While there has been a growing reaction to the use of AI, in the sense that policy makers are scrambling to pass regulations and instigate consultations that will look to balance innovation with further regulation, AI systems are being used to take decisions across a host of different industries - whether that’s providing services in smart cities, healthcare or in the space sector.
While a 2023 report from the management consultancy McKinsey estimated that AI has the potential to add between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, there are concerns over just how accountable and transparent the use of AI is and should be going forward.
While it’s hard to guess how AI will affect our lives in the future, it certainly has the potential to radically improve productivity and outcomes. But at the same time, it could create social and ethical harms.
So how is the adoption of AI impacting certain sectors? In terms of smart cities, for example, AI together with the Internet of Things (IoT) is seeing the adoption of data-driven decision-making and predictive analytics to ensure that smart city initiatives are being rolled out effectively to the benefit of citizens.
AI is being used by cities to innovate and to control traffic movement, waste and maintenance as well as to predict energy consumption, pollution risks, and the effects on the environment.
Everything is focused on delivering smarter decisions and improving the quality of life.
In terms of healthcare, Google’s Deepmind has been developed to help scientists design drugs and target diseases more effectively. Researchers at DeepMind and sister company Isomorphic Labs have mapped the behaviour of all of life's molecules, including human DNA, speeding up and simplifying the development and discovery of new drugs.
The Japanese technology investor SoftBank recently launched a joint venture with Tempus AI to analyse personal medical data with AI to come up with treatment recommendations, while Boston University researchers have developed an AI system capable of detecting early signs of Alzheimer's disease in a patient’s voice.
By using a combination of natural language processing and machine learning, the researchers have developed a tool that can predict the progression of the disease in a patient.
Another area AI has undeniably helped to usher in a new era of creative possibilities is in the world of the arts where it has helped to ‘democratise’ creative expression by breaking down barriers and making it easier for individuals to be creative.
AI's influence on the creative sector has been growing rapidly, although what its impact will be is still unknown. The evidence for that uncertainty was apparent from research carried out by Adobe, which found that while 90 per cent of marketeers and executives agreed that AI would transform marketing and creative functions, only 24 per cent of those questions had come up with an AI roadmap aligned with broader business goals.
Integrating AI into how industries operate will deliver some big wins and efficiencies, but in order for AI to benefit those using it, it will require continuous experimentation and will need developers and users with the necessary skills.
As the research from Adobe suggested while AI is not going to replace people, people that use AI may replace the people that don't use AI.
Space Sector
Turning to specific sectors the use of AI offers immense potential when it comes to space exploration. AI is being used to address a host of challenges that need to be overcome to maximise the benefits of space travel and to ensure successful missions beyond our planet.
With satellites producing several images every minute AI is being used to help interpret, analyse, and understand those images and the mass of data they are generating every day.
According to Kenneth O’Neill, AMD’s Space System's Architect, “When it comes to AI most of the activity in space is on the AI inferencing side. For example, when you’re managing the propagation delay of radio signals between Earth and a spacecraft it can take 20 minutes, or more, for a radio signal to propagate between earth and a vehicle. Remember you’re operating a billion-dollar piece of equipment, whether that’s an orbiter or a lander, so AI along with autonomous guidance is being used to better control and deploy them.
“AI can be used to plot the safest and best route and to avoid, for example with the Mars Rover, dangerous situations that could cause serious problems for a mission.”
Communications can be challenging and can face disruption from other signals or other environmental factors. With AI it’s possible to control satellite communications to address potential transmission problems and to determine the amount of power needed to send data back to Earth.
Deployments in space face extreme radiation levels, high temperatures, and vacuum conditions which can all affect the overall performance of AI systems, so AI algorithms need to be robust. Another issue that needs to be contended with is that computational resources are going to be limited due to weight and power constraints, so AI systems need to be able to operate efficiently with minimal computational power while still delivering accurate results.
Critically, these systems need to be able to take critical decisions autonomously during space missions so AI must be trained to handle ‘noisy’ data that can impact its ability to make reliable predictions - and AI models that are trained on Earth may not generalise well when it comes to space environments.
“If you're training a neural network to operate in space, then you need a good set of training data, which is essentially data that has to be captured from space,” explained O’Neill.
With space missions, engineers have to rely on knowledge that’s been gathered by previous studies and so limited data can make it challenging for current scientists to plan missions effectively. AI can be used to provide anyone with the necessary authority to access data from all space missions often with only a few clicks.
Satellites and spacecraft are extremely expensive and complicated pieces of equipment and engineers require special rooms to manufacture satellites and spacecraft. AI-enabled systems and robotics can speed up the process of assembling satellites and AI-enabled systems can then be used to analyse the manufacturing process to identify areas of improvement.
AI also has an important role to play when it comes to predictive maintenance.
“When satellites are in orbit, you're gathering information on the health of the satellite itself and the health of the payload instruments on the satellite. Data will be collected that will be looking at power, current and voltage, temperature, mechanical stress and strain. You could be looking at thousands of telemetry channels on a large expensive satellite,” explained O’Neill.
“While, as far as I’m aware, there are no actual deployments research is taking place into how AI could be used to ensure that all parameters are working to spec or to identify whether a system is operating strangely. It should then be possible to provide an early warning sign of an impending failure of the satellite,” according to O’Neill. “Getting spares to a failing satellite is hard but with predictive maintenance it would be possible to arrange a servicing mission – and bear in mind there’s a proliferation of satellite constellations so there are spares in orbit. So, it may be the case that you could get one of the orbiting spares ready to move into the orbital position to replace one that's failing.”
Smart Cities
Back on earth and AI and the Internet of Things are being combined to deliver a truly smart city experience. This combination is transforming the way we live and interact with our urban surroundings and making possible for smarter decisions that will improve residents’ quality of life.
Security cameras that use AI are being deployed and with the ability to analyse footage in real time to detect criminal behaviour which can then be instantly reported and dealt with. In addition to fighting crime, it is now possible, with AI, to analyse road imagery to then assess issues and produce cost effective solutions, making it easier to identify where repairs are needed.
Smart cities that are innovating with AI technology when it comes to handling energy demand and usage as well as using it to analyse pollution levels, enabling the authorities to make decisions in advance to reduce impacts on the environment.
From parking systems to public transport, the use of AI is providing users with live up dates and tracking, that not only improves timing but also improves levels of customer satisfaction by reducing levels of congestion and accidents.
According to Charbel Aoun, Smart City & Spaces Director, EMEA, NVIDIA, “When it comes to AI and how it is being applied in smart cities or smart spaces data is the lifeblood of the modern city and video via CC-TV can be seen as one of the key sensors being used. It generates massive streams of data that will need to be analysed. AI has a critical role to play in turning this information into insight, analysing that data to have a meaningful impact on services such as traffic and parking management or city services. In terms of public order AI can manage and understand the presence of people in a particular area. It can assess the nature of activities taking place as well as identify the age of those involved. Consequently, the authorities are able to better manage and allocate resources to maintain order.”
NVIDIA Metropolis is an application framework, set of developer tools, and partner ecosystem that brings visual data and AI together to improve operational efficiency and safety across a range of industries including the deployment of smart city technologies.
Deploying AI can be challenging, especially at a time when so many local authorities are struggling with funding or even finding the expertise needed to deliver projects to budget on time. They need to be able to address regulatory issues and manage public perception, so it’s critical for those looking to embrace smart city technology that they have a vision and set clear goals before taking the plunge.
“NVIDIA is about democratising Ai and working with our ecosystem partners to solve problems and optimise solutions. When you are engaging with cities many come to us to better understand what AI can deliver, what it can do to improve the delivery of services. It’s about education, sharing best practice and understanding the challenges and issues they are facing,” explains Aoun. “For some they know what they want, and the discussion is a technical one. For others who have already embraced AI they are interested in future developments and want to better understand how the technology is evolving and what it’s likely future impact will be.”
But whatever the challenges AI - whether in space or here on earth - offers users increased efficiency, greater accuracy and improved levels of productivity that will help to optimise processes and enable faster decision-making.
At the end of the day AI can help lead us to better outcomes and results.
