6 examples of artificial intelligence applied to society

It is a fact that artificial intelligence is already among us. It is not always as it was shown in science fiction movies a few years ago, but there they are: in many of the things we spend our time doing throughout any given day.

When we use the mobile phone, surf the internet or simply drive a vehicle within a city; In all these cases, most of the time inadvertently, artificial intelligence is participating in one way or another.

The objective of this article is none other than to show some of the faces that such reality assumes. For this we will see various examples of artificial intelligence, which are already used today or will be in a short time.

• Related article: "Theories of human intelligence"

6 examples of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of computational sciences in charge of devising, designing and producing machines or algorithms that display operating parameters that bring them closer to the processing that the human being does of the information

. Thus, functions such as the resolution of very complex problems, the understanding of texts and the planning of protocols in very diverse areas are usually included; although in recent years it is being extended to progressively broader domains (such as those that will be discussed here).

Current technologies make it possible to materialize what just a few years ago could not even be conceived by science fiction. From the use of robots (increasingly more human in appearance) capable of diagnosing a health problem, to vehicles capable of moving autonomously (unmanned). The main emphasis is being oriented towards the conception of intelligent machines, capable of learning without the need of human supervision, and even use a structure similar to that of our own nervous system central. In fact, the affective consequences associated with living with robotic beings are beginning to be studied, emerging theories such as the Disturbing Valley.

This is an area of ​​frenetic technological development, and that probably in the near future will involve the daily coexistence with artificial beings capable of understanding themselves and even of developing a kind of awareness. In other cases, it explores less "tangible" types of technology, which take the form of algorithms and/or codes on which they are based. many "invisible" processes in daily life: from air traffic control to the custody and analysis of huge volumes of information. all of it through advanced statistical strategies.

Thus, as science fiction loses its surname and becomes only science, it is necessary that the human being begin to assume that he is molding with his own hands a paradigm shift in the way we understand the world. As an illustrative example of this, here we present just a few examples of artificial intelligence that are coming, or that are already among us. To organize the information in a more understandable way, it will be detailed by area.

1. Advertising

Artificial intelligence in the particular field of advertising pursues the purpose of optimizing digital marketing campaigns, through the use of algorithms with progressive sophistication and aimed at identifying all the needs of a potential consumer with the aim of showing the "spots" that could be more interesting. In this sense, it is a fusion between the use of data, creativity (always evident in this sector) and the use of information and communication technologies.

Artificial intelligence in this area carries out a real-time monitoring process of "online traffic" and the profile of each surfer, with in order to optimize the selection process of the different spaces in which to display the products or services that are intended to be sold (return economic). The goal is for the appropriate message to reach the most appropriate person at the best possible time, which speeds up the persuasion process that this field of knowledge is aimed at.

This form of artificial intelligence is being the subject of very important criticism, since It is considered that it violates the privacy of the user, although today it is widespread in practically the entire network (with greater or lesser complexity). The latest laws on data protection policies require warning those who visit any place on the Internet about its use of such practices (cookies, activity collection, etc.).

• You may be interested: "7 keys of Psychology applied to Marketing and Advertising"

2. Transport

Artificial intelligence is entering an unstoppable expansion also in the transport sector, both public and private. The purpose of these technological developments is to increase the safety of vehicle passengers, as well as passengers. pedestrians who are around you during the act of driving, or even regulate the use of the roads that are enabled for it. Some companies also aim to reduce environmental pollution in the future, also through advances in this area.

Autonomous navigation systems are beginning to be implemented for all kinds of vehicles; and not only in airplanes, where it has been used for a very long time (because the pilot "only" assumes control of the aircraft during takeoff and landing, or when the weather situation so requires. requires). In these cases, a succession of algorithms orchestrated by a central unit is responsible for processing huge volumes of information about relative position in space and what space contains, in order to make decisions with much greater speed and precision (efficiency) than any human being.

Computerized tools are also beginning to be used, each day more advanced, for managing the volume of traffic on roads or highways; controlling all environmental conditions and predicting traffic jams based on contextual information and statistical processing of preceding events. It is even possible to detect who is using your mobile phone while driving, and notify the authorities!

