Introduction
Technology has dramatically impacted our society, and many people have been benefiting from it in numerous ways. For example, it is now easier to communicate with other people through smartphones. Aside from this, it is also possible to quickly send and receive documents via email or chat, as well as order food through different delivery apps. In line with this, we can say that life with the presence of technology has become quite comfortable and straightforward in ways which we could not have imagined.
As technology plays a significant role in our daily lives, the rise of artificial intelligence and intelligent machines has become essential. It has come to a point wherein it is hard to imagine living life without these.
Artificial intelligence has made it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. With this, work efficiency has dramatically improved. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can take over repetitive or dangerous tasks, which helps free up the human workforce.
In this way, artificial intelligence helps the society achieve optimum productivity as they go through their daily lives.
What is Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines?
Artificial intelligence, also known as the Industrial Revolution, is the intelligence that machines are capable of displaying. Artificial intelligence or AI also applies to systems or machines that are programmed to mimic how humans carry out different tasks. These machines or systems also improve through data collection.
The humble beginnings of artificial intelligence can be traced back to the attempts of classical philosophers in describing human thinking as a symbolic system. It was then formally founded in 1956 at a conference in Dartmouth College located in Hanover, New Hampshire, where the term “artificial intelligence” was first coined.
Artificial intelligence focuses on the process and its capability for superpowered thinking and data analysis rather than its particular format or function. Despite the belief that artificial intelligence is merely a machine that replaces human labor to work more quickly and effectively, artificial intelligence is actually intended to enhance human capabilities and contributions. It is a system that correctly interprets external data and uses such data to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation.
Along with the continuous development of technology in the new era, artificial intelligence is frequently being seen throughout our everyday life. Every person has become accustomed to it, which led to significant breakthroughs of AI in various fields such as healthcare, physics, manufacturing, finance, and retail.
Common Myths about Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is all the rage. Having AI functions in various products make up for the aspirational functionality, no matter if the price is high or not. But how is it possible to distinguish the reality from the myths regarding artificial intelligence?
It is easy to be misled by the popular myths and misconceptions about artificial intelligence. Below are some of the myths and misconceptions about AI that are important to be aware of in order to allow better decision making when it comes to investing the available time and resources.
Myth 1: Data scientists, machine learning experts, and a huge amount of budget is needed to use AI for your business
In reality, there are many tools with AI that do not require significant monetary investments available for businesses to use. AI applications require deep expertise and heavy lifting by Ph.Ds. and computational linguists, but some software tools or programs with AI are more accessible in the market.
Myth 2: AI requires a build-it-yourself approach
In most enterprises, artificial intelligence is utilized by combining both in-house and out-of-the-box solutions. In-house AI developments allow the business to customize according to their unique business needs. On the other hand, prebuilt AI solutions will provide a ready-to-go solution for the more common business problems.
This also means that the business value of an AI product or system lies in using existing AI tools that address the application components and their configuration to the specific needs of the business. This kind of process requires less data science expertise and more knowledge of the business’ processes and needs.
Myth 3: The more data an AI obtains, the better
Enterprises that adopt artificial intelligence need data for their product or system to perform smart data. If you want to make the most out of AI, it is a necessity that the obtained data is of high-quality, up to date, relevant, and enriched. But that is just the start of things.
AI is not only about data, algorithms, and models. Your AI solution must be scalable so that it can meet your changing business needs from time to time. Many people believe that AI algorithms have a “load and go” approach.
The problem with this kind of approach is its vast landscape of knowledge, and AI cannot make sense of data that is too broad or has not been processed to make it digestible by the system. AI system needs data that has been carefully curated. When the system uses “machine learning”, the program will arrive at an answer through continuous approximations and learn to make adjustments on how it processes the data.
Myth 4: Artificial intelligence will displace humans and make contact center jobs obsolete
This is an apparent misconception in relation to picturing technology taking over humans, like in sci-fi movies. AI-equipped robots and machines are only carrying out work reserved for the most highly trained and professional members of society (e.g., doctors, nurses, lawyers). The value of AI relies on augmenting human capabilities and freeing employees for more strategic tasks.
Aside from that, it is not likely that AI machines or systems would replace human labor in the future. Human labor is still needed to operate AI machines and systems. Moreover, artificial intelligence feeds on and works with the correct data that people provide.
