Thank You Mister President

Do you know what is happening on November 8^th this year? If I tell you that this date will change the face of the world whether it is for better or for worse, does it help? Yes, I’m referring to the American election of the 45^th president of the United States.

In this crucial period, I would like to talk about an interview that President Obama gave to Wired magazine editor in chief Scott Dadich and MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential risk on affecting national security but also on how it will affect society and how governments will have to adapt to this new actor.

A thing is sure: The next president of the United States of America will face numerous challenges regarding AI !!!

One of the most interesting pieces of information coming from this interview is that, in contrast with what a high percentage of the population think, Artificial Intelligence is not likely to take over human beings soon. In other words, a Hollywood movie scenario as “I Robot”, an example among many, isn’t likely to take place today or even in a near future. That kind of scenario is what Obama and people comfortable with AI call: “Generalized AI”.

However, what is happening right now, which is more frightening, is what we call: “specialized AI”, which can be summarized vulgarly by how human beings can develop and create sophisticated algorithms in order to solve extremely complex problems. It is more or less an “extension of our intelligence”.

Of course it has many positive points. To name a few, It could/ can cure diseases, it can reduce at its maximum human errors, it can also (if you remember one of our previous articles) drive cars and much more.

But on the other hand, behind all those amazing facts and possibilities that it offers, there is also a dark side of the “specialized Artificial Intelligence”.

First of all, one very simple question: Do we really want everything and everybody to be perfect? Is this the representation we have of a perfect world? A world without diseases? Without robbers? I can keep going because the list goes on and everybody will admit that it is a very difficult question. However, we have to think about it because it will need an answer in a near future.

But for now, lets talk about the main challenges that we are facing. First, it is important to understand that for the moment what is dangerous is not Artificial Intelligence but actors that are behind it, the ones who create algorithms and decide to use them with more or less good intentions.  One of the examples that President Obama gives is: If you have a computer that can play “Go”, a very complicated game, what could happen if somebody develops an algorithm that is able to maximize profit on financial markets and consequently takes financial markets down? Or, going further: What would happen if an algorithm were created with the intention of penetrating the nuclear system and launch missiles? There are so many other examples that governments have to think about, but one thing is sure, they will have to think a step ahead to ensure our security. This point leads us to another challenge that governments are facing: Where is the border between security and intrusion and where is the border between defense and offense.

« Figuring out how we regulate connectivity on the Internet in a way that is accountable, transparent, and safe, that allows us to get at the bad guys but ensures that the government does not possess so much power in all of our lives that it becomes a tool for oppression-We’re still working on that »

President Barack Obama

Indeed, on one hand the governments have to anticipate potential attacks, intrusion and in order to do that they have to catch and analyze external information. But on the other hand, by doing that, they intrude on people’s privacy. So what is the best way to reduce risk at its maximum without encroaching on our private life and becoming the “Big Brother is watching you” that everybody fears.

So many questions are yet to be answered on this topic full of uncertainties but this would be my main advice: educate yourself on one of today’s major problematic which is Artificial Intelligence and watching the full interview (find clip below) between President Obama, Scott Dadich and Joi Ito is a good start in doing so.

An apple a day keeps the computer away: could a robot diagnose diseases?

In the previous articles, we have already seen many trends involving artificial intelligence and their possible future applications: the way it may affect car companies and how could law firms benefit from this new technology. But what kind of improvements could a robot bring to the medical scene? Would you trust a robot when it comes to your personal health?

In 2010 IBM developed the first artificial intelligence that understands and answers to questions in natural language and uses machine learning to analyse unstructured data. Watson, the name of this technology, is able to quickly extract information from all kinds of documents and reveal insights, patterns and relationships across data. 

In its first application, Watson competed on Jeopardy! with its previous winners, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, and won the first price of $1 million. This was just a test to prove its capability of answering natural language questions…and of course it was a success!

After this trial, IBM started improving Watson’s capabilities and, at the moment, it has found several applications in law, finance and retail fields. It is also currently used in fantasy football in the US’ NFL! 

However, the main field in which Watson is currently working on is healthcare. With its cognitive system, it is able to analyse, understand, reason and learn data at a speed that humans could never reach.

Healthcare data doubles every 24 months and doctors do not have the possibility to keep up with these new insights. Watson is able to read 200 million pages in 3 seconds and understand unstructured data, something that current systems can’t do. It is able to diagnose a disease just by analysing the medical reports and comparing them with the new findings in the medical field.

Starting from 2011, several US clinics collaborated with IBM to utilize Watson to suggest treatments options for their patients. Since February 2013, it started collaborating with the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on lung cancer treatment, and following this example many other oncological centers decided to use this artificial intelligence to improve the decision making process and to fasten diagnoses.

IBM itself, to promote Watson capabilities, decided to launch a program within the company to help its employees fighting cancer, in collaboration with “Best Doctors”, a clinical consultation provider.

As we have already mentioned, Watson has analytical capabilities that humans or current systems cannot reply in any way. It can suggest a diagnostic for a disease and leave the doctors to deal with the patient without wasting time in keeping up with the new medical findings.

This is going to be one of the most disruptive innovations for this field, but may also bring about new ethical questions. Would you let a robot diagnose your disease and indirectly decide the best possible treatment for your health? Will the position of a traditional doctor become obsolete in the following years?

The Artificially Intelligent lawyer has suited up!!!!

So what is the latest thing that many of the law firms are intent on hiring? Is it a bird…is it a plane…it’s a robot lawyer!!! Jokes aside, what is a robot lawyer and how are the law firms benefiting from hiring one…those are the questions of the hour.

A good example of a robot lawyer or an artificially intelligent lawyer is ROSS, a product of the company ROSS Intelligence. ROSS is the world’s first digital attorney. It understands natural language legal questions and provides expert answers instantly, along with other relevant information -- cutting down substantially on legal research time and energy. Marketed as a “an AI lawyer that helps human lawyers research faster and focus on advising clients”, law firms big or small are eager to hire and are hiring this lawyer. ROSS is not the only one. Many lawtech firms are being hired by law firms to introduce and further improve the applications of A.I. in the world of law.

So how do the law firms benefit from this technology? Law firms are investing large amount of funds in this technology as they view it as a means not only to make their internal processes more efficient but also to provide the best possible services to their clients. Since the A.I. lawyer will greatly reduce the time required for research, lawyers will be able to concentrate more on the high value complex work. Smaller firms too are interested in this technology to become more competitive globally.

A.I. has taken its first few steps into the legal world and as it becomes more capable, more will it integrate into this world. Just imagine a court trial in the future where the judge, the defence lawyer and the prosecutor are Artificially Intelligent lawyers. Maybe I am just letting my imaginations run wild…. or maybe…  this could just happen.