3. finance and economics

As societies expand and become progressively more complex, the naked ability of human beings to capturing/processing the information that is generated inevitably confronts its limitations, to such an extent that it becomes fundamental the search and implementation of alternatives that give viability to the mechanisms that until now had been used to subsist. Therefore, a technological revolution is required. And in this sense, artificial intelligence has found an inexhaustible field of application in the field of banking and economics.

The volume of information that is currently being analyzed in the finance sector is truly overwhelming. However, it has the peculiarity of using fundamentally quantitative data (such as investments, commissions, debts, etc.) and of great regularity, so It makes it easier for artificial intelligence to start up with algorithms that in the future will be extended to practically all areas of these areas of business.

Artificial intelligence in finance is still considered a teenage technology today, albeit on the rise (only 25% of the entities that currently operate do not contemplate making use of it within a period of twenty-four months). The most common utility today is the detection of tax fraud and wealth management, although they are beginning to extend to personal finance and loan applications.

4. Education

Artificial intelligence in the educational field seeks to dilute the barrier that currently stands between formal teaching (in the classroom) and the autonomous and independent learning of students. The aim is to minimize redundancy in the tasks given to young people, promoting collaborative methodologies in the construction of knowledge and in the stimulation of autonomy. For this, personal communication systems (internet, mobile devices, etc.) are used beyond the traditional spaces where the teaching-learning process was developed.

Artificial intelligence can contribute to the continuous assessment system by monitoring student performance in real time and anticipating possible difficulties that could arise during study time, optimizing demands and informing teachers about these circumstances.

Early detection of special educational needs, and even specific learning disorders, would also be allowed to articulate faster and more efficient solutions by the different professionals involved in their treatment (therapeutic pedagogy, psychology, speech therapy, etc.).

• You may be interested: "Educational psychology: definition, concepts and theories"

5. Industry

Currently artificial intelligence is used massively in the industry sector, automating production processes and perfecting material/human resources. For example, its use is very frequent for the elaboration of flours and breads, in which algorithms are used. of great complexity capable of predicting events that could condition its quality or its nutritional matrix. With this type of technology, decisions are made to solve contingencies that until recently required manual intervention.

There are also imaging techniques capable of capture any deviation from a standard on assembly lines or production lines, many of which are imperceptible to the human eye, and which warn of the situation before it is acquire catastrophic or high cost dimensions for the company (chained errors, factory defects, etc.).

6. Health

Health is one of the areas of life in which artificial intelligence is experiencing a greater boom today. Thus, there are technologies designed for the detection of first or successive psychotic episodes from the data extracted from functional magnetic resonance imaging, with a success of up to 80%, and which represents an unprecedented milestone in the history of mental health (because it is a biological marker for the diagnosis of such a serious psychopathology). However, in recent years the usefulness of these neuroimaging techniques has been questioned, so it is a use subject to reflection.

In another order of things, social networks are also beginning to be used, and the enormous amount of information that can be dumped into them, as predictive indicators of many physical pathologies and mental. for now, the most common use is directed to the detection of suicidal risk and mood disorders, although it is expected that with the improvement of Big Data management (technologies of a computer nature intended to process enormous volumes of data) may extend to other circumstances of Health.

Although in the field of mental health there are still very few incursions of artificial intelligence, this is not the case in other related areas, such as Medicine. For some time now, pieces of software have been designed to estimate the collateral damage of radiotherapy through information collected from the convergence between medical records and registration systems or check. With this, it is possible to improve the prognostic factors and anticipate secondary effects of this treatment modality.

In recent years, efforts have also are moving towards the automation of all medical records in the field of health, in interaction with current indicators on the state of the body itself, through which the evolution of a patient through predictive algorithms subject to constant updating of the evidence that accumulates in the collection scientific. In this way, professionals will be able to know automatically how their patient is and offer a treatment based on more objective bases. Genetic mapping, which will gradually become more affordable, will also play a key role in the unstoppable process towards the digital transformation of health.