Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that lets machines do things that require "thinking”. It is a hard term to define (下定义) because AI isn't actually one thing. Rather, it's a group of technologies that help machines acquire, understand and use information to perform tasks. The range of technologies is one of the reasons people use so many different terms when mentioning AI.
Recent developments of AI have received a lot of media attention. Although some have welcomed the technology because of things that AI makes possible, the attention has also produced a lot of fear and caution. In particular, many are concerned about the effects AI could have on people's jobs.
Unfortunately, the media excitement is often a distraction (令人分心的事物) that causes people to miss an important point. Since AI isn't just one thing, we aren't waiting for it to be invented. Rather, the technology is experiencing a long development process. AI isn't coming. It's already here. We aren't living in a world controlled by computersyet. But we are living in a world that relies more and more on AI for better efficiency.
Newspapers, design companies and film studios are all making use of the technology. Often the technology is used to do the heavy lifting of repetitive tasks so that professionals can work more productively. Admittedly, the tasks AI does are often the things done by low or entrylevel employees. But that hasn't necessarily spelled the end for human workers.
In recent years, for example, AIdriven translation has dramatically increased the amount of material a human translator can process each day. But the easy availability of translation has also led to an increased need for translators. As a result, the industry and its human translators often struggle to keep up with demand.
There is no doubt that AI is changing how we live and work in very complex ways. That makes AI an important trend to watch, but not to panic about yet.
