Best of both worlds

AI is finding and taking advantage of the best of both worlds in order to augment human capabilities. The sophistication and efficiency of the human brain and the brute force of computers combined together can result in intelligent machines that can solve some of the most challenging problems faced by human beings. At that point, the AI will complement human capabilities and will be a step closer to social inclusion and equanimity by facilitating collective intelligence. Examples include epidemic predictions, disease prevention based on DNA sampling and analysis, self driving cars, robots that work in hazardous conditions, and machine assistants for differently able people.

Taking a statistical and algorithmic approach to data in machine learning and AI has been popular for quite some time now. However, the capabilities and use cases were limited until the availability of large volumes of data along with massive processing speeds, which is called Big Data. We will understand some of the Big Data basics in the next section. The availability of Big Data has accelerated the growth and evolution of AI and machine learning applications. Here is a quick comparison of AI before and with with Big Data:

The primary goal of AI is to implement human-like intelligence in machines and to create systems that gather data, process it to create models (hypothesis), predict or influence outcomes, and ultimately improve human life. With Big Data at the core of the pyramid, we have the availability of massive datasets from heterogeneous sources in real time. This promises to be a great foundation for an AI that really augments human existence: