Artificial intelligence
Since ancient times, the concept of inanimate objects endowed with intelligence has been around. In Greece, the Greek god Hephaestus was portrayed in myths as counterfeiting robot-like retainers from gold. In Egypt, Engineers built statues that were animated by priests of gods. The foundation of Artificial Intelligence was laid all through centuries by thinkers such as Aristotle to the 13th-century Spanish theologian Ramon Llull to Rene Descartes and Thomas Bayes, who used the logic and tools of their times to describe the thought processes of humans as symbols. The rise of modern computers was brought about by the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. In 1938, Augusta Ada Byron and Cambridge University Mathematician Charles Babbage invented the first design for the programmable machine. In the 1940s, the idea of architecture for the stored-program computer was conceived by John Von Neumann, who was a Princeton Mathematician. This idea was that data and programs that computer processes can be stored in its memory.
In 1956, it was believed that the modern field of artificial intelligence is widely stated then during a summer conference at Dartmouth College. The conference was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research projects Agency (DARPA). Those who attended were pioneers of AI Marvin Minsky, John McCarthy, and Oliver Selfridge, credited for coining the term artificial intelligence. Also in attendance were computer scientist Allen Newell, political scientist, economists, and cognitive psychologist Herbert A. Simon presented a groundbreaking logic Theorist, a computer program capable of proving certain mathematical theorems and referred to them as the first AI program.
Therefore, the term Artificial intelligence refers to the stimulation of the human intelligence process by machines, especially computer systems. AI-specific applications include Natural Language Processing (NLP), Expert System, Machine Vision, and Speech Recognition. The cognitive skills that AI programming focuses on are reasoning, self-correction, and learning. AI has several pros or advantages that make it more useful compared to human reasoning. These pros include, it makes error-free decisions compared to humans who are capable of making small errors that lead to inaccurate decision making. AI makes decisions based on previous data records using algorithms, thus reducing the chances of making errors. AI becomes an achievement as solving complex problems requires difficult calculations that can be done without errors. Secondly, it is difficult for AI to get tired or wear out easily. Due to the robots’ programming, they are capable of performing laborious tasks with extra hard work and greater responsibility, thus overcoming human limitations of getting tired and wearing out easily. Thirdly, digital assistance helps in day to day chores such as traveling, typing auto-correction, managing and organizing data in banks, and fraud detection. Forth pros are that it helps in rational decision making that involves logic except for any distraction whereby human emotions come along, making it difficult for them to make some decisions. The fifth pros are that it helps perform repetitive jobs that are monotonous and dangerous, with adjustments done on its parameters. AI works selflessly, tirelessly, and with no breaks without getting bored or distracted like humans. With AI, doctors can access their patients. AI helps in implementing risky situations such as ocean floor and in mines. Despite its benefits, AI also has some cons, including high costs in installation, procurement, maintenance, and repair. There is no human replication in AI since they lack moral values and emotions; there can perform any task regardless of whether it is ethical or not. With AI, there is no improvement with experience, which is key in every task. AI does not include creativity in its task performance. It follows the program dictated in it. In most cases, AI application in industries leads to unemployment since they can perform tasks easily and faster compared to humans.