Despite stories and opinions about the failed promise of artificial intelligence, the technology has the potential to revolutionize medicine — and society as a whole, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose wrote Aug. 24.
Five years ago, the top AI story was how a machine learning tool from Google's DeepMind could defeat the top-performing humans at the board game Go, Mr. Roose wrote. This summer, however, another DeepMind AI system predicted the 3-D structures of most of the 200 million proteins known to scientists, which could aid in the development of any number of life-saving medications and vaccines.
"It feels like we're going from spring to summer," Jack Clark, a co-chair of Stanford University's annual AI Index Report, told Mr. Roose. "In spring, you have these vague suggestions of progress, and little green shoots everywhere. Now, everything's in bloom."
To help the public better understand the risks and possibilities of AI, Mr. Roose said regulators and politicians need to be more educated on the technology, Big Tech companies should more effectively explain their machine learning projects, and journalists could be clear and nuanced in their reporting.