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What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and How Many Types of AI Are There?

Though believed to be the technology of the future Artificial Intelligence is perceived to be new to the world. Contrary to popular belief the seed of Artificial Intelligence was planted back in 1950’ when Alan Turing, an English computer scientist, in his seminal paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” proposed a test of machine intelligence, namely “The Imitation Game.”

In 1952 Arthur Samuel, one of the pioneers in the field of computer gaming and artificial intelligence developed a program to play checkers, which was the first ever instance when a machine learned to play a game, one of the earliest examples of successful demonstration of fundamental concept of artificial intelligence (AI).

However, the word Artificial Intelligence first saw the day of light in 1955; when a young Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, USA, planned to create a group to demystify and develop fundamental ideas about thinking machines. He coined the name “Artificial Intelligence” for the budding field.

What is Artificial Intelligence or What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the branch of Computer Science that deals with high-ticket digital applications; that impart the ability to a computer or a robot to execute tasks, which require human intelligence. It is usually done by controlling the robots and the computers through a set of complex commands run by a centralized computer. The use of AI technology entails – 

1. For regulating Google search and voice search

2. To Create applications related to art AI tools for automated content creation

3. For creating high-end and complex games

4. For creating weather forecasting apps

5. For developing technologies designed to understand and respond to human voice

6. For developing sophisticated systems used in self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles

7. For putting together recommendation algorithms found in Netflix or Amazon stores to recommend programs and products to the users respectively

8. For creating data visualizations in Business Intelligence tools like Tableau

9. To create third-party add-ons for functionality enhancement of a website and application like marketing automation or email automation

How many types of AI are there?

After the introduction of ChatGPT, we are no stranger to AI technology. However, ChatGPT is just one type of AI technology and there are several other kinds of AI or artificial Intelligence under the Sun. Here are some of the AIs that have been around for quite some time –

1. Reactive Machine Artificial Intelligence – Reactive Machines AI only worked with data provided to them. Since it does not have memory, it cannot save data thus creating its next set of actions by retrieving past data from the memory is not a possibility for Reactive Machine AI.

Netflix’s recommendation engine is a very common example of a reactive machine
AI, which scans existing data to match them with users’ browsing history and
recommends preferred shows to the user.

2. Limited memory Artificial Intelligence – Limited memory AI or LMAI is the approach of learning from a limited amount of data and taking action based on that. In financial trading, Limited Memory AI can be used in predicting the market trend by analyzing relevant data points while rubbing out less significant data.

Unlike traditional AI modeling, which requires processing a humongous amount of data to forecast results, Limited Memory Artificial Intelligence features precise predictions with refined data.

However, the data is limited to certain tasks or contexts, for example, a self-driving car with the LMAI application can improve its driving capabilities by transferring its past experience to customize its future driving experience for the better. However, the AI cannot transfer its driving-related data to perform any other task related to that car.

3. Artificial narrow intelligence – These are comparatively less complex AI technologies used to design AI tools for weather updates, poker-playing games, facial recognition, and so on.

4. Natural Language Processing or NPL – This is the branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the creation of technology that helps machines to read and understand human language flawlessly. 

It is done by a set of processes enabling the machine to gather, interpret, and share the results related to human language. The most common examples are auto-correct on WhatsApp, responses given by Google’s Alexa, and tools checking content plagiarism like Copyscape. The best digital marketers can use them to improve their performance in writing blogs on digital marketing and other relevant topics.

5. Generative Artificial Intelligence – The artificial intelligence that can develop content in the form of text, music, images, and video is known as generative AI. ChatGPT is an example of generative AI, which has been instrumental in writing business emails, creating marketing strategies, code snippets, etc.

The business community is very keen on developing tailored-made Generative AI models to create corporate-based organized data and to collaborate with knowledge workers based on their industry such as physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, and so on to boost their productivity by sharing those data with them.

Moreover, generative AI can help businesses save time, effort, and resources by automating tasks and processes. Generative AI can be instrumental in adding immense value to corporations by automating tasks and data processing at lightning speed. 

Research by McKinsey revealed that Generative AI could add up to 4.4 trillion per annum to the global economy. It can even automate 40% of the work in an average working day. Generative AI is also known as Art AI.

6. Vision Artificial Intelligence – Vision AI is the artificial intelligence technology that aids computers and systems to extract useful information from digital images, videos, and other visual entities that have been filled into the system through cameras, scanners, or by any other means. 

It works through a complex process called “neural networks,” which can identify minute details of an image and categorize it precisely. Suppose there are two different T-shirts one fully white and another with a floral print, with the help of a neural networks system, the Vision Artificial Intelligence can detect the difference between both the T-shirts and name the T-shirts as white T-shirts and floral-print T-shirts respectively.

7. Future Artificial Intelligence – Future AIs are believed to be those AI technologies, that will command our daily lives, once AI surpasses human intelligence by dint of their self-learning, or autonomous or unsupervised learning abilities. Some of the noteworthy names in this regard are – Self-aware AI, Artificial super intelligence or super AI, and Theory of Mind AI, to name a few.

Be it today or 100 years down the line; humans cannot deny the importance of AI and, it is believed that the next stage of human evolution will be deeply impacted by the use of AI. However, we must be prepared before embracing AI into our regular lives and, must use AI with responsibility to avert the pitfalls that will come with AI as the curse of science.