We live in amazing times that previous generations could only dream and write books about. Automatization and technologies are progressing so rapidly that they are changing the rules of the game in all areas of our lives. And now that artificial intelligence is becoming more and more popular, it is important to understand what hides behind this term, how exactly this specific thing works, and what principles lie behind it.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a system that can perform tasks that require human intelligence. AI consists of machine learning algorithms that help the system to process new information and learn, improving its results. This happens, for example, through text: when the human interacts with the system in text form, the AI learns to understand and process the natural language, to understand text information. The second sense of AI systems is vision, when a person interacts in their requests to the AI through photos or videos, the system learns to categorize images, group them and notice the details. So, for example, this skill is used in Face ID, in automatic facial recognition. AI also has a sense of hearing – based on the melodies heard (just the name of a favorite song, for example) – the system is able to make a remix or write music in a similar style. To put it simply, artificial intelligence is able to process information coming through text, numbers, photos, videos, sounds, and then analyze the data and find answers to questions, solutions to the task at hand almost the same way as a human does.
Today, this technology has become an integral part of our everyday life, we successfully apply AI in almost everything: in education, medicine, and even in the creation of entertainment content. The first signal that a computer could become a real competitor to humans in terms of intelligence was heard back in 2016, when the AlphaGo artificial intelligence system (Google’s DeepMind product) beat first Fan Hui (a three-time European champion) and then Li Sedol (second in the number of Go championships won in the world) in the World Go Championship. The game was considered too combinatorially complicated for computers, but after the AI’s historic 4:1 victory, Li Sedol first admitted his defeat with the words,
“It’s a defeat for Li Sedol, but not for all of humanity.” ,
and 3 years later, in 2019, he announced that he would stop participating in Go competitions because computer algorithms have become far superior to humans and are now impossible to beat. Today, Google, which owns DeepMind remains one of the world leaders in the development of artificial intelligence technology and continues to create applications that use this system. In particular, one of their next areas of focus is the healthcare sector, together with doctors and scientists, the company is working on creating applications that help in processing patients’ medical data. In the medical field, IBM Watson has also carved out a niche for itself by developing and using its Watson Health AI system to solve medical problems, prevent disease and provide personalized treatment. This product helps doctors during the analysis of patients’ body condition, for example, the system is able to independently analyze medical images and help in diagnosing the patient’s condition. This saves a lot of time and effort for doctors, which has a positive impact on the quality of medical services.
The second world leader in the development of artificial intelligence is Microsoft, which finances the startup OpenAI. Together they developed the GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) language model, which is currently the best existing searching tool for users. This system is called ChatGPT, and the possibilities of its use in everyday life are huge: Chat is able to create texts, jokes, poetry on a topic given by the user, answer questions as a search tool, and even just keep the conversation going. Of course, it is always better to verify the validity of the information provided by ChatGPT, as often the answers provided are not 100% true, but the developers are working on it. OpenAI has gone far beyond just creating their text-based chat system. The range of products created by them is very wide, for example, services for creating and generating images and videos are gaining popularity. In the field of development of “computer vision” technology, developers from China have also performed well. The company ShengShu Technology boasted that in cooperation with Beijing Tsinghua University has developed a new artificial intelligence system capable of creating a realistic video from just a few files. It is called Vidu and is an analog of Soru from the American ChatGPT. The videos that Vidu creates can be compared to professional movies in terms of quality, sometimes it is very difficult to differentiate them from reality. Today Vidu can create a video up to 16 seconds long. ChatGPT’s Sora overtakes Vidu in this aspect, because it can create videos up to 60 seconds long with the same high detail and resolution. But, for now, Sora is only available to selected users who are testing the system. Nevertheless, some finished clips are already buzzing around social media. Sora is still in development, testing, and OpenAI head Sam Altman warns that the program still has many flaws they are working on. We’re talking mostly about complex scenes in commercials where the system doesn’t always follow the laws of physics. After the testing is over and such flaws will be eliminated OpenAI plans to make its AI system available to the public. However, when exactly this will happen is still unknown.
This prospect is a bit worrying for artists and people working with computer graphics, because if it becomes possible to write a picture or create a movie in seconds in excellent quality, it may negatively affect the labor market in the field of art, but as practice shows the creators of art objects find a way out of the situation. It is possible to make friends with artificial intelligence.
