Our ubiquitous AI

"I do know this. If we were smart as a country, we would be prepping our youngsters to learn more and more about how AI works. How to program it. How to use it. Why? As they said in the old days, 'There is gold in them thar hills!' AI will be where many of the new jobs will be."

Well, that sure did not take long, did it. We were warned that in the 2020 decade, AI was going to make a huge jump. Like, it was going to be in just about everything. Here it is only 2024, and AI is starting to become ubiquitous. How much so? Last night I was watching something on TV, and there was a commercial for a cable company. The big push for this advertisement was this cable company now had AI baked into their sports shows. The AI could anticipate what the viewer wanted to see - like which angle for a play. Really? And how does that work?

Then I started to think. Is AI all that and a bag of chips, or is it a wee bit of hype also? My wife and I were due for an upgrade on our phones. It had been a while, so much had changed in the technology of the phone. Of course, the tag line was, "And - they are loaded with AI!" Again, what does that mean? What can they do that my old phone could not do? So far - I have not found it.

I do know from doing some research that the newer phones will be needed to interact properly with the upcoming Internet of Things (IoT). Maybe that is when the AI really starts to earn its salt. One of the funniest things I have seen recently is some AI software which can detect product (either in writing or art), which had an AI component to it. In other words, AI being a fraud buster for other AI which is masquerading to be original content.

My Microsoft Suite has co-pilot embedded within it. Co-pilot is AI for MS Office. It pops up all the time, even when I don't summon it. Always ready to give me a suggestion or a hint. Once in a while that is helpful. Other times - a bother more than helpful. But it is there, and according to the MS developers, co-pilot gets better, and learns more, every day. Will I eventually be sold on co-pilot? Maybe.

I do know this. If we were smart as a country, we would be prepping our youngsters to learn more and more about how AI works. How to program it. How to use it. Why? As they said in the old days, "There is gold in them thar hills!" AI will be where many of the new jobs will be. If not in programing, then how to properly use it. Training our kids for yesterday jobs is a fool's errand. Looking over the horizon for what and where the good jobs will be (and training for them), will make great nations even greater. 

Tired of AI yet? Don't be, as we are just getting started. Be aware however, much of AI is just saying those two initials together. Soon, AI will have some teeth in it, and will be a great tool for us to have. But for right now, as was said in the TV show Kung Fu - "patience grasshopper".