How artificial intelligence is already dominating our lives
While many are debating how the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) will impact our futures, especially with jobs — many fail to realize that the technology is already dominating a majority of our daily lives.
From choosing a movie on Netflix to using our smartphones to shopping, Americans are interacting with AI whether they realize it or not.
Here are seven examples of how you are using AI every day.
1. Smartphones
If you use a smart assistant, whether it’s the Google assistant, Siri, Alexa or Bixby, you are interacting with AI.
2. Google Maps
Using anonymized location data from your smartphone, Google can analyze the speed of movement of traffic at any given time and help commuters avoid traffic incidents like construction and accidents.
3. Ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft
How do you think they determine the price of your ride or the wait time? Many ridesharing apps use machine learning to determine ETAs for rides, costs and optimal routes for drivers.
4. Email
While your email inbox may seem like an unlikely place for AI, you may want to look at one of its most important features — the spam filter. Through the use of machine learning algorithms, many email services can filter out a majority of spam emails through key words and message metadata.
5. Banking
A majority of banks now offer the ability to deposit checks through a smartphone app, eliminating the need for customers to go to an ATM or bank. According to several reports, a vast majority of those banks which offer the service rely on technology developed by Mitek, which uses AI to decipher and convert handwriting on checks into texts.
6. Social Networking
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat all use AI, whether it’s through facial filters, auto-suggesting emoji or hashtags, for ad placements. Facebook also uses the technology to personalize your newsfeed and ensure that you’re seeing posts that interest you.
7. Online Shopping
Whether it’s Amazon, Walmart or one of your favorite retailers, many e-commerce sites are using AI to help you shop by suggesting products it thinks you might like.