What is Artificial Intelligence: Types, History, and Future

Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently one of the hottest buzzwords in tech and with good reason. The last few years have seen several techniques that have previously been in the realm of science fiction slowly transform into reality. 

Experts look at artificial intelligence as a factor of production, which has the potential to introduce new sources of growth and change the way work is done across industries. According to the report, How AI Boosts Industry Profits and Innovations, AI is predicted to increase economic growth by an average of 1.7 percent across 16 industries by 2035. The report goes on to say that, by 2035, AI technologies could increase labor productivity by 40 percent or more, thereby doubling economic growth in 12 developed nations that continue to draw talented and experienced professionals to work in this domain.

This Simplilearn article on What is Artificial Intelligence provides an overview of AI, its most popular industry applications, potential career paths, and how certification can help you jumpstart your career in this fast-growing field.

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We’ll cover the following topics:

• A brief history of Artificial Intelligence
• What is Artificial Intelligence?
• Types of Artificial Intelligence
• Applications of Artificial Intelligence
• The future of Artificial Intelligence
• Reasons to gain Artificial Intelligence certification

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

Here’s a brief timeline of the past six decades of how AI evolved from its inception.

1956 - John McCarthy coined the term ‘artificial intelligence’ and had the first AI conference.

1969 - Shakey was the first general-purpose mobile robot built. It is now able to do things with a purpose vs. just a list of instructions.

1997 - Supercomputer ‘Deep Blue’ was designed, and it defeated the world champion chess player in a match. It was a massive milestone by IBM to create this large computer.

2002 - The first commercially successful robotic vacuum cleaner was created. 

2005 - 2019 - Today, we have speech recognition, robotic process automation (RPA), a dancing robot, smart homes, and much more to come. 

After knowing the history, let us understand what is artificial intelligence.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is a method of making a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or a software think intelligently like the human mind. AI is accomplished by studying the patterns of the human brain and by analyzing the cognitive process. The outcome of these studies develops intelligent software and systems. Researchers extend the goals of AI to the following:

1. Logical Reasoning 

   AI programs enable computers to perform sophisticated tasks. On February 10, 1996, IBM’s Deep Blue computer won a game of chess against a former world champion, Garry Kasparov.

2. Knowledge Representation

   Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language that was created to underpin the “new world” of computing exemplified by “human-computer symbiosis.”

3. Planning and Navigation 

   The process of enabling a computer to get from point A to point B. A prime example of this is Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius.

4. Natural Language Processing 

   Set up computers that can understand and process language.

5. Perception 

   Use computers to interact with the world through sight, hearing, touch, and smell.

6. Emergent Intelligence 

   Intelligence that is not explicitly programmed, but emerges from the rest of the specific AI features. The vision for this goal is to have machines exhibit emotional intelligence and moral reasoning.

Some of the tasks performed by AI-enabled devices include:

• Speech recognition 
• Object detection
• Solve problems and learn from the given data 
• Plan an approach for future tests to be done

Let us look at the types of AI in the next section of the What is Artificial Intelligence article.

Types of Artificial Intelligence 

Below are the various types of AI:

1. Purely Reactive

These machines do not have any memory or data to work with, specializing in just one field of work. For example, in a chess game, the machine observes the moves and makes the best possible decision to win. 

2. Limited Memory

These machines collect previous data and continue adding it to their memory. They have enough memory or experience to make proper decisions, but memory is minimal. For example, this machine can suggest a restaurant based on the location data that has been gathered.

3. Theory of Mind

This kind of AI can understand thoughts and emotions, as well as interact socially. However, a machine based on this type is yet to be built. 

4. Self-Aware

Self-aware machines are the future generation of these new technologies. They will be intelligent, sentient, and conscious.

Let us continue this article on What is Artificial Intelligence by discussing the applications of AI.

Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Machines and computers affect how we live and work. Top companies are continually rolling out revolutionary changes to how we interact with machine-learning technology.

DeepMind Technologies, a British artificial intelligence company, was acquired by Google in 2014. The company created a Neural Turing Machine, allowing computers to mimic the short-term memory of the human brain.

Google’s driverless cars and Tesla’s Autopilot features are the introductions of AI into the automotive sector. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has suggested via Twitter that Teslas will have the ability to predict the destination that their owners want to go via learning their pattern or behavior via AI.

Furthermore, Watson, a question-answering computer system developed by IBM, is designed for use in the medical field. Watson suggests various kinds of treatment for patients based on their medical history and has proven to be very useful.

Some of the more common commercial business uses of AI are:

1. Banking Fraud Detection 

From extensive data consisting of fraudulent and non-fraudulent transactions, the AI learns to predict if a new transaction is fraudulent or not. 

2. Online Customer Support

AI is now automating most of the online customer support and voice messaging systems.

