

8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

Artificial Intelligence

What it is and why it matters

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to
new inputs and perform human-like tasks. Most AI examples that you hear about today – from
chess-playing computers to self-driving cars – rely heavily on deep learning and natural
language processing. Using these technologies, computers can be trained to accomplish
specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in the data.

Artificial Intelligence History

The term artificial intelligence was coined in 1956, but AI has become more popular today thanks to
increased data volumes, advanced algorithms, and improvements in computing power and storage.

Early AI research in the 1950s explored topics like problem solving and symbolic methods. In the 1960s,
the US Department of Defense took interest in this type of work and began training computers to mimic
basic human reasoning. For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
completed street mapping projects in the 1970s. And DARPA produced intelligent personal assistants in
2003, long before Siri, Alexa or Cortana were household names.

This early work paved the way for the automation and formal reasoning that we see in computers today,
including decision support systems and smart search systems that can be designed to complement and
augment human abilities.

While Hollywood movies and science fiction novels depict AI as human-like robots that take over the world,
the current evolution of AI technologies isn’t that scary – or quite that smart. Instead, AI has evolved to
provide many specific benefits in every industry. Keep reading for modern examples of artificial intelligence
in health care, retail and more.

1950s–1970s
Neural Networks

Early work with neural networks stirs excitement for “thinking machines.”

1980s–2010s
Machine Learning
Machine learning becomes popular.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 1/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

Present Day
Deep Learning
Deep learning breakthroughs drive AI boom.

Artificial Intelligence
and Machine Learning
Quick, watch this video to understand the
relationship between AI and machine learning.
You'll see how these two technologies work, with
examples and a few funny asides.

Plus, this is a great video to share with friends and

family to explain artificial intelligence in a way that
anyone will understand.

Why is artificial intelligence important?

 AI automates repetitive learning and  AI analyzes more and deeper data using
discovery through data. But AI is different neural networks that have many hidden
from hardware-driven, robotic automation. layers. Building a fraud detection system
Instead of automating manual tasks, AI with five hidden layers was almost
performs frequent, high-volume, impossible a few years ago. All that has
computerized tasks reliably and without changed with incredible computer power
fatigue. For this type of automation, and big data. You need lots of data to
human inquiry is still essential to set up train deep learning models because they
the system and ask the right questions. learn directly from the data. The more
data you can feed them, the more
 AI adds intelligence to existing products. accurate they become.
In most cases, AI will not be sold as an
individual application. Rather, products  AI achieves incredible accuracy through
you already use will be improved with AI deep neural networks – which was
capabilities, much like Siri was added as previously impossible. For example, your
a feature to a new generation of Apple interactions with Alexa, Google Search
products. Automation, conversational and Google Photos are all based on deep
platforms, bots and smart machines can learning – and they keep getting more
be combined with large amounts of data accurate the more we use them. In the
to improve many technologies at home medical field, AI techniques from deep
learning, image classification and object

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 2/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

and in the workplace, from security recognition can now be used to find
intelligence to investment analysis. cancer on MRIs with the same accuracy
as highly trained radiologists.
 AI adapts through progressive learning
algorithms to let the data do the  AI gets the most out of data. When
programming. AI finds structure and algorithms are self-learning, the data itself
regularities in data so that the algorithm can become intellectual property. The
acquires a skill: The algorithm becomes a answers are in the data; you just have to
classifier or a predictor. So, just as the apply AI to get them out. Since the role of
algorithm can teach itself how to play the data is now more important than ever
chess, it can teach itself what product to before, it can create a competitive
recommend next online. And the models advantage. If you have the best data in a
adapt when given new data. Back competitive industry, even if everyone is
propagation is an AI technique that allows applying similar techniques, the best data
the model to adjust, through training and will win.
added data, when the first answer is not
quite right.

WildTrack and SAS: Saving endangered species

one footprint at a time.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 3/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

Flagship species like the

cheetah are
disappearing. And with
them, the biodiversity that
supports us all. WildTrack
is exploring the value of
artificial intelligence in
conservation – to analyze
footprints the way
indigenous trackers do
and protect these
endangered animals from
extinction.

Artificial Intelligence in Today's World

See AI in Every Industry

Peek inside an AI-enabled hospital, an AI-assisted retail store and a predictive analytics system that talks.
This report from Harvard Business Review examines the AI landscape, takes a look at the AI workforce –
and explains why you shouldn’t swear at Siri.

AI and the Internet of Things

Data is all around us. The Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors have the ability to harness large volumes of
data, while artificial intelligence (AI) can learn patterns in the data to automate tasks for a variety of
business benefits.

Integrate AI into your Analytics Program

For AI to be used effectively, it’s important that the strategy around it feeds into your larger business
strategy, always taking into account the convergence of people, process and technology.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 4/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

Separate Hype From Reality

AI is helping to embed "greater smartness into machines" but it is not taking over the world, says Oliver
Schabenberger, SAS Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.

