Artificial Intelligence. What is it, and what exactly does it mean?
Those of us who pay attention are somewhat familiar with what A.I. is, but the reality is there’s quite a bit of debate about artificial intelligence and how far can the government allow an entity to go as far as A.I.
Artificial intelligence, or A.I. for short, is the technology that enables a computer to think or act in a more ‘human’ way. It does this by taking in information from its surroundings and deciding its response based on what it learns or senses.
So for example, for our SCOOP readers who have an “Alexa” device in their home, I swear to you, “Alexa” is always listening. Anytime my husband and I talk near “Alexa: about what we need to purchase, particularly things like furniture, certain kinds of clothing, or lawn equipment, the list goes on. We would notice it was always shortly after one of those chats if we would go online to our Facebook pages or Instagram, all of a sudden, non-requested, we would start seeing advertisements about whatever we were discussing. Honest to goodness. Anyone who has an “Alexa” device vouch for me. I am telling the truth.
Those of us with cell phones, and everyone has a phone these days, correct? When you are setting up your cell phone, you know (when you get a new phone), you have the option to use your fingerprint as a way to open your phone and use it. Or your cell phone should have the option for you to make a facial identification to unlock your cell phone and use it. That’s all a part of A.I.
A.I. really does impact our lives, even when we don’t realize it.
A.I. is becoming a bigger part of our lives as the technology behind it becomes more advanced. Machines are improving their ability to ‘learn’ from mistakes and change how they approach a task the next time they try it. Some researchers are even trying to teach robots about feelings and emotions, and that’s darn scary to me, the person writing this column.
Why does a machine have to have emotions, and where do we, as Americans, draw the line?
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