The arrival of AI

There is no universally agreed definition of AI. According to OECD1 and UNCTAD, “AI is defined as the ability of machines and systems to acquire and apply knowledge, and to carry out intelligent behavior. “This includes a variety of cognitive tasks (e.g. sensing, processing oral language, reasoning, learning and making decisions) and demonstrating an ability to move and manipulate objects accordingly. Intelligent systems use a combination of big data analytics, cloud computing, machineto-machine communication and the Internet of Things (IoT) to operate and learn. AI is a software and generally algorithm based although its functions (e.g. talking or playing a game) need to be reflected by physical substance (such as robots). In this sense, AI is like a human brain. With all this talk about AI, what can it do for developing countries? AI holds immense potential for increasing productivity, most obviously by helping firms and people use resources more efficiently, and by streamlining the way we interact with large sets of data. In healthcare, data from smartphones and fitness trackers that are analyzed using new machine learning techniques, can improve management of chronic conditions as well as predicting and preventing acute episodes of illness. In the legal sector, AI can be used t to sift court documents and legal records for case-relevant information. Other firms are using similar techniques as part of due diligence. In the area of cybersecurity, AI offers a way of recognizing unusual patterns of behavior in a network. These examples focus on using software to do the same thing as humans but, in many cases, analyzing data of volume or complexity that is beyond the analytical capability of individual humans. Indeed, AI is not a replacement, or substitute for human intelligence. It is an entirely different way of reaching conclusions.