ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A MIRACLE OR A FRANKENSTEIN?

The introduction of personal computers in the last quarter of the 20th century transformed the world as we know it today, but initially, it all came with its own set of apprehensions and fears. The World Wide Web (WWW) created a transformation like no other as humanity entered the 21st century. Now, as we approach the second quarter of the century, a new technology that has the potential to control humanity stares us in the face: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

- Gurjit Singh Ahuja

In the grand scheme of human evolution, our journey from primitive beings to advanced thinkers is marked by our relentless pursuit of knowledge and innovation.

The Human Journey: From Fire to Intelligence

Evolution evolved from apes to humans; we used our power to observe, tabulate, think, reason, react, and create. We developed our social structures, languages, tools, and scripts, which happened over millions of years. This learning curve made us what we are today. We harnessed fire, mastered the seas, explored the earth’s depths, conquered the skies, and ventured into outer space, with probes reaching beyond our planetary system to unravel more mysteries.

We used matter and material to serve our needs and make things convenient, efficient, and manageable. Computers allowed us to conduct superfast computations; robots took over hazardous and labour-intensive jobs. Then, we started to educate our machines to perform simple tasks. Machine learning through the creation of multiple algorithms, either/or, if/but, correct/wrong, and yes/no scenarios. We gave the push to the machines, the push to think. Yes, think! The word is “think”. We started feeding machines information and giving them the power to reason, which has given them the ability to react and act!

Our Digital Shadows: The Rise of the Digital Twins