Benefits and Challenges of Using Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has been changing the face of industrial automation at a fast pace. Its purpose is to deliver the best output with low error precision, improve productivity, and increase the profit of any business or organization. Some of the artificial intelligence’s benefits include:
Reduction in Human Error
It is only natural for humans to make mistakes from time to time. However, computers do not make mistakes, especially when they are correctly programmed. With artificial intelligence, the decisions made by the system are based on the gathered information that applied a particular set of algorithms. This results in reduced errors and a greater chance of achieving accuracy and precision.
Availability 24/7
This factor is one of the artificial intelligence’s most significant advantages. An average human will work for about 4 to 6 hours a day (excluding break time) because humans require some time off work to refresh themselves and get ready for a new day of work. Humans even have a weekly off to foster good balance between their work life and personal life.
On the other hand, AI machines and systems can work 24/7 without any breaks and hindrances due to boredom. A great example would be our smartphones. Aside from messaging features, our smartphones enhance our photography and web browsing experience with their AI technology. It is now possible to use them for listening to your favorite music or watching your favorite movies. This makes them a gadget that is easy to use and carry around all day.
Helps in Doing Repetitive Jobs
Using artificial intelligence for your day-to-day work can productively automate repetitive tasks like sending an email or verifying documents for possible errors. This also makes it a great advantage because “boring” tasks are lessened, and humans can spend more time on tasks that require creativity.
An example would be creating bank accounts online. Before being able to own a personal online bank account, the bank would require photos of different documents, as well as a number of self-images. Thereafter, all these information would be scanned and verified.
Digital Assistance
It is true when they say that the answer to numerous questions can now be answered with technology’s help. One example of this kind of artificial intelligence is digital assistants. Before, it was a must to look up dozens of websites just to get an answer. However, the use of digital assistants has now allowed business organizations to easily interact with their consumers regarding product inquiries.
There is still a need for a customer support team to clarify customers’ needs and doubts, but using an AI like Voice bot or Chatbot helps filter out the queries of the customers. There are already many Facebook pages using this kind of function wherein there is already a set of questions that could be a customer’s inquiry.
Despite the great benefits of artificial intelligence, it also has a fair share of challenges. Some of the challenges with operating AI systems or machines include:
High Creation Cost
Creating a system or machine equipped with artificial intelligence requires a considerable budget because these are very complex. Aside from that, these machines and systems change every day, which is the reason why the hardware and software need to be updated constantly.
If these machines or systems do not keep up with the latest technology, they will become useless over time and there is a chance that they will no longer be produced.
Making Humans Lazy
Artificial intelligence has undoubtedly made it easy for humans because the amount of work they need to do is lessened. This feature is helpful, but misuse of this can lead to humans getting addicted to these kinds of inventions and become more lazy since the majority of the work has now become automated.
Lack of Out-of-the-Box Thinking
Human connection is an essential attribute in team management. It is no doubt that AI machines and systems can work efficiently, but they cannot develop a bond with humans. And because they lack out-of-the-box thinking, they are only programmed to do what is based on the data and algorithm designed on them. Anything beyond that will cause them to crash or give an irrelevant output.
Categories of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines
Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly multifaceted. It has different categories that are divided based on their primary functions and features. The four main types of artificial intelligence are reactive machines, limited memory, theory of mind, and self-awareness.
Reactive Machines
This is the most basic type of AI system. They are called reactive machines because they cannot form memories or use past experiences that would influence decisions made in the present time; thus ‘reacting’ only to current situations.
There is no growth with reactive machines because of their stagnant feature in recurring actions and behaviors. They also have no concept of the world, which makes them unable to function beyond the simple tasks which they are programmed to do. Nonetheless, reactive machines will always behave like how they were programmed no matter what time or place.
Limited Memory
Machine learning models compromise this type of AI with derived knowledge from previously stored information, data, or events. It is defined by its ability to absorb learning data and improve over time based on its experience, similar to how a human brain’s neurons connect. Limited memory AI is the most sophisticated of all the 4 types. It is still widely used and being perfected up to this day.
A famous form of limited memory AI are autonomous vehicles or self-driving cars. They use the principle of limited memory AI by depending on a combination of observational and pre-programmed knowledge. Self-driving cars need to read their environment, observe the movement of other people and vehicles, detect patterns in external factors, and adjust to be able to drive and function among human-dependent vehicles properly.
