Cutting Edge Applications Today
Skydio, an autonomous, self-flying, camera drone. This captures the spirit of the intersection of many AI fields to produce a system that can work in the real world. See it to believe it (many more videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh5pAT1o2V8
Categorized into relevant categories, the Burnie Group has detailed 29 current “cutting edge” applications of AI and Machine Learning: https://burniegroup.com/29-cutting-edge-applications-of-artificial-intelligence/
Where are the AI and ML Jobs? EVERYWHERE (see samples below)
AI and ML, like many technologies, cross all traditional boundaries from education and entertainment to manufacturing and military. Here’s a description of 7 surprising places where AI and ML are pushing the envelope: https://medium.com/@Philips/7-surprising-companies-where-you-can-work-on-cutting-edge-ai-technology-93aca07df75
Cutting Edge Research (like at Google)
Google’s Brain Team AI research group is one of the most advanced in the world. Visit their website to see their current projects, papers, and interests: https://ai.google/research/teams/brain/
Where to Continue Learning about AI and Machine Learning
The two big MOOC providers, Coursera and EdX, both offer many courses, specializations, nanodegrees, and university credit work in all phases of data science, statistics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Those are some of the most popular courses in the world today, and they will continue to offer cutting-edge content as the fields advance. From their home pages, just search for relevant terms to find the courses: http://coursera.org and http://edx.org
YouTube offers a massive range of talks and tutorials on all phases of AI and ML. Be cautious about whether the videos you see are appropriate for your level and whether the videos are relatively current (because software versions change rapidly in this field).
THE FUTURE? It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. ~Yogi Berra
The future of AI and Machine Learning is as much about the future of INTELLIGENCE, itself, as it is about technological advancement. As the 2017 article below explains, AI researchers are often unable to determine why For example, the article suggests, “It might be part of the nature of intelligence that only part of it is exposed to rational explanation…” The article is full of insights to ponder that are seldom raised in the media or in academic or technical discussion. Here’s the link to a fascinating article about the fast-approaching unknown: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604087/the-dark-secret-at-the-heart-of-ai/