In 2023, the Czech Republic built an art object with the help of artificial intelligence systems, called “Between conflicts” and located in the garden of the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague. The object is based on a modular system, it resembles defensive structures and at the same time reflects the context of what has been happening in Ukraine in recent years. The main elements are complemented by walls of undulating structure, their shape created with the help of 3D printing. On the walls and floor, structures created by Artificial Intelligence systems were used. One of the main requests of the architects that they wanted to display and requested from the AI during the creation of this object was: “Ukrainian children hiding in the forest, painted by Gustav Klimt and Mikolas Alsz”. The architects then used this request to convert them into digital data, codes that became the basis for printing the details. The architects used different data and images for each panel in the object. Once created, the art object was placed in the garden of the Museum of Applied Arts in a way that fits well into its socio-political and military context. This project was nominated in the Česká cena za architekturu competition, below you can see how it looks in reality. We can also see from this example that AI is likely to gain momentum among architects, planners, and in the field of construction in the future.
Another sector of the economy that is not very welcoming of the trend towards AI systems is the education sector. The Czech Republic is already undergoing significant changes in this area, and not all educators have time to adapt to the new realities. Considering that the average age of teachers in the Czech Republic is over 47 years old, this could be a problem, because the ability of a teacher to work with artificial intelligence will be a very important skill in the near future. Many teachers are not in the mood to be constantly trained in new technologies, they have enough and professional development courses, which teachers are obliged to take at the legislative level at intervals of about 1-2 years. It is now becoming obvious that it is no longer possible to ignore the emergence of artificial intelligence. Therefore, they are now looking for ways to introduce AI systems into the curriculum in a way that will benefit both teachers and students. In September 2023, when school programs for the whole school year are approved, artificial intelligence in Czech schools has not been officially mentioned, but there is a high probability that it will happen in the near future. Despite some confusion among teachers, the development of artificial intelligence is very welcome among pupils and students. Many programs are in free access and help to quickly do homework, solve an example in math or write an abstract in a foreign language. The most famous of them are OpenAI products. For example, now to solve an algebra formula you just need to download Photomath program on your phone and point the camera at the math task – the result will appear on the screen. It will also show and explain the steps that led to its solution. The same services exist for learning foreign languages. And ChatGPT can provide an answer to any question. The Czech Republic is already making attempts to introduce AI systems into the curriculum, for example, there are special online educational seminars for teachers on working with AI systems, there is also a face-to-face training AI dětem, which cooperates with the National Pedagogical Institute and is created by teachers and AI experts. The aim of this training is to adapt teachers and students to the new realities in education. The use of AI in education helps to make the process more interesting and visual, for example, PlantNet can be used in botany and biology, it can recognize a plant from a photo and show on a map where it grows around the world, Animated Drawings is suitable for drawing lessons, it can bring children’s drawings to life and turn them into animations. For almost every subject, you can find a way to use AI to make the educational process more interesting and enjoyable.
Nowadays, one can hardly find a field or a direction in which artificial intelligence is not used. This system is even used in modeling. For example, there is now a Miss AI competition, in which girls created exclusively with the help of AI are competing for first place. The registration of “participants” is already completed and the winner will be announced at the end of May. But just make a couple of photos and fight for the prize of a few thousand dollars will not work, according to the terms of the creators of the contest girls created with the help of artificial intelligence must be full-fledged virtual characters, namely: to lead social networks, communicate with fans and regularly add content. In addition to beauty, Miss AI will take into account the technology used and the popularity of the virtual girl online. Prizes will be awarded to the first three winning positions, but in addition to money, the team that created the winning character will also receive thousands of dollars for advertising or a mentorship program. For example, first place will receive $13,000 worth of prizes and $5,000 to the author.
All of the above examples are just a part of how diverse the possibilities for the use of AI technologies are. We can probably expect even more innovation and change in the future. But with that comes new risks. In May, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence. States called for the protection of human rights, the protection of personal data and the monitoring of risks associated with AI systems. All 193 members of the UN General Assembly spoke unanimously in favor of the resolution to monitor artificial intelligence. The resolution submitted by the U.S. is one of a series of initiatives aimed at governments around the world to try to manage the development of AI due to concerns that it could be abused by fraudsters, pose a potential threat to regulators and public safety (e.g. spreading misinformation and fake news), and lead to the loss of many jobs. Creators of artificial intelligence systems recognize the need for clear standards that will ensure the safe use of the technology. OpenAI, as a global leader in AI development, is also currently involved in the preparation of initiatives aimed at regulating the use of the technology by users.
Of course, the creation of artificial intelligence has already changed our lives and the world around us very much. Along with the development of this technology comes not only new perspectives, but also new questions to which we will be looking for an answer. Despite all its advantages, all the discoveries we make with the help of this technology, it is important to remember that AI remains only a tool in the hands of people, and it is in our power to ensure its development in the safest and most effective way for humans.