Can AI replace Human Intelligence?

Seen the dystopian futuristic movie called I, Robot? The movie encompasses the theme that AI could potentially take over and even replace human intelligence. Question for the day is, is there or will there ever be any truth behind this? Artificial intelligence is one of modern mankind’s giant leaps into the future. One were life is truly made easier with the help of computerized decision making and electronic infrastructure capable of executing heavy duty tasks. But we have advanced so much into this field, people now question the wisdom behind this level of dependence on artificial intelligence. Whether computerized intelligence, or AI can replace Human Intelligence.

It all started with a question, “Can machines think?” posed by the father of computer science, Alan Turing. From this question, AI was created by humans and evolved to better and efficiently perform tasks that usually required man power and human intelligence. One of the leading textbooks in the field of AI by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig encapsulated the four goals of AI as thus,

• Thinking humanly
• Acting Humanly
• Thinking Rationally
• Acting rationally

Therefore according to Turing’s definition of Artificial Intelligence, AI should be able to imitate a human’s mannerisms, feelings and decisions. However, unlike a human being, AI’s are limited to the data available to them while human beings can operate on feelings, information, and judge the changing scenarios more effectively. Thus the benefits of AI, can actually never replace human intelligence, but rather can supplement it and make our intelligence and workings more efficient.

Benefits of Human Intelligence

• More Expansive

Can assimilate and understand not just data but feeling, emotions, mannerisms and characters, thus making them more emotionally capable of dealing with issues. Humans are more humane, period.

• Creators of Technology

It’s the limitless imagination of people that enables us to have these advances in major fields of technology, sciences and more. Therefore it stands to reason that people, their creativity and imaginations have much, much more to offer and a long way to go.

• Authentic Intelligence

Open systems of functioning need to content with the external environment and its influences. This requires the human ability to anticipate and work with sudden changes, distorted or incomplete information whilst still being productive and creative in the strategies opted.

• Capabilities

Human beings have the uncanny ability to work with intuitions, instincts and reflexes and do not rely on just the information they have. We are capable of using acquired knowledge with a sense of logic and reasoning giving our solutions a holistic human and rational approach to it.

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

• Machine Power

Activities that require a lot of manpower can be made more cost and time efficient and safe when machines are employed to do the same tasks. An example for this is in the field of logistics and packaging. This also provides relief to workers who can focus on more important tasks at hand.

• Decision making

AI is capable of making decisions to an extent without the requirement of human intelligence at every step, thus saving ample time and energy. This is based on data available and rationale.

• Increased Productivity

Delegation of heavy duty tasks to machinery capable of executing it results in a massive increase in productivity which can be a boon to the company and its production rate. They also have higher operational capacity and accuracy in execution of jobs than in humans.

• Machine Learning

A collection of algorithms mimicking biological neural networks are trained to learn and process information. However, they still lack the capacity to generate a new thought or idea by themselves, rather, with machine learning they can arrive at one based on available input.

Integration of AI and HI — The future

The future implication of Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence working hand in hand is multitudes, and can have a holistic impact on every relevant arena from mechanics to healthcare. How can this integration be implemented? The answer lies in Augmented Intelligence. It refers to the collaborative effort between the mechanical work force and the human workforce together to create an efficient system that has both the benefits of AI and HI combined. This refers to bringing together data, analytics, artificial intelligence and human judgement together thus bringing about a future where the capabilities of an industry is led side by side with the technological expertise creating an industry led augmented intelligence specific to the industry. The implications of such an integrated system can be seen in-

• Medical field

An integrated human- technological mode of healthcare can result in better treatment and lesser diagnostic time, thus saving patients and doctors the time and effort it takes to diagnose or get diagnosed and or treated. It also ensures efficiency in medical complex procedures removing the element of human error.

• Automotive

Self driven or machine driven vehicles and it’s manufacture can be made easier. The development of vehicle designs can undergo better simulations and testing with an integrated technological system.

• E-commerce

Everything from product development to it’s marketing and user experience can all be personalized with the help of an integrated intelligence system thus being more keenly aware of the consumers needs and how the producers can help achieve product satisfaction.

• Job Opportunities

Jobs selections may shift to an AI dependent platform due to an automated applicant selection system which makes the process easier, faster and more systematic than when conducted manually. Short listing of applicants can be simpler with the help of augmented intelligence.

If one reads between the above benefits of both Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence, it can very clearly be seen that they don’t compete but complement each other. Rather, these are two systems of knowledge and power that can and should work in tandem, bringing about an evolution in human thinking and artificial capacities, heralding us further into the future with their developments. The emotional range and creativity expressed by humans can not be successfully implicated by artificial intelligence who’s functioning is only as good as their data.