AI Infancy
The world as we know it can be replicated and enacted upon in its replicated state.
From improvements in computer memory small games such as Pong, bounce and snake have evolved into simulations, 3D cities and entire geographical regions being cloned and traversed through as if in real life.
This can be attributed to enhancements in computer memory.
Today the average 3D games require 32 Gigabyte of RAM of memory to be able to function, in the early 1990’s games could operate from 4 – 8 Megabytes of ram, that is approximately 8000 times less. In other words computers are able to process 8000 times more information than they did in the 1990’s, and this growth is likely to continue with improvements in chip technology and manufacturing.
What is memory in computer terms? Also known as RAM, an acronym for random access memory, it stores data and instructions actively used by the computer. RAM provides quick access to information, allowing the processor to read and write data rapidly. The larger the RAM the faster the computer can respond to greater amount of information, also known as processing speed.
RAM plays a crucial role in computer performance because it determines how many programs and processes one can run simultaneously without slowing down the system. More RAM allows one to multitask efficiently and reduces the need for the computer to rely on slower storage devices.
The more RAM a computer has, the more data and most importantly the speed to which it can access data.
Processing Data
If building a room in 3D requires 4 RAM then creating a body that can move around that room to simulate a person will require more RAM. The detail on the objects inside the room such as a chair, a table, a hammer and lighting is more information being transferred to identify those objects and will determine the amount of RAM needed.
The smoothness of movement of the simulated person such as picking up an axe, depends on the processing speed, how fast it takes to compute or calculate the passing of bits of information.
For humans maths calculations are easier in perfect rounds of ten. Our ability to equate using integers and multiples of ten would be much faster compared to when dealing with the numbers in between.
In the 1940’s Claude Shannon produced one of the great conceptual breakthroughs with the publication of “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” examining the passing of information in just zero’s and one’s. This took communication into binary and digital realm and paved the way for much of the communication developments that AI is based around today.
Visible from the surface
In the human realm memory is a key component to our make-up. Without it we would forget who we are and arguably be similar to animals. If you forgot your name or who your mother and father was every morning you woke up, life would be a struggle. As a species we would not evolve or be able to share past experiences, lessons or communicate as we forget what was taught to us. If you have been taught that a certain pond contains crocodiles for example and getting within close proximity will endanger your life, then your chances of survival increase the longer you remember this fact.
Also the greater the number of people this fact is shared with, the greater the chances of survival for passers-by, travellers and swimmers.
So memory plays as essential part of human development, communication and behaviour. Intellect and can also be attributed to people with better memory capacity.
In the same way humans identify intelligent animals as being ones that can memorise and recall procedures such as dolphins who are able to do synchronised acrobatics with a right trainer. We also recognise seals as having intellect by being able to balance and bounce a ball at the tip of their nose.
Humans are slightly distinct from animals in that our memories are not just connected with survival. Yes dangers, hazards, safe eating zones and mingling are essential to our existence but memory can also be linked to other senses which can impact our lives positively and negatively. Losing a life due to one’s inability to remember that the pond contained crocodiles is a tragedy to any herd, but what about the many other trials and tribulations from all ordinary aspects of human life that are not related to fatality.
Life experiences are vastly varied, and humans have the ability to connect memories to emotional behaviours that can improve experiences on the Earth. Far away from the killing field of crocodiles, we have other major challenges within ourselves such as courting, finding a suitable partner to reproduce with and knowing the boundaries of human societal interaction.
If a body builder walks into a supermarket for example and takes whatever food is shelved and walks out without paying, then we have a scenario. The bodybuilders family may feel it is his right to do so and there is no one to stop him. The owners of the supermarket, including the dwarfed security will try to call for his arrest and charge him of theft and loss of money, and the customers who witnessed what occurred may decide to side either way depending on their own circumstances.
Acceptable and non-acceptable societal behaviour requires judgement. If this is the first occurrence in society and such a case was never previously recorded than the issue becomes very challenging to solve, however with the treasure of written and mental memory, we can effortlessly deduce judgement with a relevant degree rationality.
From a technological perspective, todays AI machines will find it difficult to calculate and memorise mutual relationships, reaction times, motives, profit and loss and other intricate human feeling such as fear or handsomeness in digital formats, i.e. one’s and zero’s.
Focusing on the memorisation aspects that are less connected to emotional behaviours and more intertwined with survivalist ones opens up the path for the world of numerical calculations, in which a new species has be created.
134 x 8
Numerical calculations for humans can be a daunting task. Many of us are taught the twelve times tables at school and they become a bedrock for mental and calculated exams until we graduate. Why the stress though. Some pupils identify patterns in numbers, others don’t. Some pupils go through the effort of memorising the patterns, others won’t. Depending on how we proportion our time to learning and self-improvement, percentages and grades will be determined.
The answer to mathematical calculations such as 134 x 8 can be solved by humans at varying speeds. Before we even begin our mental undertaking, the average reading and wait time range between 0.7 – 1.4 seconds, meanwhile a calculator has already calculated the answer immediately upon receipt of information.
This time difference between a maths professor and a calculator in solving sums is the rudimentary explanation of the superiority of artificial intelligence over humans in carrying tasks consistently and accurately.
Today mathematical calculations have surpassed multiplication and now complex algorithms, identification of correlations thereby predicting outcomes of future events more accurately are at the forefront of the technology.
In healthcare this means more accurate identification of diseases from medical data collected. In manufacturing, increased accuracy, productivity, quality and cost is at stake.
Self-automated vehicles can sieve through large amounts of data identifying road patterns, signs and hazards, reducing accidents and reacting to situations in real-time as a human would.
AI City
Assisting in the decision-making process and eliminated human error lies at the foundation of AI endeavors.
Creating a safer, cleaner city in which vehicles can carry more passengers without the hazard of human driver irregularities. A place where humans and AI technology become so integrated that we can interact with mass transit systems such as train terminals to influence departure and arrival times, creating a seamless on-boarding process.
An AI that can adapt to our needs enhancing our daily lives and shaping our future.
In developing countries, AI can be used to decipher the most cost-effective mode of transit through examining movement, popular destinations, commute times and related emissions.
AI can assist passengers with multi-modal journeys, e.g. a journey that uses a bus, underground train and then overground tram, navigate between stations and provide monitoring assistance in the event that anyone of the journeys is cancelled or delayed. AI can monitor the passenger progress and provide insight to the locomotive into the whereabouts of the passenger and expected time for on-boarding, providing a more pleasant experience for the passenger and eliminating inefficiencies from empty seats.
Developed cities that have high density population and suffer from congestion can use AI to limit the couriers responsible for traffic and replace them with drones to carry goods and deliveries. Eliminating the heavy van that finds it difficult to stop and park with every delivery drop off, the drone can whiz through from sender address to delivery address in straight line, drop of the good thereby reducing ground traffic and related emissions.
During flight the drone can also provide insight of the state of the city traffic patterns and assist law enforcement in the monitoring and elimination of illegal practices.
AI in infancy
AI technology is still in its infancy and decision-making capacity is dependent on the data set that it has been allowed to analyse.
Furthermore, somewhat trivial medieval characteristics of fearlessness and chivalry that have honoured past kings and leaders with decision making prominence over the masses, is still an entirely human trait that AI can neither analyse nor mimic.
Today the forces of persuasion and reason still remain squarely within human hands, the future AI engine will be one that can ultimately develop itself by observing technological progress and automatically integrate improvements in memory and processing speed into the current model thereby satisfying consumer tastes effortlessly.
AI is not replacing our brain function but it is improving our chances of promptness and survival.
