Business Day Editorial: AI in our world

First things first, a human wrote this. The reason for the disclaimer is that, as artificial intelligence (AI) programmes get more refined, robots have gradually been replacing humans at the most basic level in almost every sector – even in reporting.

The word “robot” originates from the Czech “robota,” which means forced labour, and first appeared in a satirical play about engineered androids created to do menial jobs. For a long time, robots/androids/automatons remained within the realm of science fiction and human imagination, but anyone who’s ever watched a viral Boston Dynamics video knows, reality is catching up.

While the world is still some way from a Blade Runner-style replicant, AI is increasingly becoming part of everyday life, from Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant (including the Google Maps lady and Duplex, launched last year with a fascinating demo of AI responsiveness to human interaction through a phone call) to instant messaging chat bots that can help deal with customer service queries. In manufacturing and industry, robots can be used for welding, painting, packaging, labelling, mixing, measuring and weighing. In banking and finance, sophisticated algorithms are applied to track stock prices, deposits and withdrawals, even fraud and money laundering.

The Associated Press was one of the first media outlets to experiment with AI in 2015 to analyse data, like sports scores, and write articles. Then there’s the Internet of Things, where everyday appliances are connected to the internet, making them “smart.” Smart TVs are already a standard part of many households, but companies like Samsung have already started producing smart refrigerators and smart washing machines, and a smartphone is almost standard for communication.

A 2017 Economist Intelligence Unit report found that out of 203 executives surveyed, 75 per cent said AI will be actively implemented in their companies within the next three years. Among the potential for AI is improved decision making, operational efficiency and increased sales. AI solutions can track anything from peak customer times, energy usage and productivity, all of which can be analysed to improve performance, cut costs and improve profitability. And while it’s a fact that legislation often does not keep up with innovation, there’s no excuse for the slow pace of implantation for electronic government (e-gov) platforms, which will no doubt help improve the country’s competitiveness rankings.

TT ranks 78 out of 140 in the 2018 World Economic Forum’s competitiveness index. And even though the UN classes the country as having a “high” capacity for e-government development, it also ranked 78 in the UN E-government survey in 2018, compared to Barbados at 46, St Kitts and Nevis at 71 and Bahamas at 72. But at least we’re working on it.

Town and Country Planning Division will soon be launching a new portal intended to streamline and speed up construction permit applications. National Energy is spearheading a similar platform for the energy sector, scheduled for launch sometime this year. And iGovTT launched CourtPay last year, making it easier to make electronic payments for certain court mandated payments including alimony and child support (although the Licensing Office still inexplicably only accepts cash to renew driver’s permits).

Technology has always been disruptive and people are often wary of change, especially as they see their lives and livelihoods becoming unrecognisable. But as much as robots take away jobs from people, they create new ones. Until the robopocalypse (a worst-case scenario, really), robots need humans to operate them, manage them, and most importantly, create them. Education and training, then, need to evolve to incorporate more exposure to technology from a younger age.

AI is the new way of the world. People and business who are unwilling or unable to adapt to the large-scale adoption of information and communication technology in everyday life will become anachronisms in a world that increasingly does not have the time, space or patience for them.