Theory of Mind
Theory of Mind AI is the next frontier for AI. What sets the Theory of Mind AI apart from the rest of AI is its decision-making capabilities that is equal to humans. While existing AI machines exhibit human-like qualities (e.g., voice or digital assistants), none of these are fully capable of holding conversations that are relative to human standards.
Theory of Mind AI includes understanding human thoughts and emotions that affect behavioral output, which also influences a theory of mind machine’s thought process. To make this AI system more tangible, it needs to identify, understand, retain, and remember the emotional output and behaviors while knowing how to respond to them.
This type of AI is highly advanced. It requires machines to thoroughly acknowledge the rapid shifting of behavioral and emotional patterns in humans and understand the fluid human behavior. The Theory of Mind AI has not been fully achieved yet, but the robots Kismet (2002) and Sophia (2016) have shown signs of having a theory of mind AI aspects.
Self-aware
This is the final type of AI. When self-aware AI is achieved, machines will now be aware of others’ emotions and mental state. This means that self-aware AI is at par with the consciousness and intelligence level of humans, with the exact same needs, desires, and emotions.
Self-aware AI is considered the most advanced form of artificial intelligence known to man but it has not been successfully developed yet. In essence, it is possible to say that self-aware AI is an extension and advancement of the Theory of Mind AI which is a step further because of its ability for self-guided thoughts and reactions.
While self-aware AI is still not developed, this type of artificial intelligence is not a far-fetched idea. What is more important is to focus on perfecting all aspects of the different types of AI. Speeding through each type of AI can negatively impact the future of AI.
Applications of Artificial Intelligence in the Philippines
You may or may not have realized, but artificial intelligence is all around us and it plays an active role in our daily lives. Every time we send an email, call our loved ones via Facebook or Google meet, do a Google search on our favorite topics, or online shop, AI is there lurking in the background.
Take a deeper look at how artificial intelligence is applied across multiple industries in the Philippines.
AI in Face Recognition
Face recognition is known as a method that identifies or verifies an individual’s identity using their face. This may also be done under law enforcement during police stops in case of possible violations.
With artificial intelligence, it is also a similar case, but for a different purpose.
Artificial intelligence has been present in face recognition processes, particularly during the creation of bank accounts or verification of identity for documents. On a more entertaining side, it is used for selfie applications where you can match people’s faces with celebrities or artists that resemble them. It is also present in security features like the face recognition used to unlock smartphones.
A famous example would be Facebook’s utilization of face recognition in tagging photos. Because of AI, tagging people on your images has been made easier. It is not necessary to search for the account name before being able to tag them.
AI in Access Control
Aside from improving our lives, artificial intelligence is proven to help mitigate risks with a more proactive approach. With a security system that uses AI, it is now possible to always see and hear everything from everywhere. From there, this system collects data to identify any person that might pose a risk of ill intent. This leaves no gaps or missed opportunities.
Take the combination of security personnel and AI security barrier systems at malls. At first, the security personnel will manually scan and check the bag of customers, as well as frisk the customer in case of firearms. Once they are done, the customers walks through the AI security barrier system. The AI system will now double-check if the customer is carrying around any item that is prohibited inside the mall (like sharp objects such as a knife) or illegal firearms.
AI in Smart City
Through artificial intelligence technology, cities are evolving as smart ecosystems that incorporate machine learning and neural network capabilities. Smart Cities use AI through devices like connected sensors, lights, and meters to collect data. These AI advances move these cities closer to developing into urban operating systems that simulate human, machine, and environmental patterns from transportation infrastructure to communication networks.
A great example would be access to the internet. Smart cities ensure that every person in the area has the ability to connect to the internet which widens everyone’s network and allows better communication with others. Another example would be smart parking apps that help users find available parking spaces without the hassle of circling the block to find a space. These apps can also enable digital payment to help lessen cash payments.
AI in People Tracking
Because artificial intelligence has a significant contribution to the security and management of cities and facilities, real-time tracking of people has been one of AI’s leading applications. Keep in mind that there are many purposes for people tracking, which is why it is deemed essential to input this data in your AI when creating your system.
However, the main challenge for people tracking with AI systems is the many variations of appearance, illumination, changing crowd density, and distribution. The performance of the AI system may also suffer, primarily when it detects too many objects per image all at once.
