2023 is definitely the year of Artificial Intelligence. AI has been around for a while in different forms. From AI assistants like Google assistant, Siri, Alexa to recommendation feeds on platforms like Youtube, Tiktok or your favourite social media or even your music streaming app. You might have observed an acceleration of media consumption, creation and an abundance of information. More people are driving autonomous cars and our experience online is progressively being personalized to fit our likings and interests thanks to programs running in the background on remote computers also called servers. Platforms know what we like, and what we don’t by setting backend systems capable of learning how we surf online by suggesting ads of items they think we might find interesting. This even applies to content. If you use TikTok you probably notice how addictive it gets as you use it. This is because the company set computer systems constantly analyzing data they collected as you use the app. In doing such, you generate data on the way you use the app, the kind of videos you like, and those that make you react. Then, they are able to show better content and ads which bring them money. The more the content matches your taste, the more time you are likely to spend on it. Some apps can tell what music is playing in the background and can display information about the artist. Others are even more incredible and provide links to articles or search for them online by only scanning a picture of it. All of this is made possible by AI.
But what exactly is Artificial Intelligence? Why and how is it a big deal in our modern era? Will it cause social and ethical issues?
In this article, we will dive into the state of AI by showcasing some of the recent and significant innovations of our era in that space.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
We often associate Artificial intelligence with futuristic technological advancements and even science fiction movies. It might seem far from us but we are rapidly developing new technologies capable of having intelligence. This time around, more and more big names in the tech industry start mentioning it in a serious manner with real-life utilities that could directly impact our lives tremendously. We soon will be more productive and have unbelievable breakthroughs in the health sector as well as in the education sector.
In November 2022, an American Artificial Intelligence research laboratory called **OpenAI** released **ChatGPT,** an AI chatbot you probably have heard about and have used before. You can ask the robot questions the same way a human would with actual sentences and it would generate an answer in an impressive manner. In fact, it can understand you really well and give you a precise and specific answer, as if you were chatting with a human with the specific knowledge you are looking for. You can also read one of my favourite articles I wrote on ChatGPT and Google for more information. Along with ChatGPT came other tools like **Dall E, Lensa, and Stable diffusion** capable of generating images with the words you type in the chatbox. With these impressive results, they caught a lot of attention and ChatGPT became the fastest-growing platform in history. It reached 1 million of users in only five days, way faster than Instagram. It became the first choice site because of its capacity to replicate human language. OpenAI recently unveiled ChatGPT 4, an even better and refined version of what the public knew up until this week. The promise is to solve more complex problems with more accuracy and generate safer results.
This is how far we have come as humans in terms of progress and it seems to only be the beginning of a new age. We are starting an Artificial Intelligence boom where humans are having more and more assistance from computers other than just calculations. It is like a super calculator capable of giving you results for any type of question a human would ask.
During the Google I/O, a conference for developers held by Google, the search engine company demoed a very impressive prototype of their AI assistant making an appointment for a haircut. The spectacular robot can hold a full conversation with a real person without the human noticing it’s a robot. It mimics the hesitations, the intonations and the persuasion of a real human like a boss. In fact, some specialists and users have concerns about AI replacing people at their jobs and being more efficient than them since it’s efficient and it doesn’t get tired like a person would. This is just the surface of what Artificial Intelligence can do, and it seems to be only the beginning of a new age where humans have more and more assistance from computers. AI refers to computer systems capable of creating a model to solve a specific problem.
Why is it a big deal? How AI will impact our life and the way we use the internet?
2023 has, without a doubt, confirmed that we are in the Artificial Intelligence boom. An era where machines and computers occupy way more room than they have ever been. AI is capable of writing code and giving a full and detailed description of it in a few seconds. We’re all being impressed by AI and it’s heavily pushed upon us. In fact, a good majority of the big tech companies started rolling out new features powered by AI.
If you are a Spotify user, you might have noticed a new feature called DJ which is a personal AI DJ that automatically plays you music based on your tastes and the time of the day. It does talk to you in a stunningly realistic voice and announces songs like a real DJ would. This feature will sort through the latest music and your favourites to pick songs just for you. Even if you don’t enjoy the vibe, you can still tap a button to switch I tap and the recommendations will get better.
On another side, Snapchat followed up with My AI, an experimental friendly chatbot only available for paid subscribers. My AI is a chatbot that uses Artificial Intelligence to converse with users, providing helpful tips and advice. It can offer personalized suggestions based on user input and can be a great resource for those looking for information or entertainment. While it is still in the experimental stage, it shows the potential for chatbots to be used in a variety of ways, from customer service to personal assistants.
In addition to Spotify and Snapchat, Discord also entered the AI space. Discord is a popular communication platform that was originally designed for gamers, providing users with a feature-rich and user-friendly interface to communicate with others while playing games. The platform has since expanded beyond the gaming community, with people from all walks of life using it to connect with others, share content, and build communities. In fact, it has become Gen Z’s favourite online place to hangout and it’s rolling out new features powered by Artificial Intelligence: an AI chatbot, an automated AI moderator, an avatar generator and more… While OpenAI has “popularized” thanks to ChatGPT, Discord already has third-party AI apps counting over 30 million monthly users. Midjourney is the biggest community which is a text-to-image AI project allowing users to generate art within the platform. Another useful feature of the Discord platform is Conversation Summaries. This feature allows users to easily check the contents of any channel they may have missed, summarizing the most important messages so they can catch up quickly. Users can stay up to date with all the latest conversations, even if they don't have time to read every message. This feature is particularly useful for busy individuals who want to stay informed but don't have the time to sift through every message in a channel. With its large number of users and advanced technology, Discord is likely to become an important player in the AI industry in the near future. You can join the Steelo community on Discord right here.
Artificial Intelligence feels like the calculator for everything. What are the first downsides users observed? What does it mean for the future of humanity?
As AI continues to evolve and become more prevalent in our daily lives, it's important to consider the potential impact it could have on society. While AI has the potential to automate tasks, increase productivity, and improve our daily experiences, it could also lead to job loss and raise ethical concerns. The majority of professions today come down to using a computer. It is scary and imaginable that many jobs could be overtaken by automation. It is also likely to create new ones and relieve people from doing certain tasks considered burdens. Searching for more specific information just became way easier as the result is compiled in a form of a detailed text message as opposed to traditional search results we get from Google. It saves people time and is a motivator for productivity.
It will definitely change the way people get health care, work and learn. The medical field will get a massive boost thanks to AI taking care of certain tasks for the healthcare workers such as filing paperwork, taking notes and dealing with insurance documents. It will allow workers to be more productive and allocate more time to patients. The most amazing technological achievement in the field of AI is the ability to detect future diseases by analyzing your biological system and designing drugs faster.
Despite these potential challenges, the increasing adoption of AI technology shows no signs of slowing down. With companies like Discord, Microsoft and Google investing in AI, we can expect to see more and more innovative applications of this technology in the years to come. It will be interesting to see how society adapts to these changes and what new opportunities and challenges will arise as a result. All of these releases were announced during the months of February and March 2023, showing an acceleration in the space.
Maybe one day your favourite social media app will have bots to answer comments and reply to DMs for you. Lots of issues still haven’t been addressed. Will the reception and adoption rate keep the same trend? It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other.
Finally, we should keep in mind that we’re only at the beginning of what AI can accomplish. Whatever limitations it has today will be gone before we know it. This article hasn’t been written by Artificial Intelligence.
 | A guest post by
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I’m like Agent Spooner from iRobot when it comes to AI. If you know, you know. This was a good read though ✅
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