An Honest Appraisal Of AI’s Capabilities

What is the general public’s impression of artificial intelligence (AI)? It isn’t always easy to gauge. AI-powered voice assistants like Siri and Alexa are in our phones, our homes and even our cars, making them a part of everyday life. Yet most people don’t expect them to be particularly accurate. When a voice assistant misinterprets “What is the weather like outside?” as “What is the price of a water slide?” most people are happy to chuckle and try again.

But ask those same people about self-driving cars, and most will tell you the technology is on the verge of going mainstream. There is a level of cognitive dissonance when it comes to AI.

Artificial intelligence is exciting, but proper expectations need to be set. Self-driving cars have a long way to go, and an AI author is unlikely to write the next great novel. But AI is already being applied in ways that are innovative, if not always visible. As AI grows both more reliable and more accessible, its analytics capabilities are being deployed for exciting new purposes. Modern analytics has the potential to drive meaningful change across a wide range of industries, but a thoughtful and responsible approach is needed to effectively manage these sky-high expectations.

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