AI: "Artificial" or Augmented" Intelligence
The term “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) brings to mind to the notion of replacing human intelligence with something synthetic.Whereas Augmented intelligence as defined by Gartner is a design pattern for a human-centered partnership model of people and artificial intelligence (AI) working together to enhance cognitive performance, including learning, decision making and new experiences. Augmented Intelligence effectively uses technology in augmenting human intelligence. The idea was first proposed in the 1950s and 1960s as Intelligence Amplification (also referred to as cognitive augmentation and machine augmented intelligence).
Artificial Intelligence has encountered many fundamental obstacles, practical as well as theoretical, which for Augmented Intelligence seem moot, as it needs technology merely as an extra support for an autonomous intelligence that has already proven to function. Moreover, Augmented Intelligence has a long history of success, since all forms of information technology, from the abacus to writing to the Internet, have been developed basically to extend the information processing capabilities of the human mind.
Which AI - Artificial or Augmented?
Augmented Intelligence describes a combination of the human brain and the most reliable facets of artificial intelligence. This means it aims to build systems that enhance and scale human expertise and skills rather than replacing them. An approach using Augmented Intelligence plays to the strengths of both human analysts and machines, assuming that, between the two, humans tend to be the better decision makers while machines tend to be faster analysts. It also assumes that the human analyst should always be in the driver’s seat, and that the machine exists to assist, not replace. In Augmented Intelligence the human analyst is fundamental to the final output, but is now is able to deliver at a speed and scope that could only be achieved with the aid of intelligent machines.
Augmented Intelligence is comprehensive set of capabilities based on technologies which include Artificial Intelligence, but that go far beyond it. It comprises the fields of machine learning, reasoning and decision technologies, language, speech and vision recognition and processing technologies, human interface technologies, distributed and high-performance computing, and new computing architectures and devices. When purposefully integrated, these capabilities are designed to solve a wide range of practical problems, boost productivity, and foster new discoveries across many industries. The following Figure from CognitiveScale is a very good representation of the current landscape.
Augmented Intelligence Market
According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global augmented intelligence market generated $11.73 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $121.5 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 26.4% from 2021 to 2030. The augmented intelligence market is projected to prosper in the COVID-19 situation, owing to various government, public, and other organizations adopting work from home culture for their employees. Various IT & telecom industries are adopting augmented intelligence solutions for compensating the loss suffered due to the pandemic situation and improving their market share. Moreover, COVID-19 created a sudden requirement of remote working for the industry. Various companies across the globe have adopted work from home culture, which is increasing the adoption of internet services. This, in turn, is expected to drive the growth of the augmented intelligence market.
Based on component, the solution segment held the highest market share in 2020, holding nearly four-fifths of the total market share, and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the service segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 27.9% from 2021 to 2030. Based on enterprise size, the large enterprises segment held the largest market share in 2020, holding more than two-thirds of the total market share, and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the SMEs segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 28.3% from 2021 to 2030. Based on region, North America contributed to the highest share in terms of revenue in 2020, holding nearly two-fifths of the total market share, and is estimated to continue its dominant share by 2030. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 29.2% during the forecast period. Leading players of the global augmented intelligence market analyzed in the research include Amazon Web Services, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Micron Technology, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, QlikTech International AB, Salesforce.com, Inc., Samsung, SAP SE, Sisense Inc., and TIBCO Software Inc.
And Gartner predicts that AI augmentation will add more than $2 trillion to the U.S. economy this year.
The demand for human-augmentation of AI is growing as well. In 2020, Amazon Web Services released what it is calling A2I – a platform where developers can find humans to review their AI models and systems. As Amazon explains, "sometimes you need a human to review certain outcomes and tasks to catch mistakes or problems that a machine just can’t."
Augmented intelligence applications
As the IoT and smart object connectivity expands, we can expect to see augmented intelligence in almost all aspects of life. Augmented intelligence have applications in any industry that mines big data for patterns and predictive indicators. Examples include the following:
Online stores using data analytics to predict customer preferences
Political think tanks using big data analytics to identify undecided voters
Medical analysis of case files to identify efficient treatment options
Factory automation is overseen by human employees
Virtual customer service assistance based on natural language processing
Mobile video games using surrounding environments and data to create augmented reality events, superimposing computer-generated images on smartphone camera screens
Virtual tutors and instructors for distance education
Airplane and drone autopilot systems (pilots are required for takeoff, landing, and unexpected events while autopilots handle the mundane tasks associated with flight)
Investment and financial applications monitoring and identifying stock market patterns
Predictive maintenance of factory equipment based on past data
Augmented intelligence improves human decision-making both by handling large amounts of data that would overwhelm a human decision-maker, and by removing factors that can misinterpret data, including bias, fatigue, and distraction. It is important to remember, however, that humans can inject bias into augmented intelligence algorithms during system creation. When used together properly, augmented intelligence and human intelligence are greater than the sum of their parts. An IBM report, references a clinical study in which AI system had a 7.5 percent error rate when detecting lymph node cancer cells while human pathologists had a 3.5 percent error rate. When input from both the AI system and pathologists was combined, however, the error rate dropped to 0.5 percent.
Augmented intelligence offers a chance to make more accurate data-driven decisions in science, business, and everyday life. It represents a symbiotic relationship between man and machine. Rather than replacing us, augmented intelligence helps heighten our decision-making ability and by extension, our intelligence too.