Artificial intelligence has been shaking the windows and rattling the walls of nearly every business, government and institution since it exploded into mainstream consciousness with the launch of ChatGPT less than two years ago.
AI advocates see it as bringing about a new “industrial revolution” driven by thinking computers that can reason, plan, and apply knowledge across industries.
But so far, most of the value from AI has gone to chipmakers like NVIDIA, whose market capitalization soared to $3 trillion in June, making it the world’s most valuable company for a time. Big tech companies, which make their own chips and have been vocal about the potential benefits of AI, are also reaping the benefits. But what about the rest of us?
“Investors are finally starting to realize that AI is becoming more of an expense than a revenue stream,” said Peter Boockvar of investment newsletter The Book Report. He recently told Bloomberg News.
Or Stanford computer scientist Roy Amara. First said“We overestimate the short-term impact of technology and underestimate its long-term effects.”
AI will cause five very significant disruptions to business, culture, and the way we live our lives. Health SciencesAI can help identify diseases and discover new medicines, leading to breakthroughs that will impact healthcare and lifespan. Virtual AI companion It is augmenting and enhancing human capabilities.
AI is accelerating development Autonomous vehicles and robotic humanoid companions. and robot It could become the home appliance of the 21st century.st 21st century. One day, AI Disrupting the creative industries Paving the way for award-winning screenplays and songs written by AI.
Finally, machine-human brain interfaces like Neuralink could literally Merging organic and artificial brainsThis is the moment that Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist and AI expert, calls “the singularity.”
Deciphering the mystery of disease
Increasingly, AI can identify diseases more accurately than most doctors and can simulate the effects of experimental drugs without costly clinical trials. AI can even test how different proteins combine to create life-changing medicines and “train” robot surgeons to operate at the same level as humans.
According to Professor Massimo Buonomo, an AI expert at the International Electrotechnical Commission, “the market for AI solutions is experiencing great momentum,” with healthcare leading the way.
For example, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk (the manufacturer of Ozempic) Using artificial intelligence across the value chain from 2021Hoffmann-La Roche Leverage machine learning Accelerate drug discovery and development by moving away from lengthy, linear, sequential research processes.
Canadian health tech company Triage Proven in various clinical trials The company says its proprietary dermatology AI algorithms outperform most doctors and even exceed the capabilities of trained dermatologists. “50% of medical visits are for skin conditions,” says CEO Tory Germain. “In many countries, a pharmacist, nurse, or general practitioner makes the decision on whether a dermatologist visit is necessary.” Triage and companies like it can empower healthcare workers with a life-saving toolkit.
AI assistants that super-augment human capabilities
A child born today will have at least one lifelong friend. This is not unusual. What is unusual is that this friend will tutor her English, teach her how to improve her tennis forehand, give her cooking lessons, and cheer her up when she’s feeling down. Eventually, she’ll help guide her college applications, write her essays, and write her resume. This friend will be her children’s financial advisor, marriage counselor, write her will, find her a retirement home, make funeral arrangements when her husband dies, and act as her estate agent when she dies as well. See? This friend is not a human, but an AI friend.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil calls this merging of human and machine capabilities the “singularity,” and believes that human capabilities will increase millions of times.
Today, the startup DarwinAI He pioneered and commercialized a technique called “generative synthesis.” Technology where humans and AI models work together to improve the same model. For example, DarwinAI Combining AI and existing vision technology Build a production line inspection system for the manufacturing industry. Recently acquired by Apple, Darwin AI also uses geophysical data to identify likely locations for drilling.
Dr. Joseph Djerassi, founder, chief technology officer, and chief scientific officer at NetraMark (a provider of advanced AI products for late-stage clinical trials), describes AI as a “science partner” that accelerates scientific progress.
DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez believes AI will complement humans, not replace them, saying, “AI excels at enhancing human capabilities, not replacing them.”
Robot companions and a cure for loneliness
“Human-like robots are ideal for tasks that require a human touch,” says Matt McMullen, CEO of RealBotix, a company that literally embodies AI by integrating AI, robotics and silicone rubber technology to create human-like robots. “It might be cool to be able to order coffee from C-3PO at Starbucks, but I might like it even more if it looked like a human and interacted with me in the same way a human would.”
McMullen also envisions a range of robots with specialised areas such as elderly care, or even agencies that would send robots to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. There, the robots might interact with dementia patients, contribute research data on cognitive impairment, support caregivers and watch out for neglect or abuse of the elderly. Robots could also increase family peace of mind.
Robotics and AI are coming together to fuel the robot revolution. Take self-driving car maker Waymo for example. The company is using AI to train its fleet of vehicles, creating “robot drivers” that are statistically far better than humans. Robots can now “watch” humans perform tasks and learn from their behavior.
Meta AI Researcher On training days, they train Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot – a dog-like robot with an adjustable robotic head and neck – to improve the robot’s ability to “reason and plan” and “search for and retrieve items in unfamiliar spaces.”
Will AI disrupt or enrich the creative industries?
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, technology has been a boon for creators. Will AI continue this trend? Cezanne said, “A work of art that does not begin with emotion is not art,” but many studio executives who foresee a future where AI doesn’t have to pay human creators would disagree.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos sees AI simply as a tech tool that creators can leverage: “AI is a tool that writers, directors and editors can use to do things more efficiently and effectively, and in the best cases, bring things to the screen that weren’t possible before,” he said. He said in a recent interview With The New York Times.
That may be true, but Sarandos is talking about AI today, and in the future, AI will be much more capable. Sora, OpenAI’s latest invention, is a machine learning system that can train any human. Create cinematic quality content With a simple text prompt. Kurzweil says AI moves so fast that it’s easy to discount its accomplishments as soon as they’re made. SORA is a good example. AI can paint pictures, write poetry, make short films, and write mediocre screenplays. Could it (someday) write a Nobel Prize-winning novel?
Some argue that AI has made great strides recently, but it is not human and will never be able to replicate human sensations. “Let’s not get creative for now,” DarwinAI’s Fernandez says. “AI doesn’t understand forgiveness, redemption, or suffering the way Dostoyevsky does.”
Singularity: When humans and machines merge
Kurzweil and others believe that AI and human intelligence will soon merge, which, if done right, he argues, can enhance human capabilities and usher in an era of economic, cultural and spiritual prosperity.
Today, brain-human interfaces are no longer the realm of science fiction or speculation. Consider Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk in 2016. In 2024, its first user, quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh, received a brain implant and can now use signals from his brain to operate a computer, search the web, play video games, and much more.
Most new technologies start out in a niche market. Today, brain-computer interfaces help people with disabilities regain their independence. In the future, they may empower us all.
While these advances are encouraging, they are only a first step toward the merging of human and machine intelligence. The next steps are fraught with risk. First, these AI models are programmed by humans based on available data. But whose data is it, and what data? We “want to avoid errors and biases that could undermine the validity and reliability of our AI systems,” says Hadassah Dulkarch, director of policy and implementation at the Responsible AI Institute.
This is especially true when implanted in the brain.”
But DarwinAI’s Fernandez and Netramark’s Djerassi see a bright future for human-machine collaboration. “Human intelligence will adapt and find a creative stratosphere that neither AI nor humans can reach alone,” Djerassi says. “There’s still so much room for human imagination to grow… We’re more powerful together.”
Alex Tapscott is a portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners and author of “Web3.”
