You Use AI Every Day – Whether You Like It Or Not
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Artificial Intelligence or AI as it’s better known. For some, it’s a word that’s full of controversy and double meanings. To others, it means advancement, ingenuity, and the future of mankind.
Do you have an opinion on the matter? Did you even realize that if you’re reading this article, you’ve probably used it today?
How? Let me explain.
What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence is exactly what its name suggests. It’s intelligence that’s not a living being. For most people alive today, AI is nothing new. Unfortunately, it’s embedded in nearly everything we do.
Here are just a few things, that you probably use daily, where AI helps make your life “easier.”
Your Word Processing Program (i.e., MS Word, Google Docs, etc.)
Most document writing software has embedded grammar and spell checkers. Both are artificial intelligence.
The more recent versions identify your style of writing, and what you’re looking for. And then provides suggestions to finish your words and even sentences. Even typing up this article, the software on my laptop suggested words and pointed out incorrect punctuation and misspelled words.
I even tried to misspell “misspelled” and it autocorrected the word.
Autocorrect On Your Smartphone
Have you ever been typing a text or email on your phone, and it used a word different than the one you wanted?
I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had to send a second text apologizing for the wrong word being sent.
The other night, I sent a text message and meant to say “should’ve” but my phone changed it to “shouldn’t” instead.
In my impatience, I typed fast and hit send before seeing the error. And I’ve received texts from others that it was obvious it happened to them as well.
Thankfully it wasn’t a business contact.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR aka Phone Bot)
Recently, I called into my bank. Not sure if you’ve recently called a business or bank, but most business lines are no longer answered by a human being. And haven’t been for some time. Most are answered by an interactive voice response (IVR).
When you call in, the bot will ask you questions. Based on your response(s), it will navigate you to a human. Or at least we hope it will.
Depending on your accent, or tone of voice, you may have to repeat yourself multiple times.
Smart Elevators
Similar to the IVR, smart elevators react to your command. Some elevators no longer have the buttons to select the floor of your desire. While some smart elevators still have them available, they’re just hidden behind a metal plate.
Either way, there’s a big push to go touch-free. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t working on a way for the elevator to just know what floor to take you to.
In actuality, nearly everything we interact with has some form of AI embedded in it. If not, some think tank is trying to make it so. Just like so many other things in this world. Sometimes it’s a good thing. While other times, it seems downright evil.
If you got value out of this post, consider reading Will AI Replace Your Job in 2024?
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