Machine Learning (ML) and Its Impact on Humanity

Jan 19, 2018

We are surrounded with products and services that have been powered by AI & ML. Our emails detecting spam, webpage offering ads of the products we are interested in, speech and text recognition, are some of the potent examples of our daily lives being powered by Machine Learning (ML). But ML has the power to reshape humanity and for the better.

Machine Learning is considered as the most dynamic and progressive form of human-like Artificial Intelligence. Today ML is being used extensively in various industries like automobiles, genetics, medicine, finance etc. to automate procedures, in reducing the processing time and to remove the possibility of human errors. Also, ML helps in analyzing at a scale, thus helping in making quicker and better decisions.

Growing popularity
As of 2017, a quarter of organizations are spending 15 percent or more of their IT budget on machine learning capabilities. The “Big Data” you keep hearing about is only made possible through ML.

Impact of ML in various fields
Education - Our education system has been structured for the masses and not the individual, but every child is unique and has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. This is where Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will help; they will allow for customizing the courses as per every child’s unique set of skills and abilities. Many tech giants are investing heavily in this direction and most notable is Mark Zuckerberg, who is testing software that will let the students be in charge of their learning. Lampix will allow any surface to be turned into an Augmented Reality powered surface. This will allow education, especially in the developing world, to take a paradigm shift from resource intensive teaching to next-gen learning.

Healthcare
A very common cause of death around the world (especially third world countries) is wrong diagnosis by the medical practioner. With the help of ML, diagnostic capabilities can be enhanced significantly; a large amount of data fed to our systems will help in mapping epidemic trends and better predict the outcome. For example, Google AI algorithm identified diabetic blindness slightly better than an ophthalmologist.

Climate change
ML can prove to be a game changer in addressing this global issue. ML can control street lights, which can in turn help in reducing car emission (Spokane, WA is alre ady trying it out), it can be used to map the earth’s surface which will help in tracking down deforestation, water shortages and alert about other geographical changes.

Conclusion
The social and ethical impact of ML will continue to stir the world's imagination. Its ability to process gargantuan amounts of data and recognize patterns in real-time would help create a new framework for problem solving. ML is a force for good that can help finally resolve issues considered impossible by our world leaders.