Artificial Intelligence Primer
Richard Busulwa · 2022
The overarching theme of the digital technologies and concepts covered in this chapter is the design, use, and optimization of information systems and applications that can sense, comprehend, and recommend or take action. The design and use of such digital technologies and concepts are collectively referred to as artificial intelligence (AI). Artificial intelligence includes but extends far beyond familiar AI technologies like robots, smart devices, chatbots, and virtual assistants. AI is set to fundamentally transform how products and services are delivered and how the organizations delivering these products and services operate. Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, AI Fund, Landing.AI, and Google Brain uses the metaphor of the disruptive and transformative power of the internet to explain the disruptive and transformative power of AI. 1 The advent of the internet saw some companies aspire to become internet-enabled companies and others aspire to become true internet companies. While those aspiring to be internet-enabled companies focused on building and operating a website, those aspiring to be true internet companies focused on architecting the whole company to fully leverage the new capabilities of the internet. 2 Many companies focusing on being internet enabled missed the point (the disruptive and transformative power of the internet) and were leapfrogged by true internet companies (e.g., Blockbuster vs Netflix, Borders vs Amazon). In the same way, today many companies may be aspiring to become AI-enabled companies when they really ought to be aspiring to become true AI companies (rearchitecting the whole organization to fully leverage the new capabilities of AI).