Artificial Intelligence Is Already Among Us
New technological realities require a new approach to education and qualification of people

Снимка: EconomyMagazine/Krassimir Svrakov
Technology is developing so fast that I won't risk making predictions even for the near future. Even for a period of five years, any prediction would be just guessing, since the dynamics of changes may be underestimated, says Hristo Tomov, founder and one of the main partners at Dreamix, who is currently leading the company's artificial intelligence direction. In 10 years, probably there will be no professional drivers. And what it will be like in 50 years is impossible to imagine. Every area of life will be affected by the changes that the emergence of artificial intelligence will cause. It will be of good help to humans, and will penetrate everywhere where processes are routine. The interesting part of the work will remain for the people, Hristo Tomov believes.
What Is
This
Artificial intelligence
is a software that demonstrates characteristics of intelligent behavior. At
this point of its development, it's still not as universal as human
intelligence. It is created for a certain task and is specialized in its
implementation. Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence; when
a computer is provided with data, ML must extract the knowledge of how to
handle it on its own. It is given examples on the basis of which it grasps the
models, summarises the information and makes conclusions. For example, on the
basis of the history of diseases of a certain hospital, it can diagnose
patients. At the same time, it can absorb new information related to the same
task by extracting knowledge from it. But if it has to switch to a completely
new task, a new approach and a new architecture must be developed, Hristo Tomov
explains.
Driver
of Change
Machine learning is
a direction with huge potential and ever increasing practical application. The
next great breakthroughs in its development are about to follow. The
progress achieved in the field of artificial intelligence in recent years
is due not so much to new achievements in theory, but to the advance in
computing power. Geoffrey Hinton, who published one of the first works in the
field of backpropagation in 1986, and since then is at the core of the
development of artificial intelligence, said recently that for a substantial
progress from now on, entirely new methods will be needed, and the future may
depend on any student who looks with a critical eye on everything done so far.
Application
Artificial intelligence
is suitable for automating complex repetitive tasks. There is some fear that
many people will be out of job because of artificial intelligence. However, it
will eliminate an entire position in just a few cases. In legal counseling, for
example, it will handle routine processes, and probably, one day, fewer layers
will be needed, but their profession will not disappear. It will also be used
for diagnosis of human diseases, but the need of physicians will remain. Among
the professions that are the least threatened by the entry of artificial
intelligence are activities that require specific technical qualification. That
is why plumbers will remain indispensable for a long time.
The emergence of
quantum computers, however, will turn reality upside down. All existing
prognoses may prove valid only until the quantum revolution. But it won't
happen all at once, Hristo Tomov assures. For example, one of Dreamix's
projects that used artificial intelligence was targeting the insurance sector
and aimed to improve risk management and detection of fraud. The artificial
intelligence filtered information and found certain dependencies. What is more,
until recently, Dreamix worked with a US company from the Silicon valley on the
development of a virtual personal car assisstant that can perform verbal
commands - from the music that the driver wants to listen to, to booking a
table in a restaurant. It warns you if there is not enough fuel in the tank,
and can recommend a favourite petrol station for loading. Their latest
development is related to the use of drones with artificial intelligence for
monitoring electricity transmission networks.
Efficiency
Artificial intelligence
hides huge opportunities. The technology is good in the automatic processing of
large data sets - for example, surveys. It has its advantages in solving a
large number of optimisation tasks. Dreamix are also working on projects
related to the Industrial Internet of Things. A lot of information from the sensory
accumulation of data is gathered in the industry, and its processing is quite
complicated. Production planning is complex and artificial intelligence will
replace many people in this endeavour by making the process much more
effective.
Where
Are We
Bulgaria is
following the global trend in the development of artificial intelligence and we
are neighter well ahead, nor lagging behind. The topic is becoming more current,
but practical tasks are one thing, and fundamental research - quite another.
Both directions must be developed in parallel although the business sector is
more willing to finance solution that are ready to use. If we want to be at the
crest of this wave, the inclusion process should start from education.
Knowledge is given, but students don't appreciate its importance until they are
not confronted with its practical application.
People
There are two directions in the development of
artificial intelligence that are related to people - the first one is the
training of the people that will create and develop the artificial
intelligence, and the second one is the retraining of the workforce that will
remain without a job as a result of its entry. The training may begin from
preschool with the use of game methods. The thing that will save people when artificial
intelligence enters our world is flexibility of reaction. If they get used to
learning quickly and adapt, to team work and comunication, they will be affraid
of nothing. If this approach is integrated in the educational system, it will
be useful for the people of the new age. There will be many "turns"
because of the development in technology, and people must be prepared to accept
them without being stressed.