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Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, but how does this technology actually work? Its functions are becoming increasingly diverse, making it all the more important to understand how it works.
Artificial Intelligence: How It Works
- The goal of developing artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is to program machines so that they can operate independently and solve tasks on their own. This is intended to make not only everyday life easier for people, but also their interaction with modern technology.
- In principle, AI works like our brain. So-called “artificial neural networks” are used to gather and process information and solve problems.
- An AI first receives “input” from an external source. This means, for example, that you speak into your smartphone when performing a Google search. The voice assistant processes your question and arrives at a result, the “output.” You receive this in the form of an answer and a list of relevant websites.
- In our example, two types of intelligence even work together: the voice assistant on one hand and a search engine on the other.
- Information processing systems consist of algorithms. These are a collection of rules in computer language that ultimately solve a problem.
- Most modern AI systems work with algorithms and data. This means they collect large amounts of sample data and attempt to identify patterns within it. The AI is “trained” with this data and learns to recognize patterns and correlations. After training, it can perform new tasks, such as writing texts, recognizing images, or providing recommendations.
- A well-known method here is machine learning. The AI improves on its own the more data it receives.
Another example of AI: Autonomous Driving
Today, artificial intelligence is found in robotic vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, assists during surgeries, and shows us personalized ads. Drivers are certainly also familiar with the term “autonomous driving.”
- Autonomous driving is a form of artificial intelligence. Essentially, “autonomous” means that vehicles operate independently and automatically, with as little human assistance as possible.
- Vehicles of this type are classified by autonomy levels. The degree of the car’s autonomy increases with each level, with Level 5 representing the highest level.
- Level 5 vehicles have neither pedals nor a steering wheel. They require no human assistance. Level 3 and 4 vehicles may prompt the driver to take control. These vehicles can accelerate, brake, and even steer on their own for a certain period of time.
- Cars at autonomy levels 0 through 2 are controlled by humans and merely assist them while driving. An example of this would be cruise control or lane-keeping assist.
- For autonomous cars to drive on their own, all kinds of smart technology are required.
The GPS system, video cameras, radar sensors, and lidar sensors must work together as a team to handle difficult situations while operating reliably and accurately.
- The GPS system ensures that the vehicle knows its exact location at all times. The cameras provide the system with images of the surroundings. These include traffic signs and other road users.
- Radar sensors also include, among other things, the beeping sounds from parking assist systems. They measure the distance between the vehicle and other objects.
- Lidar sensors are located on the roof and use laser beams to measure the distance to an obstacle in front of the vehicle. They can measure distances of up to 200 meters, both during the day and at night. Their laser beams are invisible to the human eye.
Other Areas of AI Application
We encounter AI in our daily lives more often than many people realize. And in the future, it will support even more areas of our lives. In addition to the areas of application already mentioned, there are other examples where AI is already an integral part:
- Recommendation systems: Platforms like Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon analyze your behavior: What movies do you watch? What songs do you listen to frequently? Based on this data, AI generates personalized recommendations that perfectly match your tastes.
- Image and facial recognition: AI can recognize faces in photos, distinguish between objects, or even perform security checks. This happens, for example, when unlocking smartphones or during security checks at airports. Image analysis is also used on social media, e.g., for automatic tagging suggestions.
- Chatbots and voice assistants: Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, or ChatGPT are a classic example in the world of AI. They attempt to understand human language and provide appropriate responses.
- Medical Diagnoses: In medicine, AI helps detect diseases early on. For example, by analyzing X-rays or blood test results. In research, AI assists with the analysis of large amounts of data.
