Introduction:

One of my learned friends told me the other day that AI is all BS. Because, real AI doesn't exist.

I agree with him!

You see, my friend is an expert scientist, philosopher, and one of the greatest thinkers. I have absolutely no choice but to agree with him. I mean, what chance does a simple engineer like me stand in a profound philosophical debate against one of the most advanced thinkers I have ever met? No chance at all. Absolutely no chance at all.

But then I thought—maybe I should write an article about what AI can actually mean for a common person like me. AI for a dummy like me. I do apologize for the rather odd topic. All of you reading this article are most probably far more knowledgeable than me.

So, what is AI for me? AI for a common person? Does AI exist? Or a more advanced question—does real AI exist? I asked my friend, "What does AI mean to you? He replied, "AI is artificial intelligence. Intelligence that is artificial. In other words, intelligence that is artificial can replace natural intelligence—that is us!"

I would agree with him philosophically. For something to be called AI, it has to be intelligence as good as natural intelligence but created artificially. But that AI doesn't exist.

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AI as a Marketing Term:

AI, as it has come to imply today, is merely a marketing term used for selling stuff! And in marketing, as other English terms and phrases get hijacked to give special meaning to specific concepts, objects, tasks, functions, etc., AI also has specific meanings.

By now, almost everyone in the literate world knows that AI stands for artificial intelligence. And to repeat what my friend said, the literal translation of AI would mean intelligence that is artificial. Intelligence that is not nature-gifted but created artificially by living creatures (which in modern times has come to mean human beings only??!!).

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The Scary Implication of AI:

In its true sense, AI can be scary. It may appear that artificially created intelligence or AI machines may replace the intelligence created by nature—that is us. After all, anytime machines put their hands in, they pretty much take over and drive humans away—isn't it?

That's what happened to the advertisement profession, the media profession, the printing profession, the army of IT professionals, and maybe to the profession of drivers (maybe!!). The list is long. Following the same trend, this should happen to intelligence created by nature (that is us!!!!) (Recall the phrase "I think, therefore I am").

If this were true, it would be really scary!

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AI as a Helper Technology:

But artificial intelligence or machine intelligence or AI as it exists today or as it would exist in the foreseeable future is not a replacement for nature-created master intelligence (our brain!). It is merely a helper. Merely an extension of the master intelligence created by nature—nothing more! Maybe we should call it subsidiary intelligence (SI) or intelligence extension (IE) or something similar! Whatever we call it, the current hype of AI, which may seem scary, is simply an upgrade in making machines more capable by providing them slightly more intelligence than they have had so far. Maybe we can teach them some of the great capabilities that we ourselves possess, such as learning, adaptability, intuition, and sub-consciousness.

Machines have had better capabilities such as more muscle power, bigger size, faster speed, more precision, more steady and predictable control, higher capacity, and many more such capabilities, for a long time. There is nothing new. But in most parts, machines lack advanced intelligence such as consciousness, deceptiveness (not sure if that is bad!), and intuition.

Most machines also lack the efficiency of living creatures—by far!! Technologies of the future will address some of this concern for machines but are not likely to supersede human or other living creatures anytime soon—in my opinion.

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AI for Daily Life:

AI, as we know it today and as far as we see in the future, will be a helper technology that would allow machines to adapt to our needs, language, preferences, habits, etc. It would enable machines to look at past activities and derive inferences from them. For our daily lives, AI would allow machines to become our eyes when we are not looking or are unable to look, extend our vision from two eyes to a thousand eyes, become our ears beyond where our ears perform or when our natural ears start tuning out, extend our sensory mechanisms to activities that our sensory mechanisms cannot capture in their natural form, monitor and detect health or dangerous conditions or surroundings for us, help us predict a mechanical failure of other machines or our own muscles including our hearts, help us listen when our ears become weak, enable navigation in the dark or storm, monitor and predict the impact of slow-changing environmental conditions, and perform thousands of other activities that would enrich our lives.

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Big Data and AI:

On a higher capacity, big data-based AI may help in DNA research, allow more pattern-based supercomputing, enable large machines to monitor their own health to avert accidents, avoid road accidents, and enable better fleet supply chain and fleet management.

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Impact on Jobs:

Would AI replace some jobs that are currently being done by humans? Yes. But AI is unlikely to enable machines to develop subconsciousness or super-consciousness or animal-like intuitions to the extent that machines can overpower humans anytime in the near or distant future. Such scary possibilities may arise in the future, but only after substantially more innovations in material science, compute efficiency, miniaturization, and computer and software testing were to take place. But in my opinion, those are far away!

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AI in Warfare:

There is one doomsday scare from AI-powered machines though—their use in warfare! Remember, AI is a helper. It can be a powerful helper. Can we use this powerful helper to help us destroy each other? Absolutely! But then again—that would be our doing. Not that of AI-powered machines.

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Our Commitment at Ambient Scientific:

Here, at Ambient Scientific, we are determined to use AI for human life enrichment, not its destruction.

And for my dear friend—yes, I agree. True AI that can replace natural AI doesn't exist. Modern AI is no more than a subsidiary AI (SI).

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Conclusion:

In conclusion, AI, as it stands today, is an incredible tool that enhances human capabilities. It is not here to replace us but to assist us in ways we never thought possible. Let's embrace AI as a powerful helper and continue to push the boundaries of what it can achieve, always keeping in mind the ethical implications and potential risks.

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