Artificial intelligence (AI) is much more than just a technological tool; It is a field that imitates human thought, but with its own capabilities and unique limits. Understanding how you learn is key to realizing your potential and managing the associated risks.
AI is based on algorithms, sequences of steps designed to solve specific problems. Fueled by data (its “fuel”), it evolves through two large categories:
- Weak AI: Performs specific tasks without self-learning, such as virtual assistants.
- Strong AI: Seeks to emulate or surpass human intelligence. Although their full existence remains a challenge, systems like ChatGPT come close at least in certain areas.
- Big Data and Computing Power: The massive availability of data and advanced hardware enabled advances such as deep learning, which uses artificial neural networks.
- Notable Achievements: In 2017, AlphaZero reached superhuman levels in games like chess and Go in just 24 hours, demonstrating the power of autonomous learning.
- Natural Language: Tools like Google Translate and DeepL show how AI can process human languages, although without actually understanding the meaning.
- Supervised: Humans label data to train models that then apply those patterns to new information.
- Unsupervised: AI discovers patterns on its own, as ChatGPT did when analyzing relationships between words in massive texts.
- Multimodality: Models like GPT-4 combine text, image, audio and video data to find more complex patterns.
Although AI can perform specific tasks with great efficiency, it does not possess generalist intelligence or understand like a human. Besides:
- It is prone to bias, reflecting biases present in your training data.
- Its internal processes, often opaque (“black box”), raise ethical dilemmas.
- Autonomous Driving: Trained with millions of kilometers of data, it allows safe transportation in cities like San Francisco.
- Behavior Predictions: Supermarkets, social networks and services like Netflix personalize experiences by analyzing user habits.
- Natural Language Processing: From chatbots to machine translation, AI revolutionizes communication.
AI is comparable to a child in the learning process, with the difference that it lacks emotional and ethical context. We must raise this technology as we prepare children: teaching them to find answers and act responsibly.
Conclusion: The AI does not understand, but it learns. Its true value is in how it can complement our human abilities, not replace them. The ethical and effective future of this powerful tool lies in this balance.
