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The stuff of science fiction, the imagination of dreamers or the best thing since sliced bread!  

It’s all of those!   

And it has arrived! Revolutionary technology that’s changing our world and us at a rapid pace. Blink and you will miss it!  

If you are like me, this raises questions! Let’s ask some! 

What is AI? AI is technology that enables machines and computers to simulate human learning, problem-solving and comprehension. It is a broad field within computer science with subfields including Machine Learning. 

How does it work? It uses algorithms to process large amounts of data, recognize patterns within that and then learn from those patterns to make decisions or predictions without being specifically programmed for every single task. Similar to how humans learn from experience. 

What does AI do? Learns from data, makes decisions, creates new content and understands and generates language. As they are exposed to more information, AI systems improve their performance over time, allowing them to perform human-like tasks. 

Who invented it?

No one person. Names acknowledged include Alan Turing in 1950 who proposed the theoretical groundwork, followed by John McCarthy in 1956 who coined the term ‘artificial intelligence’ and considered the birth of the field. Others noted are influential leaders, Marvin Minsky, Herbert Simon and Allen Newell   

What are examples? Voice aides like Siri, Bushfire prediction, and the ability to perform dangerous tasks when working in hazardous situations. It can provide content suggestions on streaming services by analyzing your data and also contributes to more efficient and faster medical research and analysis.  

Driverless cars, smart Apps, Robo-taxis, ChatGPT. How did we manage without these? 

Is it good or bad? Like many great inventions put in the ‘right’ hands and used for the best outcomes, AI is a huge benefit to mankind across all areas of life. Healthcare, Finance, Industry, Agriculture and more, promising innovation and increased efficiency. It has the power to positively impact the economy and aid environmental solutions. 

The opposite, the risks include privacy violations, job and industry displacements, misinformation and manipulation and ethical dilemmas such as no accountability and transparency. Greater concerns are overdependence on AI, the concentration of power and danger if used to develop dangerous weapons. 

Key Takeaways:

• AI has arrived. It’s real, forget science fiction!
• Small Businesses, embrace, understand and learn how to harness the benefits to give your Business a competitive edge.
• Critical to achieve the best outcomes for all, ‘mankind’ must be wary that it hasn’t created a monster, that 'man' isn't overtaken, outsmarted and made obsolete by its own amazing invention AI!