I’ve said that many areas are in the process of incorporating AI, and it is just a matter of time until they come to fruition. Here is a company that seems to have a jump on their competition, and here is an article relating to what they are doing: http://ophirgottlieb.tumblr.com/post/145065914534/the-secret-is-out-this-company-is-quietly.
Here are some excerpts from the article that I thought noteworthy:
“Machine learning is the process of turning data into a computer program’s decisions…Once the basic algorithm is written, the system learns on its own. The market’s top technology companies are collecting peta-bytes of customer data, satellite images, web site content, weather sensor data, and much more. What’s left to turn all this information into cars that drive themselves, drones that carry out autonomous missions, online shopping platforms that know what you’ll buy before you do and the next step in human evolution that is virtual reality? Massive, massive, processing power. Enter NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA).”
“With Nvidia, we are looking at machine learning, artificial super intelligence, big data, gaming, self-driving cars, virtual reality and a lot more. Nvidia…literally invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) which now serves as the visual cortex of modern computers and artificial intelligence.”
“NVIDIA has its hands in the most innovative segments of technology… Deep learning is the secret weapon for self-driving car algorithms. NVIDIA already calls Tesla, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and Audi as customers.” The article also mentions other areas with great growth potential for NVIDIA.
Note that I don’t own this stock (but I do have on order a Tesla Model 3 which will likely use Nvidia’s technology.) I only mention this company as an example of how AI is beginning to be integrated into our everyday lives.
There has been some discussion on how AI may never be able to truly “think” any better than a human. That may be. But there seems to be little doubt that given enough devices (sonar; radar; GPS; visual cameras ahead, side, and behind; etc.) and enough computer power and comparable software, that self-driving will eventually be far superior to humans. Note that I did not say perfect. Humans are quite poor at driving, hence the over 5 million car crashes in the US per year and 32,000 deaths. All AI has to do is be substantially better than that.
One of the readers asked me to look at a conversation with Gary Marcus on edge.com. The conversation was so broad that it is hard to comment. But here are a couple of observations. Gary kept comparing AI to humans as if humans are all that good at either decision making or thinking. We are not all that good at either! And Gary kept inferring that the brain is so superior that we may never match it. Well, we may not have to. Box jellyfish have no traditional brains, but they have 24 eyes, 4 of which are quite sophisticated. They are able to do what they have to do in their environment quite well, without a traditional brain. So it will be with AI. Gary noted how auto-drive is only sufficient in very controlled conditions (i.e. highways with well-marked lanes.) They don’t do well in snow, fog, etc. Well, nor do we! But the algorithms being used in auto-drive are self-learning, and they may very well learn that their current sensors along with identifying the location of bridge abutments, light poles, trees, and other cars, and by using advanced GPS, that they can find where they are on the road far more effectively than a human driver in snow, fog, rain, etc.
As for very advanced thinking, we aren’t very good at this unless we have experimental data. After all these years, we still don’t understand the brain. And scientists trying to understand the Big Bang have had to add in an initial expansion that exceeds the speed of light and to incorporate their recent “findings” that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate. They have included a fudge factor called black energy. They have no idea what this is, and when Einstein did something similar he later admitted this was the dumbest thing he had ever done!
Despite all that, AI is progressing quite nicely.
As promised regards the stock market, here is an update on Elliot Wave’s prediction that the S&P 500 will drop 41.6% this year from 1880 to 1100. I said that didn’t believe it! The current S&P is 2102, up 11.8% since EW’s prediction early this year.