We must confess, ‘Artificial intelligence’ (AI) is a buzz word that we have heard for years but never really fully understood. Going all the way back to The Terminator, then The Matrix, followed by other films such as I.Robot and Transcendence, it seemed to us that AI, albeit futuristic and often mind-blowing, also has its negative connotations.

Now, back to reality and fully immersed in the world of IT recruitment, we see requirements for AI and Machine Learning professionals all over the place. ‘Developer of AI’, Head of AI – IT Transformation’, ‘Robotics + AI Lead’, the list goes on, and the list is, quite frankly, cool!

We are currently working with a very cool company, specialising in consultancy + operations to the defence, aerospace and security sectors (including hostile environments). They create ‘unmanned aerial systems’ that can detect, track, identify and defeat (A.K.A, blow something out of the sky!). Following the recent events at Gatwick Airport, technology like this is needed more than ever. As well as the company being fascinating to learn about, what we’ve enjoyed the most is speaking to those that make this AI a reality. Highly intelligent, geeky, quirky and interesting people, however the one word we can concretely use for all of them is ‘PASSIONATE’. Coming from eclectic backgrounds, we spoke to people about how AI is shaping the world around us. The Healthcare, Automotive and Weapons industry to name just a few! The latter is somewhat a tenuous issue however the former 2 are making huge steps forward to better our lives.

AI  Healthcare Benefits

• Can aid with lists of possible diagnoses
• Help with precision surgery
• Reduce human error

AI Automotive Benefits

• Driverless cars
• Predictive maintenance
• Car manufacturing
• Driver monitoring

The possibilities of what can be achieved through Artificial Intelligence are staggering. As it currently stands AI is known as ‘Narrow/Weak AI’ (performing narrow tasks like facial recognition, internet searches and self-driving cars) but the long-term goal is to create ‘General AI/AGI/Strong AI’ (where a machine could perform intellectual tasks that a human being can). The eventual goal is a scary thought, but with the AI professionals out there continually working on this technology, we can only see more benefits than negatives, and we look forward to speaking to more of them.

On that note, ‘Hasta la vista….baby’.