Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

One of the big topics at Davos has been the role of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robots. Discussions focus less on the technological advancements but more on the role humans and robots will play. At the Financial Times - Wipro Dinner, that topic was put to debate with six prominent guests including:

• David Cheesewright, President and CEO of Walmart International
• Erik Brynjolfsoon, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and co-author of best-selling book, The Second Machine Age
• TK Kurien, Executive Vice-Chairman and Member of the Board of Wipro Ltd
• Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of Nestle Group
• Illah R. Nourbaksh, Professor of Robotics at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University
• Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO

Where Will Man vs Machine Take Us In This Era?

The discussion included answers to key topics such as:

• What are the effects of digital disintermediation, advanced robotics and the sharing economy on productivity growth, job creation and purchasing power?
• How are businesses harnessing AI and other technologies to lead the way in re-imagining the economics and dynamics of a machine age society
• Redundancy vs. creation

The Hype Is Ahead Of The Science

Key points from the discussion include:

• Jobs displacement by AI is not that simple a debate. If one job is taken, another is created.  The question is will that be a 1:1 pairing and what skill levels are required?
• TK Kurien made a good point as to whether or not Neocortal intelligence would come too soon?
• It doesn't have to be either /or in the man v machine debate. We have to find how technology can help humans.
• AI is changing the food industry & the value chain becoming more transparent

The Bottom Line: The Era Of Cognitive Computing Will Change How We Augment Humanity

Cognitive computing is more than a new category.  Cognitive systems represent a convergence of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, dynamic learning, and hypothesis generation to render vast quantities of data intelligible to help humans make better decisions. The ability to self-learn enables continuously reprogramming.  These advancements represent a new class of technology to enable human and machine-guided decisions. Cognitive computing drives augmented humanity, where the sum of our collective insights and data can be served up at the right time in the right context. Technologies include facial recognition, human APIs, machine learning, natural language processing and self-learning algorithms.  Moreover, a set of global digital ethics must be developed in parallel if we are to put forth machines that mimic humanity.

Your POV.

Who will win man or machine or will we coexist?  Will we have a set of digital ethics in time?  What are your thoughts from this session?
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

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