Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Industry 4.0, to be discussed during the first day of the series of conferences Sea Of Data 2016, organized by the Espacio Fundación Telefónica.
The fourth edition of “Living in a Sea of Data”, a series of conferences with which Fundación Telefónica gives voice to knowledge around Big Data, has had as protagonist artificial intelligence and other associated concepts such as Machine Learning and Industry 4.0.
With all the seats in the auditorium occupied, Rosa María Sainz Peña, Manager of Editorial Projects and Exploitation of Fundación Telefónica, opened the event with a statement of objectives for # March 2016, which focused on the idea that we live in a historical moment in the practical application of technology and concepts such as artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0: “Technological evolution is dizzying and unstoppable.”
Under Ramón López de Mántaras, Director and Research Professor at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), “we live in a sea of data, but the important thing is to live in a sea of knowledge. But moving from data to knowledge is complicated.” In this context, his message focused on the distinction between data processes with statistical techniques and intelligent systems. “For us to get closer to a real intelligence, not the one we have at the moment, we have to take a step so that intelligent systems know and know, and not just manipulate data. This is a fundamental step to move from that weak artificial intelligence to truly intelligent systems.” A long way to study to get to that point where systems are what humans consider really intelligent. As an example, Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, which stated that “it went beyond Big Data because automatic analysis does not surpass human instinct””
On whether or not we should provide absolute autonomy to a machine, Ramón López commented: “We must take the position of ajedrez centauro. The binomial person / machine playing chess is better than either of them separately. The “human in the loop” should be maintained, the person must always be involved in the process”.
Artificial intelligence has a reserved space within Telefónica Open Future as a highlight Javier Placer, CEO of Telefónica Open Future. In fact, Open Future seeks talent by applying a common sense policy based on the provision of tools and investment. After four years of funding startups, in November 2015 Open Future surpassed the figure of 100,000 projects, among which “Preseries” by BigML stands out. A product that already has customers and that automatically analyzes the odds that a team will succeed or not. In short, it is about using the machine to complement our decisions, just as it happens with the position of centaur chess.
In this context, Javier Placer adds his vision on the current process of artificial intelligence: “I see it everywhere, but it is very important to understand that most people do not understand the amount of non-autonomous artificial intelligence that is behind their entire lives. A clear example is the traffic lights. In fact, artificial intelligence is going to go much further. It will be very important in education and in other areas such as investments, because decisions will be much better optimized and where to carry them out.”
Another aspect about which Javier Placer points out is the fact of calling “Machine Learning” for its translation into Spanish: “Learning Machine”” And, from the point of view of interaction, all systems are in English, and you have to think about the billion potential users who speak in Spanish. That is why, in his opinion, it is time for interaction in Spanish, as it is a basic tool for the future.
Javier Placer, continued making a tour of the current state of Machine Learning and the changes that are going to occur in this field: “Computing capacity, access to data together with the cloud, is the gasoline that has allowed us to make Machine Learning something that we can start using, and that four or five years ago was a dream”. ”We do not have to assume that at some point there will be autonomy on the part of the machines, but that it is a complement to our daily work.”
About the evolution of Big Data, according to the CEO of Open Future, there is no longer talk of Big Data or data transformation. There is analysis of the information, and it has been achieved that to some extent it has been understood that machine learning and artificial intelligence are synonymous. “Ten years ago we talked about the gasoline of the future being the data. I think Big Data goes beyond the mechanical use that is made of it. It is more a philosophical and political issue, in which you have to take into account who the data are and what they are used for.
