How artificial intelligence is becoming part of our daily lives – and where the tech will go next

           

 

With modern artificial intelligences (AI) like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant finding their way into people’s homes, there is a question that comes to mind: where will AI technology take us next?
If you ask science fiction fans they’ll be sure to warn you of the doom and gloom destined to accompany the creation of synthetic intelligence. Historically, artificial intelligence has been portrayed as a clichéd, evil entity, fated to fallout with its creator. And, if you ask Tesla founder Elon Musk, it would be unwise to completely ignore these warnings.
However, in the reality of our globalised, capitalised world, businesses are finding different uses for this once-futuristic technology. Although certainly not as dramatic as their fantasy counterparts, modern AI is bringing real functionality to the marketplace and real improvement to the customer experience.

AI helping us tackle daily tasks.
Devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home have the capacity to revolutionise the way we run our homes, offices and classrooms. They can awaken with a simple vocal prompt, and once active are capable of anything from providing simple weather and traffic updates to performing close-to-instantaneous translations and calculations.
You can even ask these devices to turn off your lights or open up the blinds. These features are just the beginning. With more and more services providing integration with AI devices, you’ll soon be able to use a virtual assistant for complex home automation ­– such as managing smoke and carbon dioxide detectors, household security coverage, and even medical diagnosis. Meanwhile, chatbots are proliferating in a variety of frontline customer service contexts, helping people with initial enquiries.
Whilst current AI features are exciting from a home automation perspective, there remains a gap in the market: a virtual digital assistant that you can carry in your pocket and call on at any time for information, guidance and assistance. An assistant who doesn’t just answer simple questions or tell you what the temperature will be tomorrow, but can organise your life on a personal level. An assistant who knows you so well it will proactively take actions and manage tasks on your behalf.


Balancing the demands of university life? There’s an app for that!
Enter Deakin University, a world class research university located in Australia. Recognising the fact that our future will be infused with machine intelligence, Deakin has recently invested AUD$20 million to establish a new Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute.
The University’s ICT and digital portfolio (Deakin eSolutions) has been working in applied AI for over three years, commencing with the world-first implementation of IBM Watson as student assistant, responding to simple questions with personalised answers. In another world-first, the University’s very own students will be the first ones able to make use of eSolutions latest paradigm shift in AI and voice-enabled technology development.
Deakin Genie is a ‘smart’, personalised digital assistant that has been designed from the ground up to provide a fluid and intuitive experience for students. Instead of buttons and menus, Genie functions as a familiar chat interface on a student’s mobile phone. If a student needs to know the due date for an assignment, or needs help with Harvard referencing, they can simply ask Genie. What is even more impressive is that Genie is constantly learning, and the more students that use it, the smarter it gets.