History of Artificial Intelligence and its Applications in Business

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Position Paper #1 Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence refers to the integration of knowledge-based systems into computers so that they can mimic the intelligence of human beings. The field of AI was formally introduced to the scientific community in 1956 (Haenlein and Andreas, 6). This introduction happened at a conference that was held at Dartmouth College. Marvin Minsky, who was a cognitive scientist, was leading this conference. He seemed very optimistic about the future of AI. He even argued that the problem of making intelligent machines would be substantially solved within one generation. It was during this conference that the term “artificial intelligence” was coined. Despite the optimism shown in the conference, research involving AI was greatly criticized from many quarters. As a result, the research experienced what is known as the AI winter from 1974 to 1980. During this period, both the interest in artificial intelligence and funding from the government decreased significantly.
Research in the field of artificial intelligence was later revived in the 1980s. The revival happened when the British government started funding the research in an attempt to compete with the advancements being made by the Japanese government. Despite this revival, research in the field of artificial intelligence received another blow from 1987 to 1993, mainly due to a significant reduction in government funding. The research began to have momentum again in 1997. Since that period, research has been ongoing, and significant advancements have been made. Researchers in the field of AI believe that the future is very bright. The main aim of beginning research in artificial intelligence was to make work easier for human beings. Historically, computers were good at solving mathematical problems. Early researchers of AI envisioned a future where a computer could be able to significantly have the intelligence of a human being so that it can help the human achieve day-to-day tasks. Some of the early uses of AI were using a computer to play chess and the development of chatbots.
Artificial intelligence is extensively used to aid in making business decisions. One example of how this phenomenon happens is through the use of expert systems. An expert system refers to a computer system that can help businesses make top-notch decisions. The system is made in such a way that it mimics the intelligence of human experts (Mitchell, 7). A great example of how the system is used is predicting how the stock market will behave. The second example of how artificial intelligence aids in business decisions is through neural networks. These networks are made in such a way that they mimic human neurons. An example of how these networks is used in decision-making would be in banks. Modern banks use these networks to determine the creditworthiness of an individual. The networks analyse possible risks and potential profits of giving credit to the individuals. The results of the analysis are used to determine whether the customer will receive...