How Artificial Intelligence Is Being Used

Every industry has a high demand for AI capabilities – especially question answering systems
that can be used for legal assistance, patent searches, risk notification and medical research.
Other uses of AI include:

Health Care Retail

AI applications can provide personalized medicine AI provides virtual shopping capabilities that offer
and X-ray readings. Personal health care personalized recommendations and discuss
assistants can act as life coaches, reminding you to purchase options with the consumer. Stock
take your pills, exercise or eat healthier. management and site layout technologies will also
be improved with AI.

Manufacturing Banking
AI can analyze factory IoT data as it streams from Artificial Intelligence enhances the speed, precision
connected equipment to forecast expected load and effectiveness of human efforts. In financial
and demand using recurrent networks, a specific institutions, AI techniques can be used to identify
type of deep learning network used with sequence which transactions are likely to be fraudulent, adopt
data. fast and accurate credit scoring, as well as
automate manually intense data management
tasks.

Working together with AI

Artificial intelligence is not here to replace us. It augments our abilities and
makes us better at what we do. Because AI algorithms learn differently than
humans, they look at things differently. They can see relationships and
patterns that escape us. This human, AI partnership offers many opportunities.
It can:

 Bring analytics to industries and domains where it’s currently

underutilized.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 5/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

 Improve the performance of existing analytic technologies, like

computer vision and time series analysis.

 Break down economic barriers, including language and

translation barriers.

 Augment existing abilities and make us better at what we do.

 Give us better vision, better understanding, better memory and

much more.

What are the challenges of using artificial

intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is going to change every industry, but we have to understand its limits.

The principle limitation of AI is that it learns from the data. There is no other way in which knowledge ca
be incorporated. That means any inaccuracies in the data will be reflected in the results. And any addit
layers of prediction or analysis have to be added separately.

Today’s AI systems are trained to do a clearly defined task. The system that plays poker cannot play
solitaire or chess. The system that detects fraud cannot drive a car or give you legal advice. In fact, an
system that detects health care fraud cannot accurately detect tax fraud or warranty claims fraud.

In other words, these systems are very, very specialized. They are focused on a single task and are far
from behaving like humans.

Likewise, self-learning systems are not autonomous systems. The imagined AI technologies that you s
movies and TV are still science fiction. But computers that can probe complex data to learn and perfec
specific tasks are becoming quite common.

SAS ® Visual Data

Mining and Machine
Learning
AI is simplified when you can prepare data
for analysis, develop models with modern
machine-learning algorithms and integrate
text analytics all in one product. Plus, you
can code projects that combine SAS with
other languages, including Python, R, Java
or Lua.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 6/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

How Artificial Intelligence Works

AI works by combining large amounts of data with fast, iterative processing and intelligent algorithms,
allowing the software to learn automatically from patterns or features in the data. AI is a broad field of study
that includes many theories, methods and technologies, as well as the following major subfields:

 Machine learning automates analytical model building. It uses methods from neural
networks, statistics, operations research and physics to find hidden insights in data without
explicitly being programmed for where to look or what to conclude.

 A neural network is a type of machine learning that is made up of interconnected units (like
neurons) that processes information by responding to external inputs, relaying information
between each unit. The process requires multiple passes at the data to find connections
and derive meaning from undefined data.

 Deep learning uses huge neural networks with many layers of processing units, taking
advantage of advances in computing power and improved training techniques to learn
complex patterns in large amounts of data. Common applications include image and
speech recognition.

 Cognitive computing is a subfield of AI that strives for a natural, human-like interaction with
machines. Using AI and cognitive computing, the ultimate goal is for a machine to simulate
human processes through the ability to interpret images and speech – and then speak
coherently in response.

 Computer vision relies on pattern recognition and deep learning to recognize what’s in a
picture or video. When machines can process, analyze and understand images, they can
capture images or videos in real time and interpret their surroundings.

 Natural language processing (NLP) is the ability of computers to analyze, understand and
generate human language, including speech. The next stage of NLP is natural language
interaction, which allows humans to communicate with computers using normal, everyday
language to perform tasks.

Additionally, several technologies enable and support AI:

 Graphical processing units are key to AI because they provide the heavy compute power
that’s required for iterative processing. Training neural networks requires big data plus
compute power.

 The Internet of Things generates massive amounts of data from connected devices, most
of it unanalyzed. Automating models with AI will allow us to use more of it.
https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 7/8
8/28/2019 Artificial Intelligence – What it is and why it matters | SAS

 Advanced algorithms are being developed and combined in new ways to analyze more
data faster and at multiple levels. This intelligent processing is key to identifying and
predicting rare events, understanding complex systems and optimizing unique scenarios.

 APIs, or application processing interfaces, are portable packages of code that make it
possible to add AI functionality to existing products and software packages. They can add
image recognition capabilities to home security systems and Q&A capabilities that describe
data, create captions and headlines, or call out interesting patterns and insights in data.

In summary, the goal of AI is to provide software that can reason on input and explain on output. AI will
provide human-like interactions with software and offer decision support for specific tasks, but it’s not a
replacement for humans – and won’t be anytime soon.

https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html 8/8