Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1138801
04.07.19 12 OPINION George Mangion George M. Mangion is a senior partner of PKF Malta, an audit and consultancy firm | gmm@pkfmalta.com R egardless of how arti cial intelli- gence (AI) is de ned, there is little doubt that this resource can be of great value, especially in biotech appli- cations and its accessory components of ubiquitous data, high-speed connections, and autonomous robots. Undoubtedly, A.I is fast becoming a major technological tool for prescrip- tive analytics, the step beyond predic- tive analytics that helps us determine how to implement and/or optimize op- timal decisions. In business applications it can assess future risks, quantify probabilities and in so doing, give us insights how to improve market penetration, customer satisfac- tion, security analysis, trade execution, fraud detection and prevention, while proving indispensable in land and air traf- fi c control, national security and defence. is is not to mention a host of health- care applications such as patient-specifi c treatments for diseases and illnesses. Recently the popular concept of "Sin- gularity" was perceived by computer scientists. e idea was formally coined in 1993 by Vernor Vinge, a scientist and science fi ction writer, who posited that accelerating technological change would inevitably lead to machine intelligence that would match and then surpass hu- man intelligence. In his original essay, Dr Vinge suggest- ed that the point in time at which ma- chines attained superhuman intelligence would happen sometime between 2005 and 2030. To mention a few examples of the rapid progress made by research and development co-funded by multi-na- tional fi rms one may start by mentioning Google. e giant search engine fi rm is a pio- neer in the fi eld of artifi cial intelligence, developing self-driving automobiles, smartphone assistants and other exam- ples of machine learning. Equally ominous was the prediction four years ago by the late Prof Hawking who said the primitive forms of artifi cial intelligence developed so far have al- ready proved very useful, but he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans. "Humans, who are limited by slow bio- logical evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded." Others, think this warning is too pessi- mistic and argue that we are a long way from having the computing power or the ability to develop the algorithms need- ed to achieve full artifi cial intelligence. It will not hit us as yet for a number of decades. On the contrary, there is always the fear of what the future brings since we can- not quite know what will happen if a ma- chine exceeds our own intelligence. We can't know if we'll be infi nitely helped by it, or ignored by it or conceivably de- stroyed by it. When it comes to use of artifi cial intel- ligence in powering complex robotics one cannot ignore the worst fears of promi- nent technologists and scientists like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, who have all voiced alarm over the pos- sible emergence of self-aware machines which unless harnessed, may well be out to do harm to the human race. One may ask who is funding such ex- pensive research. e answer is a cohort of venture capitalists who are constantly poised to look out for talented persons in their ongoing recruiting outreach. It isn't uncommon for research fi rms to seek top notch university graduates who show leadership potential. Masayoshi Son is a Japanese investor who created Softbank which he wants to mimic a "virtual Silicon Valley ", meaning a platform on which unicorn s(start-ups that turned to become a billion dollar marvel) can off er each other contacts and advice, buy goods and services from each other, and even join forces. Son told CNBC that people should brace themselves for the proliferation of artifi cial intelligence as it will change the way we live within three decades. Son, who founded SoftBank in the 1980s, has grand visions of what techno- logical advancements the future holds. SoftBank's subsidiaries are pushing the frontiers of technology in areas such as the "Internet of ings", artifi cial intelli- gence and deep learning. It hatched the unique "Vision Fund" with a $100 billion war chest looking to invest in start-ups with operational experience, and techni- cal background. For this purpose, the Vision Fund is aggressively competing with traditional technology investors in Silicon Valley in a no-holds-barred fi ght for talent. Son believes he has a unique ability to predict future technology trends, and gallantly states he is ready for the gamble. Soft- Bank is synonymous with its charismat- ic founder that is reshaping global tech with its colossal treasure box. It is shaking up the cosy world of Sil- icon Valley venture capital. e gargan- tuan fund lures start-ups to cash out from the clutches of Google, Facebook and Amazon - having its massive cheque book it gives entrepreneurs a better shot at competing with the titans. e fund wants to perform a similar function in China, where nearly half of all unicorns are by now backed by one of the country's four tech giants, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent or JD.com. In passing, one may feel that the disruptive path of new tech- nology cannot fi nd a better champion than Softbank with its aggressive invest- ment appetite to nurture new ventures. Readers appreciate this disruptive tech- nology has a benign purpose and is help- ing to link various civilizations, improve crop yields and speed up the progress in complex human Genome classifi cation. Delivery drones, both wheeled and air- borne may in the near future compete with couriers while supermarket robots silently stack food items on shelves and move merchandise in warehouses. Artifi cial intelligence in machines can even replicate human judgments previ- ously considered to be too complex. Im- agine how in the next decade, there will be robots which are effi cient and devoid of emotions quietly supervising hun- dreds of complex factory operations. In conclusion, as if by magic, the Vi- sion Fund will help humanity get ma- chines able to develop complex algo- rithms that 'learn' from past examples – perhaps then, Son can happily claim that he has reached the pinnacle of his dream. Artificial intelligence is spreading like wildfire Japanese investor Masayoshi Son wants his Softbank to mimic a 'virtual Silicon Valley'