Man’s new best friend?

As technology and artificial intelligence advance, man may begin to find unique ways of using it. One of these ways include the widespread use of personal robot assistants for a household. These robots will have various jobs and uses and are becoming extremely prevalent as the technology improves. As stated by Analytics magazine, “As robots become more intelligent, they will be able to sense their surroundings, avoid static and dynamic objects, understand emotions and communicate, which will allow them to seamlessly move about in congested and crowded spaces such as homes.” (Analytics).

Surely the rise of personal robotic assistants will assist many, from the young to the elderly and everyone in between. Children are expected to take use of a robot’s education features, while seniors may treat it as a personal helper or emotional support. Robots may also begin to take over in the workplace, assisting humans more than ever in their daily business routines. Analytics magazine predicts that the personal robot business will reach $19 billion by the year 2020, a truly staggering statistic.

How will our lives change for the better (or possibly worse) with these technological breakthroughs? Will the added help prove beneficial to our daily lives, or result in unforeseen consequences? Only time will tell.

-Andrew

To read the full article, visit Analytics’s “Personal robots to be a $19 billion market by 2020”, (Feb 16, 2019).

https://pubsonline.informs.org/do/10.1287/LYTX.2019.02.16n/full/

No one wants a robot apocalypse.

In modern day data science and analytics, the rise of Artificial Intelligence has improved the speed and accuracy of normally human-based tasks. With the creation of such intelligent programs, the question arises of what is acceptable use and of the limits that should be imposed to prevent any potential problems with hyper-intelligent systems.

Despite seeming to be a topic out of science fiction, the idea of a human losing control of a program is a very real and potentially dangerous situation. Films like “The Terminator” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” show us what could happen in a situation in which a rogue AI takes over.

However, as long as a machine respects the various freedoms of humans, there will be little to no risk of a robot apocalypse. A set of rules for robotic existence was laid out by fiction writer Isaac Asimov:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. (Byrum)

What does this mean for modern data science? As long as the progress of modern systems is monitored and kept in check to respect natural human rights, there should be no threat of a robot apocalypse any time soon.

To read the full article, see Joseph Byrum’s “Artificial Intelligence: The values should guide the AI revolution” Analytics, (May 5, 2018).

Link: https://pubsonline.informs.org/do/10.1287/LYTX.2018.05.09/full/