Would you say AI is over hyped?

Question

In the last few years Machine Learning , Deep Learning and so on have been thrown around a lot in the mainstream media, but I’m yet to see or hear of any really impressive use cases.

Answer 1

I am a go player. Go is an ancient Chinese complex strategical board game.

After humans had been crushed by chess bots, programmers still had huge problems with go - the programs never got strong.

Somehow it seemed impossible to simulate the intuition needed for the game. Go players felt special, wiser in a human way than computers could become.

The prognosis was that it would maybe take decades until computers could fight against professional players.

Then, all of a sudden, the go AI was there.

Long story short:

It taught itself go by playing an uncountable amount of matches against itself.

And not only do go programs now compete with pros - the best players of the world get CRUSHED by them!

Professionals have to take handicap, and opening theory that was in use for hundred years, just got swept away by what the machine found.

At least subconsciously, all of that may have influenced me to start programming in the first place.

https://deepmind.com/research/case-studies/alphago-the-story-so-far

Answer 2

If you think self driving cars are not impressive, then it is over hyped.

Answer 3

Bruce Pouncey AI and data science is big in large companies. However, it's nothing like what the media would have you think.

Speaking for myself, I don't find the field of data science, machine learning, or AI nearly as satisfying or interesting as software development. But... that's just me. 😉

Here are some YouTube videos that might shed some light on the realities of those who really work in AI:

Data Science: Reality vs Expectations
https://youtu.be/8LucP1wiX1g

What Really is Data Science? By a Data Scientist
https://youtu.be/xC-c7E5PK0Y

Why I Left My Data Science Job
https://youtu.be/M5v1nXiUaOI

Answer 4

The very idea of making some lifeless thing be your slave with a few taps to the keyboard alone is impressive. Tapping the keyboard in a different way and allowing the lifeless thing to remember and act accordingly, just like an animal or human is even more impressive.

Answer 5

You're right in saying that AI isn't all it's made to be in the media, but I still think it's amazing if you know what to look for.

Most people think of AI being robots or something but here are some of my favourite uses:

- companion pets for people with Alzheimers that can make judgements on their wellbeing (google Paro the seal)

- every time you use RECAPTCHA (the little field of letters you have to replicate to prove you aren't a robot) you are helping to train AI to read old and ancient manuscripts

- we get a better understanding of how the human brain works (if you see a rectangle with a semicircle at the edge of a photo of a table, you know its probably a mug because you have a contextual understanding of what a mug is - an orthography! We need to train image recognition AI to have one)

Answer 6

It depends on how you think. I am currently taking major in AI. And what i learnt inside AI fascinates me till now. Instead of saying we are learning how to teach machine to learn, I say AI taught me how do our human brain really works, which is really interesting. Then,you will realise that the way we reason,the mechanism, we are like machines ourselves. We can learn more about ourselves starting from our brain.😁

Answer 7

HonFu Exactly. AI did motivate me to start programming in the first place. We need to go step by step in order to consolidate our knowledge. I think the peak of AI still hasn't come and I am curious what will be the next trend after AI. Maybe a virtual world that humans can connect and live inside.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

It is impressive if you know what it is capable of and what it has been used for. Some things are only impressive if you have a keen interest in it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/04/30/27-incredible-examples-of-ai-and-machine-learning-in-practice/#330d77c67502

After reading these and you're still not finding it impressive, then its just not of interest to you.