Scott Robins: Have realistic expectations about AI
"AI must be boring," says Dr. Scott Robbins about a technology that has enormous expectations based on imaginative imagery. The potential is great, especially that of machine learning (ML), but in order to make optimal use of it, it is important to look at it in a realistic way. Then, for example, ML can be useful in applications such as counterterrorism.
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) has captured our imagination for a long time," said Dr. Scott Robbins, Research Fellow, CASSIS, University of Bonn. “When we think of AI, many people think of robots that can do everything we can. And eventually they will become partners, and in the long run even be smarter than us. At least that's got to make you believe the hype around it. But if you really delve into AI, the things it does well are pretty boring. "
He points out that AI can be very good at categorizing images, such as searching for a cat in a photo, for example. Or AI can perform text analysis to find certain words or translate that text. “I don't want to say that translating is boring, it is actually very exciting. But compared to expectations about universal AI and 'robots taking over the world', it's pretty boring. "
