Author:
Simone Paolo Mottadelli - Data Scientist at Pirelli & C. S.p.A.
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was once a concept confined to science fiction. Now, it pervades every aspect of modern life, revolutionizing industries, enhancing efficiency and reshaping human interaction with technology. Essentially, AI encompasses the development of systems that mimic human intelligence, enabling machines to perceive, reason, learn and act intelligently. Understanding the mechanisms underlying AI is crucial in grasping its profound impacts on society and Human Rights.
Demystifying Artificial Intelligence
Year after year, day after day, second after second, the volume of available data continues to grow with unprecedented speed: we are in the era of Big Data. Coming from various sources, such as databases, social media platforms and sensors, data represent the nourishment for AI systems, because it is within the data that hide those patterns and trends that AI algorithms strive to extract to generate valuable insights for businesses and society.
But, how is it achieved?
Think of AI as teaching a computer to recognize patterns in information, much like how one might teach a child to recognize shapes or colors. Imagine showing a child pictures of animals and telling them what each animal is.
After seeing many pictures and hearing their names, the child starts to recognize certain features that make each animal unique.
Similarly, data scientists, the experts working in the AI field, provide computers with lots of examples (i.e., data), such as pictures of animals along with their names.
Computers then look for similarities and diIerences between the examples to figure out patterns on their own. These patterns could be anything from the shape of an animal's ears to the color of its fur.
How do computers know if they’re making the right guesses?
Data scientists also give computers some tests: they show them new pictures and ask them to guess what animal is present in each picture. If the guesses match the correct answers most of the time, data scientists know they’re learning well.
Now, the magic behind how computers learn is through mathematical modelling and statistics. It's like giving computers a set of rules to follow when looking at the examples. These rules help them adjust their predictions to get closer and closer to the
right answer.
Imagine someone is trying to draw a line through a bunch of points on a graph, they want the line to be as close to all the points as possible. This is what computers do with the given examples: they adjust their guesses to get as close as possible to the correct answers. So, in the end, AI is like teaching computers to learn from examples, find patterns in the data and make predictions. It's a powerful tool that can help businesses and society by uncovering valuable insights from the ever-growing sea of data we have today.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the influence of AI extends far beyond the realm of technology. In our everyday lives, AI powers virtual assistants, predicts our preferences on streaming platforms, helps doctors making accurate diagnoses and even drives autonomous vehicles. But, with great power comes great responsibility.
In effect, AI has the potential to transform industries, streamline processes and enhance efficiency. However, it also raises ethical concerns about privacy, bias and accountability. For instance, AI algorithms may inadvertently perpetuate biases present in the data they're trained on, leading to discriminatory outcomes in many areas, including but not limited to hiring or criminal justice.
Ultimately, it’s essential to ensure that AI systems are designed in a way that respects people's rights, promotes fairness and mitigates potential risks.
Bibliography
1. Stuart Russel and Peter Norvig, 2020. “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach", Prentice Hall, USA.
2. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier, 2005. “Big Data: A RevoluDon That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, USA.
3. Mark Coeckelbergh, 2020. “AI Ethics”, The MIT Press, USA.
Biography of the Expert
Simone Paolo Mottadelli studied Computer Science at the University of Milan-Bicocca, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Software Engineering.
During his time at the university, he also worked as a research fellow in this field, contributing to the academic community with two scientific papers published at prestigious international conferences, namely ISSTA-2020 and MDAI-2022.
Following his academic endeavors, Mr. Mottadelli transitioned to the industry, spending approximately three years as an AI Consultant at Capgemini S.p.A., a leading global consulting firm. In this role, he developed AI projects for a diverse array of clients across various sectors, including government, telecommunications, banking, insurance, and luxury retail.
Currently, he works as a Data Scientist at Pirelli & C. S.p.A., an iconic brand in the luxury and high-performance tyre manufacturing industry. In this position, he focuses on implementing AI algorithms primarily for Pirelli's Marketing, Supply Chain, and Pricing functions.