To accurately estimate the number of people, artificial intelligence is used in a density-based approach. In this way, the prediction target of the AI system would be the density of people on a per-pixel basis. This AI system can also be applied to estimate the plant density of crops and vegetation.
AI in Mobile SmartGlass Face and Identity Recognition
Facial and identity recognition is slowly becoming the norm in public spaces, may it be at train stations or concert halls, up to sports stadiums and airports. And through artificial intelligence technology, mobile smart glasses were born.
Smart glasses are wearable computer glasses that are programmed alongside or to what the wearer sees. Aside from allowing users to better see with it, this system can also be enabled with identity recognition which helps better identify a person and his/her data.
Smart glasses are primarily helpful for law enforcement, especially for security guards on patrol. This allows them to determine a missing person or a criminal.
AI in Identity Authentication for Government and Banking Transactions
Have you ever applied for a bank account online? How about your NBI clearance or your passport? Here in the Philippines, artificial intelligence has been present for identity authentications when applying for government IDs or online bank accounts. This also serves as a security process to determine the legitimate user of the said accounts.
This is the same case scenario when travelers go to an airport and board their flight. With the use of cameras, the AI security system in the airport has enough time to analyze someone’s identity, examining the traveler in case of any signs of danger. This kind of method is empowered by deep learning to determine if there is any suspicious activity.
Where to buy AI products in the Philippines?
Fortunately, there are already artificial intelligence products that can be easily availed here in the Philippines.
At IOT Philippines Inc, we are focused on utilizing the cutting-edge technology of the “Internet of Things” to transform how we live our daily lives. We also develop Artificial Intelligence technologies that offer innovative solutions that contribute to our economy, society, and humanity. We strongly believe that the options for everyone are limitless.
Rest assured that these intelligent objects will not replace humans but will work alongside them to boost their productivity and enhance knowledge.
We offer three products: Nebula-M, SenseThunder-E, and SenseThunder-E Mini.
Nebula-M
Our Nebula-M is an intelligent software and hardware integrated temperature measurement and screening terminal. With the power of SenseTime’s latest technology, functions like determining whether or not someone is wearing a face mask, facial recognition with masks on, and detecting abnormal temperature are supported.
It features a one-stop access management system for multiple temperature measurement cameras, visible light live previews, thermal video streams, and a linked notification system. It also contains a plug-and-play web application with pop-up notifications which show suspected fever cases, temperature reviews, storage of records and statistics, and retrieval traceability.
It is fully integrated with APIs, easy to deploy, and facial recognition-enabled with a speed of up to 12 facial profiles per second.
SenseThunder-E
For accurate AI facial recognition, we offer SenseThunder-E or SenseThunder thermal camera (as some customers would like to call it). Aside from being a high-precision infrared human body temperature measurement, it also automatically associates the given temperature with the user’s information through facial recognition, which removes the long process of manual registration after temperature checking.
It features non-contact AI body temperature measurement with a distance of 0.5 meters to 2 meters and an accuracy of ±0.3°C. It has a face recognition feature that works even while someone is wearing a face mask, as well as real-time monitoring which means that trigger alerts will be sent once high temperature is detected.
SenseThunder-E Mini
If you’re looking for another contactless temperature measurement that also acts as a facial recognition-integrated terminal, then go for the SenseThunder-E Mini. The SenseThunder-E Mini is developed to strengthen the latest facial recognition and deep learning algorithms to associate the body temperature with its corresponding profile accurately and effectively.
It features a contactless temperature screening with a distance from up to 1.2 meters away and a body temperature measurement accuracy of ±0.4°C. Its facial recognition is also possible when a face mask occludes the face. It also includes face mask detection to enforce that everyone must always wear their face masks, and a connectivity and power supply from SensePass via a USB interface for easy deployment.
Conclusion
The use of artificial intelligence here in the Philippines is prevalent in every aspect of different businesses. Artificial intelligence has been incredibly beneficial in various industries. It helped banks verify essential documents and it assisted medical professionals in examining their patients. With these being said, it has made a significant contribution in connecting people no matter where they are across the globe.
But you need to remember that an AI’s potential does not solely rely on its technologies. It mainly relies on its users. If the users of this technology trust themselves to do good with it, they can free themselves from unnecessary anxiety about the usage of AI systems.
At IOT Philippines Inc., we believe that options are practically endless.
For your AI inquiries, you may visit our website at www.iotphils.com or contact us via our hotline or email at info@iotphils.com.
