Digital Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already here and will revolutionize the way we live and work. If this statement seems far-fetched to you, then just look at the numbers: Between 2011 and 2015, investment in AI startups soared from $ 282 million to $ 2.4 billion. This means an increase of 751 percent.
Advances in data communication and information storage are opening up new ways to use AI. Technology makes it possible to perform many tasks better and much faster. Ultimately, AI will provide the power to tackle some of humanity's most important and complex problems, such as deadly diseases, food shortages and climate change. And, most likely, it will even be able to prolong human life.
Andrew Ng, chief scientist at Baidu Research, was absolutely right when he called AI "the new electricity" that is poised to transform many industries. It's time to get ready for this new world..
Science fiction to reality
Tech giants such as Google, Apple, Salesforce and IBM are looking to acquire AI companies, with some 140 of them acquired since 2011. Their efforts to bring AI to the consumer market have come a long way.
While Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa are both well known, technology apps can do much more. Just imagine how AI can transform the transportation ecosystem. Driverless cars promise to be greener and reduce car accidents and related deaths. They will completely change the movement we are used to.
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These changes are already under development: Uber recently announced its acquisition of startup Geometric Intelligence, and Tesla Motors has developed Autopilot, a semi-autonomous program that can drive itself on the road. Tesla Motors is also developing fully autonomous models.
Any business, regardless of industry, should pay attention to the experience of Tesla Motors and Uber: embrace the reality of AI, take advantage of its potential and be head and shoulders above its competitors.
Big businesses make big bets
To stay competitive, organizations need to make decisions and find a way out of any problem quickly - often faster than a human being can. This is why forward-thinking companies are looking to capitalize on advances in AI. Google, Microsoft, IBM and others have already found ways to create AI systems that duplicate and surpass humans in many areas.
The demand for automatic processes or the use of computer logic is very high. Human computing will simply be ineffective when faced with the huge amounts of data we receive every day. In the past, machines were used in some industries to solve small tasks on the fly. Now the scenario has changed: machines do almost everything, and people only help them a little.
Smarter cars, healthier people
Perhaps the most dramatic impact AI will have on healthcare. From robotic surgeons to smart databases, the possibilities AI opens up for us are staggering.
One of the main benefits of using AI is the increased efficiency. For example, an AI created at the Houston Research Institute scanned several million mammograms 30 times faster than specialists did, and provided diagnostic information with 99 percent accuracy.
AI will also save lives. Companies like Cloud Pharmaceuticals are using AI to discover new drugs and bring them to the consumer market. IBM's Watson computer has proven its ability to diagnose cancer more accurately than humans. According to the University of Tokyo, the AI system was able to detect a rare form of leukemia in a patient after doctors found no symptoms of the disease.
Advanced people for an advanced world
Perhaps the most striking ability of AI in healthcare is the synthesis of technology and the human body. It is about creating a hybrid of man and machine.
Advances in AI are paving the way for our internal systems to be driven by embedded chips. These chips, activated by reactions in the brain, will enhance perception and improve memory. In addition, we have the opportunity to write and edit human DNA. We will be able to remove birth defects and cure diseases at the moment they arise.
Simply put, the latest discoveries in software, chemistry, biotechnology, and machine learning will be combined to give people additional capabilities that will be loaded right into the human brain. The possibilities of the human brain, synchronized with the latest technology, are endless.
Unprecedented changes
AI is a game changer. These technologies will launch new industries and completely change our way of life. The business models of new startups will be closely related to AI, industrialization and the commercialization of cognition.
In 20 or 30 years, AI will evolve into a collective intelligence. This means that all the bets are placed on how quickly AI will learn and what will be the degree of its participation in the management of the global economy. Of course, we cannot predict the future, but we can do our best to be as ready for it as possible. And in the face of an imminent economic transition, preparations should begin now.
Mark Minevich is the founder of Going Global Ventures and Venture Partner of GVA Capital in Silicon Valley. He is also a Senior Fellow at the US Council on Competitiveness in Washington DC, a member of the Board of Directors of the Comtrade Group and a Senior Advisor on Global Innovation and Technology at the United Nations.
Dmitry Utochkin