Autonomous AI: Are Humans still in the Picture?

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that our day-to-day activities are incomplete without the significant role of artificial intelligence. If you thought AI was a dessert-esque, then it’s time for a rethink because AI and Autonomous AI have rapidly risen to become the main course on the menu.

SwissCognitive Guest Blogger: Thomas Helfrich, Expert in intelligent automation and AI Innovation systems

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Artificial intelligence technology is at the heart of everything that makes our way of life comfortable, cutting across all facets and industries. With the pace at which AI is being adopted, could it be that most people dread could be upon us? Will the machines be taking over for real?

Artificial Intelligence as a Driver

Technology keeps improving, making how we carry out daily routines easy. Far from what most fear as a takeover, AI is an enabler and a time saver as it reduces the time spent on getting what could have taken longer for the average human to handle at a faster rate. Artificial intelligence technology has changed the narrative of solving problems, bridging the gap between a service provider and the users, and ensuring there is no lag between. Of course, it only gets better from where we are currently, as the more personalized the use case, the more productive it gets.

Autonomous AI – How Close are We?

It should not come as a surprise that skeptics think that they are on a knife-edge with AI as there is a possibility that it may take their jobs away. Not like I blame them, though. The adoption of AI in the workplace is almost inevitable.

But will AI be taking over our jobs completely? That’s something you don’t want to chalk off as a possibility. However, if it’s any consolation, you can heave a sigh of relief as we are still far off from that possibility.

While autonomous AI is still a possibility, we aren’t any closer to it as there are still steps to go and hurdles to accomplish. Some of which includes;

1. Purpose

Purpose is one of those integral factors for AI going autonomous as it narrows down the productivity of the technology. For example, a chatbot designed specifically for healthcare will be more efficient and productive than one that generally answers all forms of questions.

2. Trust

Can these artificial intelligence technology systems be trusted to run automatically? Can you bet on it getting a good reception? To a large extent, trust has a lot to do with emotions as it imbibes that relatability and creates that connection between the module and the users. The absence of that emotion limits the chances of the technology going autonomous.

3. Transparency and accountability

An autonomous AI is still a few miles off as it will lack transparency on how the module is built and works. It requires the role of humans to ensure transparency and accountability that the modules aren’t biased or targeted at triggering negativity.

The Human-AI Interaction

The thought of artificial intelligence taking care of tasks automatically and without supervision by humans is a wonderful one as it will take technology to a whole new level. But we might still have to wait some more.

It is not because it can’t be done, but because it is hard to take out the human intelligence and relationship. The possibility of artificial intelligence being autonomous has to be built on trust, and it takes humans-in-the loop to create that.

Humans-in-the-loop represents a bunch of information a company would leverage to build a better version of that artificial intelligence to create a better use case for an improved user experience. It is how the technology retains that human response and interaction.

Some human-AI use case includes;

1. Intelligent document processing

AI can be used to process documents for payments and all, but it still requires the intervention of humans to vet the documents and ensure everything is correct.

2. Content creation

Platforms like Jarvis and AI-writer can write content of any form or length, but even at that, there is still that important role of humans to touch on the tonality, align the thoughts and points of view to come together correctly.

3. Line judge in the U.S Open

The United States Tennis Association announced this year that electronic line calling systems would be replacing line judges for the U.S Open. While the system accurately calls out the minutest of faults, there is still the important role of the chair umpire to ensure calls are correct and players are satisfied.

4. Customer service

Companies are quickly integrating chatbots into their operations to effectively give their customers a wonderful brand experience. These chatbots respond to inquiries and other frequently asked questions, providing personalized responses as a human would. However, humans still need to monitor how it works to improve the user experience and respond to a customer’s entry that requires a customer care representative.

5. Decision making

Google Maps is one of the most common interactions humans make with artificial intelligence. You must have used Google Maps multiple times while travelling, and you would have noticed that the artificial intelligence algorithm recommends various alternatives to reach a destination. But makes the final decision? It’s you. You decide which route is easily accessible and the nearest way home.

Conclusion

There will always be that co-existence between man, machines and technology. It is difficult, if not impossible, to take humans out of the picture as long as there is a conversation around artificial intelligence.

Source: SwissCognitive