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AI - looking beyond the marketing hype

 Technology is changing very rapidly. Every few decades we might see disruptive technologies which might have a huge impact on our society. Artificial Intelligence is such a technology which can improve the quality of our lives in a positive way. I am sure that in our lifetime we will see its incredible impact on various areas of our lives.

Many months ago everyone was behind crypto, “bit” or blockchain. It seemed like almost everyone was trying to create all these wonderful products based on blockchain. It is a very good technology but it was overhyped . A lot of people lost their hard earned money due to this hype. 

Now it seems AI has become a buzzword in almost every industry. However, it's crucial to understand that simply appending "AI" to a product or service doesn't automatically make it intelligent or truly embody AI capabilities. I have seen the same company doing blockchain a couple of years back ,now jumping into the AI bandwagon without any investment in any of these technologies. I am getting emails from many vendors mentioning that they have advanced AI software and AI somehow will solve all my problems. Certainly I don't have the services of “Data” from StarTrek to solve the problems but some of the marketing materials I received almost equal the exploits of ‘Data”. Sometimes I wonder if they are creating marketing materials from science fiction or based on any sort of reality. I have seen many company stalwarts mentioning "AI" during their quarterly earnings calls  without any tangible investment in AI, with the only aim to cash in the hype.

AI involves advanced algorithms, machine learning, deep neural networks, and sophisticated data analysis. It goes beyond a mere marketing tactic. AI algorithms possess the ability to learn, adapt, and make decisions based on complex patterns and very large and diverse  datasets. It can recognize patterns, make predictions, and generate insights that humans might miss thus providing tangible solutions. They adapt to changing circumstances and refine their predictions based on new information,  evaluating multiple factors, and making informed decisions autonomously, often outperforming human capabilities.

AI can solve real-world problems if applied properly. This can fuel innovation and will help the human race to make rapid progress. 

While developing such algorithms we also have to prioritize fairness, transparency, and accountability. They uphold ethical guidelines and protect against biases or discrimination. We have to ensure that our own bias doesn't creep into the data model and decisions the algorithm uses for its decision making

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