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Artificial Intelligence

A guide by Scott Dyer

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What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Artificial Intelligence has become a catch-all term for a new class of software that attempts to mimic the way the human brain learns over time.

Unlike traditional software that functions on the basis of static, repeatable, logic, AI systems have the ability to “learn” as they are fed new information.

AI systems also have the ability to respond in real-time to the external environment.

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“...the term "artificial intelligence" is often used to describe machines (or computers) that mimic "cognitive" functions that humans associate with the human mind, such as "learning" and "problem solving"

Wikipedia

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Turing proposed that a human evaluator would judge natural language conversations between a human and a machine designed to generate human-like responses. The evaluator would be aware that one of the two partners in conversation is a machine,... If the evaluator cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test. - Wikipedia

Alan Turing and the Turing Test

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A Short History of A.I.

Phase Three

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Neural Networks

Phase One

1956 the term A.I. is coined by John McCarthy during a workshop at Dartmouth College

Phase Two

Expert Systems are implemented by large financial services companies and some medical companies.

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Neural Networks

Artificial intelligence, cognitive modeling, and neural networks are information processing paradigms inspired by the way biological neural systems process data. Artificial intelligence and cognitive modeling try to simulate some properties of biological neural networks.

In the artificial intelligence field, artificial neural networks have been applied successfully to speech recognition, image analysis and adaptive control, in order to construct software agents (in computer and video games) or autonomous robots.

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Neural Networks

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Deep Learning/Machine Learning

Deep learning is a class of machine learning algorithms that uses multiple layers to progressively extract higher level features from the raw input. For example, in image processing, lower layers may identify edges, while higher layers may identify the concepts relevant to a human such as digits or letters or faces.

Wikipedia

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Real World Applications

Voice Recognition
Autonomous Vehicles
Digital Assistants (Alexa, Siri, Cortana)
Medical Diagnosis
Image Recognition
Robotics
Criminal Profiling
Financial Analysis
Loan Approval
Marketing

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Impacts

Positive

More accurate medical diagnosis
Life extension
Higher level of service and convenience
Less labour spent on menial tasks

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Impacts

Negative

Loss of control
Denigration of human value
Massive labour disruption and displacement
Massive social disruption
Totalitarian abuse
Loss of privacy
Social manipulation through the use of:

Fake news
Deep Fakes

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Artificial Intelligence

A guide by Scott Dyer

Part II Safety and Privacy

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Privacy and How to Protect It

Beware of Internet Service Providers

You may not be aware of it, but your ISP already might know all about your online searches.

Each time you search for something online, your browser sends a query to a DNS server. Before the query reaches a DNS server, however, it first has to go through your ISP. Needless to say, your ISP easily can read and monitor these queries, which gives it a window into your online activity.

Not all ISPs monitor your browser queries but the ones that don't are the exception and not the rule. Most ISPs will keep records of your Web browsing for a period of a few months to a year. Most ISPs don't record your texts, but they do keep records of who texted you.

There are two ways to protect your privacy if you don't want your ISP monitoring your browser queries: 1) Switch to an ISP that doesn't monitor your online data, if practicable; or 2) Get a VPN to protect your data (more on this later).

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Privacy and How to Protect It

Strengthen and Protect Your Login Credentials and Passwords

Use pass-phrases instead of passwords
Use two-factor authentication
Lie when setting up password security questions.

One thing most people take for granted is the login credentials they use to access their many online accounts. Your username and password are the only things keeping your information and privileges from getting into the wrong hands. This is why it's important to make them as strong as possible.

Choose a strong username that is simple and easy to remember but can't easily be linked to your identity. This is to prevent hackers from correctly guessing your username based on your name, age, or date of birth. You'd be surprised just how cunningly hackers can find this information. Also, never use your Social Security Number as your username.

Next, pick a strong password. There are many ways to do this, but we can narrow them down to two options: 1) Learn how to make strong passwords; or 2) Use a password manager app.

Learning how to make a strong password requires time and imagination. Do you want to know what the most common passwords are? They are "1234," "12345," "0000," "password" and "qwerty" -- no imagination at all. A password combining your name and date of birth won't cut it. Nor will a password that uses any word found in the dictionary.

You need to use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and even symbols (if allowed). Complexity is what matters, not length, since a complex password will take centuries for a computer to figure out. In fact, you can try your password if you want to see just how long it will take to crack.

If you don't have the time and imagination to formulate a strong and complex password, you can use one of the six best password managers. These apps not only save you the hassle of memorizing your complex passwords but also auto-fill online login forms and formulate strong passwords for you.

Whether you want to learn how to make strong passwords or choose to install a password manager app is up to you. What you should never neglect, though, is 2FA (2-factor authentication). 2FA adds an extra layer of protection for your passwords in case someone ever does learn what they are. In fact, you may already have tried it when logging into an account on a new device.

The app or service requires you to key in the access code sent to another one of your devices (usually your phone) before you are given access to your account. Failing to provide this access code locks you out of your account. This means that even if hackers obtain your login credentials in some way, they still can't log into your account without the access code.

Never use the same usernames or passwords for different accounts. This prevents hackers from accessing multiple accounts with just one or more of your login credentials. Also, never share your login credentials with anybody -- not even your significant other.

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Privacy and How to Protect It

Use Google Alerts