Still a long way before AI can replace the human touch, experts say

Technologists have predicted that machines will surpass humans in many complicated tasks in the near future.

Metal will beat flesh in language translation in the next five years, be better at writing high school essays two years beyond that, excel at driving a truck by 2027, and work in retail service by 2031, according to research by Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute and Yale University.

Photo credit: Andy Kelly / Unsplash

The same survey predicted a 50% chance that AI will outperform humans in all tasks in just 45 years.

But some tasks will still elude the bots, especially those that require decision making based on information that is outside the database of past experiences that they depend on (aka the “sealed book”). That’s according to Wong Kam-Fai, a professor in engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and one of the first batches of national experts appointed by the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence.

When policing a disturbance, for example, AI would have to refer to the sealed book to decide whether it can use force, based on the accumulated experience or past data that humans have set for the robot, Wong said in an interview at the AI Summit held in Hong Kong last week.

Police officers have to consider a myriad of factors when taking action – from the presence of vulnerable persons and journalists to judging and weighing the emotions of the demonstrators – all of which AI is incapable of doing. “It is impossible for AI to take over humans completely,” he said.

Although science fiction movies often depict super intelligent robots capable of destroying the world, most experts say the introduction of human-like robots is still years, if not decades, away.

What has been achieved so far is considered “narrow AI.” Most current AI applications are only good at performing single tasks, such as playing the board game Go or navigating driving routes. On the other hand, general AI is expected to fully replicate human intelligence in independent reasoning and decision making.

Even so, the amount of work done by machines will jump from 29% to more than 50% by 2025, according to a report from the World Economic Forum. AI skills are quickly spreading beyond just the tech industry, including education, finance, and health care.

AI is increasingly being deployed by law enforcement worldwide. In China, this has led to the arrests of fugitives attending concerts where facial recognition is deployed. Jaywalkers have also been named-and-shamed in pilots in Shenzhen.

Recognition software is used at airports in China to assist immigration officers, while tourist attractions are implementing facial scans to deter ticket scalpers and unauthorized entry.

In Handan, a city in Hebei province, local police introduced robots to help direct traffic and provide guidance to drivers.

Outside law enforcement, AI is being applied to areas once deemed outside the purview of machines. Can bots predict what will be hot on the fashion runways in the next season? They certainly are trying.