The Future Is Now

Sixty-five years ago, tech scientists started driving the artificial intelligence train that is now an unstoppable juggernaut impacting all walks of life, whether we realise it or not, writes Stephen Corby.

- Stephen Corby

There’s a name that’s mentioned in every story written about artificial intelligence since 1984, and it’s not a scientist. It’s Arnold Schwarzenegger. So let’s get this out of the way. The Terminator is a very fine film, but it is not a documentary.

Futurist and author Gihan Perera, who has been watching computer intelligence grow exponentially for 30 years, admits, “Artificial intelligence scares some people. They think it’s a killer robot. They’re thinking of Arnie Schwarzenegger, but that’s not what AI is. It’s just self-learning software.

“We don’t need to worry about ‘the singularity’. That’s dystopian thinking. But there’s also a utopian view where, thanks to AI, we’ll all be living lives of luxury, doing everything we choose to do.

“The reality will be somewhere in between.”

This sounds vaguely reassuring. What’s not in doubt is that businesses which don’t quickly adapt to and capitalise on the myriad advantages of AI will be terminated by those that do.

“In business, if you’re not engaging with AI, you’re going to get beaten; it’s that simple,” explains Perera, author of Disrupted: Leading the Change Through Crisis, Recovery and Growth.

“One of the biggest mistakes that I see leaders make with AI is that they don’t realise how powerful it already is. They pray that they won’t need to get on the AI bandwagon because they think it’s too difficult, but it’s already here, and the businesses on the bandwagon are riding away from them.”

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH