Table Of ContentSPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND
TECHNOLOGY COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Francesco Corea
Artificial Intelligence
and Exponential
Technologies:
Business Models
Evolution and
New Investment
Opportunities
123
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences
and Technology
Computational Intelligence
Series editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Warsaw, Poland
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Francesco Corea
fi
Arti cial Intelligence
and Exponential
Technologies: Business
Models Evolution and New
Investment Opportunities
123
Francesco Corea
Rome
Italy
ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inApplied SciencesandTechnology
ISBN978-3-319-51549-6 ISBN978-3-319-51550-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51550-2
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016963290
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To my dad, who taught me what intelligence
means
To my mom, who taught me how to use it
To my brother, who taught me when not to
use it
And to Lucia, who showed me that the
greatest intelligence is the intelligence of the
heart
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Susan Kish, Sam Arbesman, and Erica Young for the
revisionandusefulcomments.Someofthecontentshavebeenpublishedonline,so
theauthorwantstothankanyoneelsewhocontributeddirectlyorindirectlythrough
comments or feedbacks. The author has obtained a Crunchbase Research License
that allowed him to complete the dataset with relevant missing information of
several companies.
vii
Contents
1 Introduction.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
1.1 Basic Definitions and Categorization .. .... .... .... ..... .... 1
1.2 A Bit of History. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 4
1.3 Why AI Is Relevant Today.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 6
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 8
2 Advancements in the Field..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 11
2.1 Machine Learning.... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 12
2.2 Neuroscience Advancements. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 15
2.3 Technologies ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 17
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 18
3 Business Models. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 21
Reference .. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 26
4 Investing in AI.. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 27
5 Discussion . .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 39
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 44
6 Conclusions .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 45
ix
Chapter 1
Introduction
Abstract Inthisfirstchapter,wearegoingtodefinewhatAIisandwhatisnot,as
well as when it was born and how it changed from the fifties up today. More in
details, we are going to even specify the exact event that triggered the current AI
wave and we are going to discuss the importance of artificial engines in our world
today.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents nowadays a paradigm shift that is driving at
the same time the scientific progress as well as the industry evolution. Given the
intenselevelofdomainknowledgerequiredtoreallyappreciatethetechnicalitiesof
the artificial engines, what AI is and can do is often misunderstood: the general
audience is fascinated by its development and frightened by terminator-like sce-
narios; investors are mobilizing huge amounts of capital but they have not a clear
picture of the competitive drivers that characterize companies and products; and
managersarerushingtogettheirhandsonthelastsoftwarethatmayimprovetheir
productivities and revenues, and eventually their bonuses.
Even though the general optimism around creating advancements in artificial
intelligence is evident (Muller and Bostrom 2016), in order to foster the pace of
growth facilitated by AI I believe it would be necessary to clarify some concepts.
The intent of this work is then manifold: explaining and defining few relevant
terms, summarizing history of AI as well as literature advancements; investigating
further innovationthatAI isbringing both inscientificandbusinessmodelsterms;
understanding where the value lies for investors; and eventually stimulating dis-
cussion about risk and future developments driven by AI.
1.1 Basic Definitions and Categorization
First,let’sdescribewhatartificialintelligencemeans.AccordingtoBostrom(2014),
AI today isperceived inthree different ways:it is somethingthat might answer all
your questions, with an increasing degree of accuracy (“the Oracle”); it could do
©TheAuthor(s)2017 1
F.Corea,ArtificialIntelligenceandExponentialTechnologies:
BusinessModelsEvolutionandNewInvestmentOpportunities,
SpringerBriefsinComputationalIntelligence,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-51550-2_1
2 1 Introduction
anything it is commanded to do (“the Genie”), or it might act autonomously to
pursue a certain long-term goal (“the Sovereign”). However, AI should not be
defined by what it can do or not, and thus a broader definition is appropriate.
Anartificialintelligenceisasystemthatcanlearnhowtolearn,orinotherwords
a series of instructions (an algorithm) that allows computers to write their own
algorithms without being explicitly programmed for.
Although we usually think about intelligence as the computational part of our
ability to achieve certain goals, it is rather the capacity to learn and solve new
problems in a changing environment. In a primordial world then, it is simply the
attitudetofostersurvivalandreproduction(Lo2012,2013;BrennanandLo2011,
2012). A living being is then defined as intelligent if she is driving the world into
states she is optimizing for.
Nomatterhowaccuratelywedefinedthisconcept,wecanintuitivelyunderstand
thatthelevelofintelligencemachinesareprovidedwithtodayisyearsfarfromthe
average level of any human being. While human being actions proceed from
observing the physical world and deriving underlying relationships that link cause
andeffectinnaturalphenomena,anartificialintelligenceismovedentirelybydata
andhasnopriorknowledgeofthenatureoftherelationshipamongthosedata.Itis
then “artificial” in this sense because it does not stem from the physical law but
rather from pure data.
Wethenhavejustdefinedwhatartificialintelligenceisandwhatmeantous.In
addition tothat, though,there aretwoother conceptsthat should be treated aspart
of this introduction to AI: first of all, how AI is different and/or related to other
buzzwords(bigdata,machinelearning,etc.);second,whatfeaturesasystemhasto
own to be defined intelligent.
I think of AI as an interdisciplinary field, which covers (and requires) the study
ofmanifoldsub-disciplines,suchasnaturallanguageprocesses,computervision,as
wellasInternetofthingsandrobotics.Hence,inthisrespect,AIisanumbrellaterm
thatgathersabucketofdifferentaspects.WecansomehowlookatAItobesimilar
toafully-functionallivingbeing,andwecanestablishcomparisonstofigureoutthe
degree ofrelationship between AIandother(sub)fields.IfAIandthehuman body
are alike, it has to possess a brain, which carries out a variety of tasks and is in
charge of specific functions such the language (NLP), the sight (computer vision),
and so on so forth. The body is made of bones and muscles, as much as a robot is
madebycircuitsandmetals.Machinelearningcanbeseenasspecificmovements,
actionorthoughtswedevelopandthatwefine-tunebydoing.TheInternetofthings
(IoT)correspondstothehumansenses,whichisthewayinwhichweperceivethe
worldaroundus.Finally,bigdataistheequivalentofthefoodweeatandtheairwe
breathe,i.e.,thefuelthatmakesustick,aswellaseveryinputwereceivefromthe
externalworldthatiscaptured byoursenses.It isaquiterough comparison,butit
conveys a simple way on how all the terms are related to each other.
Although many other comparisons may be done, and many of them can be
correctsimultaneously,thechoiceofwhatkindoffeaturesasystemshouldhaveto
be a proper AI is still quite controversial. In my opinion, the system should be
endowed with a learning structure, an interactive communication interface, and a
