You Might Use AI, But That Doesn't Mean You're an AI Company, Says a Founder of Google Brain (venturebeat.com)

As AI space gets crowded, there are a slew of businesses -- new and old -- looking to market themselves as "AI companies." But according to Andrew Ng, a founder of the Google Brain team and a luminary in the space, there's more to being an AI company than just using a neural net. From a report: In his view, while it's possible to create a website for a shopping mall, that doesn't make it an internet company. In the same way, just implementing basic machine learning does not make a standard technology company (or any other business) an AI company. "You're not an AI company because there are a few people using a few neural networks somewhere," Ng said. "It's much deeper than that." First and foremost, AI companies are strategic about their acquisition of data, which is used as the fuel for machine learning systems. Once an AI company has acquired the data, Ng said that they tend to store it in centralized warehouses for processing. Most enterprises have their information spread across multiple different warehouses, and collating that data for machine learning can prove difficult. AI companies also implement modern development practices, like frequent deployments. That means it's possible to change the product and learn from the changes.

Comments

Indeed

[fyngyrz]

There are no AI companies, because there is no AI. We have a rtificial, but we don't have i ntelligence.

What there are is marketing companies.

They're waving neural networks around - basically a vaguely neuron-like means to do "if something like this, then that" - and calling it AI so they can sell more of it.

If/when AI gets here, the stuff they're calling "AI" today will be the subject of raucous laughter - at the people who swallowed the label. At the same time the marketing people will get an "atta boy" for using the term to suck more money out of people's pockets.

No part of Google is "an AI company." Google is a marketing giant with a popularity-based search engine. Resulting in what popularity usually results in - mediocre results. Well salted with advertising.

As for the distinctions about AGI and so forth... yep, that's them, marketing you. Exactly what I'm talking about. Intelligence is that thing you have, that a thermostat, toaster, or go playing program does not. That's what it's always been, and it's still that. When something else has it in any like degree, you'll know it. Because it won't just play go - it'll argue with you about what intelligence is, among many, many other things. Intelligence incorporates the ability to generalize. Saying "general intelligence" is like saying "pizza pie" or "cha tea." Not that it stops people looking to market their shite. Nothing stops them.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled buzzword fest.