product to ensure increased sales? Which categories perform best for a specific type of promotion? How much should a certain product be stocked during peak/low sales periods? This helps optimize processes and reduce wastes through AI’s intelligent data-back prediction systems.

Boosting Productivity
Cloud computing technology, Big Data analytics, and data-driven machine learning has equipped a lot of industries to streamline their operational efficiencies. In the case of food industries, the manufacturing arm, in particular, AI assists in aiding the production processed by making certain decisions easier through its predictive features. These real-time solutions can potentially save a lot in time and moolah. These cost benefits will in turn be reflected in market satisfaction through pricing.

Automation
Technology’s increased agility in handling fragile produce helps in automating manufacturing tasks in the food industry’s operational chain. This means, tools have become advanced enough to handle delicate food items and process them without damaging them, such as eggs or tomatoes.

Not only this, but automation helps in reducing manual effort in repetitive tasks, therefore, adding time efficiency. This is especially useful for tasks where is lower decision-making potential.

Consumer Preferences
Through AI’s capability to handle large amounts of data with multiple variables and therefore make accurate predictions, consumer preferences can be assessed through their older buying / consuming patterns. Not only does this help in the development of newer products and services but also capitalizes on the key sale-drivers with eagle-eyed consistent focus.

Applications
Some ways to apply AI or machine learning in these industries would be through smartphone apps that fit into the consumer’s lifestyle, such as fitness apps, food suggestion apps based on certain body types, etc. Chatbots for online food partners could be another potential application. Quick food manufacturing machines independent of human assistance is another use case.

Conclusion
What this means for the food industry is that there is a constant need to keep an eye on AI trends and the way it is affecting businesses. Choosing the right AI tool for a certain business is a sure-shot way of intelligently increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. There are many more upcoming AI solutions in the market – keep your eyes on the radar to assess the best solution for your business!

Digital Skills and Asian Job Market – What You Should Be Aware Of!

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Digital Skills
With increasing digitization of everything from payments to record keeping, the demand for digital skills in the job market is on an ever increasing trend. Digital skills may be classified into big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning in the field of Data science; cryptography in areas of passwords and security in digital space; search engine optimization, video editing in the field of digital marketing and application development in the field of mobile technology.
The other skills which are much in demand are cloud-based applications, database management, programming and coding skills along with the ability to adapt and be adept at new technologies. Asia is one the regions where digital skills are most in demand. Moreover, the demand is poised to increase rapidly in the years to come as companies transform themselves to become a part of the digital revolution alongside the rise of digital start-ups.  
Asian Job Market
China, India, Singapore and Australia are some of the major countries in Asia where the job market for Digital skills is hot. From traditional banks and consumer retail companies to upcoming start-ups, digital skills can get you a job in a host of varied and diverse companies, roles and profiles.
In one of the top markets for Technology related Jobs, Singapore, digital marketing strategy and social media marketing are the top 2 skills that are in demand by the recruiters. Governmental as well as non-governmental agencies are looking to hire professionals with experience in the digital domain or even the freshers who possess high skills in such areas. Pricing strategy, mobile marketing and reputation management in the online space are other areas which can get you a job in Singapore.
In India, software jobs are most sought after and well-paying jobs. The Indian software job market is witnessing an upgrade of skills from basic coding to analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, application development, cloud services skills andidatabase management skills are still pretty much in vogue. Social media marketing jobs are on the rise along with digital advertisement, video editing and search engine optimization. Content creators in the digital space too are in demand in the Indian job market.
China is experiencing a shortage of high-end skilled workers. Companies like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Huawei are promised high end technical and engineering related jobs to the highly skilled workers are mostly foreign educated and return to China to get jobs. Internet/ e-commerce are on a boom in China, and hence digital skills are more in demand and lucrative now than in any time in its history. Artificial intelligence skills and data science skills like natural language processing, speech recognition, visual skills, pattern recognition and data analytics in other related subjects are one of the most sought-after skills that recruiters look for in the prospective employees.
Australia too is facing a massive shortage in employee skills. With the digital boom, the market is looking for skilled professional for high-end digital marketing roles, but the present job market in Australia is facing a skill gap. The most in-demand digital skills in Australia are analytical skills regarding big data analytics, content creation and marketing skills and digital accounting to handle payments and receivables in the digital space.
Thailand is undergoing digitalization at a fast pace, and the companies are looking at strengthening their digital capabilities. Thailand is poised to become a part of the eastern economic corridor and emerge as a smart digital hub in the region.
Plenty of opportunities for skilled professionals
We notice from the above trends that there is no dearth of opportunities in the digital arena if one is skilled enough to provide solutions. The need of the hour is up-gradation of skills to match the industry demands.     

The Promise of AI: The Value of Artificial Intelligence and its Applications

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Read the previous part here.
When it comes to predicting the value of AI, things can get a little vague and confusing. This is mainly because of the wide applications as well as the rapid evolvement of Artificial Intelligence. It is estimated by the Data Corporation, that the market for technologies of or related to Artificial Intelligence, is bound to increase up to $40 billion by the year 2020. While this market would deal with all those technologies that help in analysing unstructured data, it is believed that it will be generating productive improvements, which promise to be well over $60 billion worth of the United States market per year.
Consequently, a majority of investors have begun to discover and realize the true value of AI and as a result of this, more and more investments have begun to take place in the venture capitalist markets. Let’s talk about figures, the year 2013 saw about $757 million, being invested in AI start-ups, 2014 saw about $2.8 billion, 2015 saw around $2.3 billion and if these figures are anything but telling, it is guaranteed that the investments will only be growing in proportion for the coming years. The Mckinsey Global Institute has estimated that all the automating knowledge work, with Artificial Intelligence, is bound to generate anything around $5.2 trillion to close to $7 trillion. It is believed that the advancement in advanced robotics by primarily relying on Artificial Intelligence will generate anything up to $2 trillion. All of these estimates are made for up to the year 2025, which is barely a decade away.
Thus, we can conclude that the value of Artificial Intelligence is not only humongous, but it bound to increase manifold soon enough. It is believed by many experts that the AI has so much power, that it can go ahead to solve global issues like climate change and food insecurity. Artificial Intelligence already has and is bound to have a varied number of applications. Mapping poverty with satellite data, measuring literacy rates, cracking down on human trafficking rackets, preventing abusive internet tools from taking up actions are some of the social applications of AI that will definitely benefit the society in the near future.
When it comes to public safety, artificial intelligence could very well be applied for pinpointing the various happenings during crimes, for prediction of crime hotspots, for disposing of car bombs autonomously, for predicting the fire or earthquake risks of building accurately, for ensuring that every type of security screening is less invasive and so on. Industries would benefit majorly from AI as it would ensure the prevention of breakdowns or power cuts before they even take place, everything from intelligent manufacturing to automated factories could be very possible, improvement in terms of the dairy supply chains with the help of market forecasting would be a real thing and much more.
Thus AI shows a lot of promise in terms of changing the world for the better tomorrow and as a result of this, it would make a great career. There are many institutes in India like Imarticus Learning, which offer a number of comprehensive courses in Data Science, that would help an individual further their career in AI.

Loved this report? Read similar blogs here:
Investment Banking Soon to be Taken Over by Artificial Intelligence
Can the Big Data Dilemma be solved by AI?
Technology Buzzwords: Buzzword Watch – 2017