Where is artificial intelligence headed?

It has been predicted that there is a 50% chance that artificial intelligence will outperform humans in all tasks in a mere 45 years, and that AI will be able to take over all jobs in the next century.

“The promise is that intelligent machines will be able to do every task better and more cheaply than humans. Rightly or wrongly, one industry after another is falling under its spell, even though few have benefited significantly so far.”

Experts from Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, Yale University, and AI Impacts predict that within the next ten years, AI will be able to perform language translation, truck driving and even essay writing better than humans.

By 2031, machines will be working in retail, 2049 will see the capacity for AI to write best-selling novels, and in the year 2053 robots will be working as surgeons, according to researchers.

Apple and Microsoft have both recently revealed that they are working on artificial intelligence.

Microsoft is focusing their efforts on making AI more human by studying how bilingual people switch between languages in an attempt to bridge the gap between humans and AI. The hope is that virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa will be able to sound more natural. The project, called Project Mélange, is taking place in Microsoft’s India office, an ideal location, given the multi-lingual nature of their society.

Facebook is “making creative use of its artificial intelligence technology to develop a more perfected augmented reality application.” And Google has said it’s going to be “rebranding itself as an AI-first company.”

With thriving competition, even Apple is upping its AI game. They are developing their “own artificial intelligence chipset, developed specifically to perform data-intensive deep learning tasks and help take the load off a device’s core processor.” The new chip could be a huge relief for Apple processors, “allowing for improved battery life and faster deployment of machine learning applications.”

What might this mean for logistics? Kindred co-founders Geordie Rose and Suzanne Gildert say that their vision of the future involved machines with human-level intelligence. The first step towards their vision is an industrial warehouse robot called the Orb.

“It’s a robotic arm that sits inside a hexagonal glass encasement, equipped with a bevy of sensors to help it see, feel, and even hear its surroundings. The arm is operated using a mix of human control and automated software.”

While the impending presence of artificial intelligence indicates huge progressions for technology, they will also come with their own sets of problems.

“In addition to possible unemployment, the transition will bring new challenges, such as rebuilding infrastructure, protecting vehicle cyber-security, and adapting laws and regulations. New challenges, both for AI developers and policy-makers, will also arise from applications in law enforcement, military technology, and marketing.”

That being said, researchers admitted that the likelihood of human extinction as a result of artificial intelligence advancements is only around 5%.