Today's CPA - 11

TECHNOLOGY ISSUES

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:

A LOOK AT THE GOOD, THE BAD
AND THE UGLY

W

e have all heard many
opinions around
"artificial intelligence"
and what it could mean
to our professional
careers. Because all industries
stand to be impacted in one way or
another by this quickly emerging
technical capability, the truth is
that we have yet to fully understand
the total impact of what a mature
deployment might really mean to us,
either individually or collectively. The
technology is gaining momentum in
business and across society, and one
thing is very clear: we will all need to
learn to adapt.
As with many things, if something
can be used for good, it can also
very likely be used for bad. In this
article, we will investigate some
of the various use cases that have
been contemplated. Reminiscent of
the .com boom of the mid 1990s, it
is possible that we will see similar
"game changing" deployments in the
2020s that go well beyond what we
can imagine today.
So, what is artificial intelligence?
Most people, after thinking about it
as more science fiction, go toward a

common and simple definition along
the lines of "machines that can think
independently." A GoogleTM search on
the question "definition of artificial
intelligence" returns a series of
websites. One of the better results
was from The English Oxford Living
Dictionary as follows:
"The theory and development of
computer systems able to perform
tasks that normally require human
intelligence, such as visual perception,
speech recognition, decision-making
and translation between languages."

iStock.com/metamorworks

To the question of "Siri, are you
artificially intelligent," she responds:
"I don't have the answer to that. Is
there something else I can help you
with?"
Let's ask yet another source to
determine the best definition.
Google HomeTM responded to
the question "OK Google, what is
artificial intelligence?" with:
"Artificial intelligence is the theory
and development of computer systems
able to perform tasks that normally

Most people, after thinking about it as more science
fiction, go toward a common and simple definition along
the lines of "machines that can think independently."
Although it's a complete definition,
let's explore other sources. When
asking SiriTM "Siri, what is artificial
intelligence?" we receive a much less
satisfying answer than before:
"Branch of computer science that
develops machines and software with
human-like intelligence"

require human intelligence, such as
visual perception, speech recognition,
decision making and translation
between languages."
Google actually pulls the definition
from Oxford. Just as with Siri,
we followed the answer with,
"OK Google, are you artificially
intelligent?"
Today's CPA September / October 2020 11


http://www.iStock.com/metamorworks

Today's CPA

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Today's CPA

Front Cover
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Table of Contents
Chairmans Message
Accounting and Auditing
Today's CPA - Front Cover
Today's CPA - Chairmans Message
Today's CPA - Accounting and Auditing
Today's CPA - 6
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Today's CPA - 11
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