3. Cyber Security 

Using machine learning algorithms and ample sample data, AI can be used to detect anomalies and adapt and respond to threats. 

4. Virtual Assistants 

Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Google now use voice recognition to follow the user's commands. They collect information, interpret what is being asked, and supply the answer via fetched data. These virtual assistants gradually improve and personalize solutions based on user preferences.

The next section of the What is Artificial Intelligence article discusses the future of AI.

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The Future of Artificial Intelligence

Considering the growing adoption and popularity of AI, we can imagine how things would change for humans in the future. 

• Automated transportation will become more common, even as early as 2020. 
• Humans will be able to augment themselves with robots. Robots could bring a cup of coffee, prepare reports, control home appliances, and handle other tasks. 
• There will be more smart cities as vehicles, phones, and home appliances that will be run by AI. 
• Home robots will help older people with their day-to-day work. Japan, for instance, already has an in-depth program where they’ve begun to integrate robots to help. Tasks like contacting a doctor in case of emergency can now be done with AI. 
• Robots will take over hazardous jobs like bomb defusing, welding, etc. 

Some of these robotic uses are already in development, and companies are trying to bring them to common people in a commercial business fashion. Your imagination can take this to the next level.

Different Artificial Intelligence Certifications

1. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Course

Simplilearn's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course is designed to help learners decode the mystery of artificial intelligence and its business applications. The course provides an overview of AI concepts and workflows, machine learning and deep learning, and performance metrics. You’ll learn the difference between supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, be exposed to use cases, and see how clustering and classification algorithms help identify AI business applications.

2. Machine Learning Certification Course

Simplilearn’s Machine Learning course will make you an expert in machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence that automates data analysis to enable computers to learn and adapt through experience to do specific tasks without explicit programming. You'll master machine learning concepts and techniques including supervised and unsupervised learning, mathematical and heuristic aspects, and hands-on modeling to develop algorithms and prepare you for the role of a Machine Learning Engineer.

3. Artificial Intelligence Engineer Master’s Program

Simplilearn’s Artificial Intelligence Master’s Program, in collaboration with IBM, gives training on the skills required for a successful career in AI. Throughout this exclusive training program, you'll master Deep Learning, Machine Learning, and the programming languages required to excel in this domain and kick-start your career in Artificial Intelligence.

4. Simplilearn’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Capstone Project

Simplilearn’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Capstone project will give you an opportunity to implement the skills you learned in the masters of AI. With dedicated mentoring sessions, you’ll know how to solve a real industry-aligned problem. You'll learn various AI-based supervised and unsupervised techniques like Regression, Multinomial Naïve Bayes, SVM, Tree-based algorithms, NLP, etc. The project is the final step in the learning path and will help you to showcase your expertise to employers.

Now that you know what is artificial intelligence, mentioned below are the reasons why you should get an AI certification.

Reasons to Get an Artificial Intelligence Certification

Here are the top reasons why you should get a certification in AI if you’re looking to join this exciting and growing field:

1. Demand for Certified AI Professionals will Continue to Grow

One in five companies will be using artificial intelligence to make decisions. AI will help companies offer customized solutions and instructions to employees in real-time. Therefore, the demand for professionals with skills in emerging technologies like AI will only continue to grow.

2. New and Unconventional Career Paths

AI is expected to create 2.3 million jobs by 2020, according to a recent Gartner report. What’s more, the Capgemini report found that 83 percent of companies using AI say that technology is leading to the creation of new jobs. 

Because of AI, new skill sets are required in the workforce, leading to new job opportunities. Some of the top AI roles include:

• AI/machine learning researcher - Researching to find improvements to machine learning algorithms.
• AI software development, program management, and testing - Developing systems and infrastructure that can apply machine learning to an input data set.
• Data mining and analysis - Deep investigation of abundant data sources, often creating and training systems to recognize patterns.
• Machine learning applications - Applying machine learning or AI framework to a specific problem in a different domain and for example, applying machine learning to gesture recognition, ad analysis, or fraud detection.

3. Improve Your Earning Potential

Many of the top tech enterprises are investing in hiring talent with AI knowledge, according to a Fortune article. The average Artificial Intelligence Engineer can earn $135,000 per year, and AI certification is a step in the right direction to enhance your earning potential and become more marketable.

4. Higher Chances of a Discussion

If you are looking to join the AI industry, then knowing what is Artificial Intelligence is just an initial step. A certification like Simplilearn’s Artificial Intelligence Engineer will help you reach the interview stage as you’ll possess skills that many people in the market do not. Certification will help convince employers that you have the right skills and expertise for a job, making you a valuable candidate.

Artificial Intelligence is emerging as the next big thing in technology. Organizations are adopting AI and budgeting for certified professionals in the field, thus the growing demand for trained and certified professionals. As this emerging field continues to grow, it will have an impact on everyday life and lead to considerable implications for many industries.