Getting the Big Picture
There are so many articles, books, and courses on AI and Machine Learning that it’s easy to be confused by the details. It’s hard to “see the forest for the trees.” There is one website that attempts to provide this missing larger context. Kate Crawford and Meredith Whittaker created the AI Now Institute, and they use their own backgrounds from high technology and from business/arts to give an informed, rounded perspective. Here’s an interview with Kate and Meredith to give you a taste: https://www.recode.net/podcasts/2019/4/8/18299736/artificial-intelligence-ai-meredith-whittaker-kate-crawford-kara-swisher-decode-podcast-interview
Case Study at IBM, the Creators of Watson
One example of how an AI company actually uses AI is IBM’s application to predict when employees are ready to quit their jobs (with 95% accuracy). Trained employees are so valuable, that the system then attempts to diagnose their dissatisfaction and work with them through additional training or problem resolution to keep them happy and productive. Imagine if such a system could be applied to teachers and administrators in education! Here’s the link to a discussion with IBM’s CEO Ginni Rometty: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-artificial-intelligence-predict-95-154039775.html