A Potential Rise in Ambient Intelligence
Intro to Ambient Intelligence
Ambient intelligence can be defined as an environment with a level of computing built in that doesn’t need input or output devices. It does this through sensors, trackers, and a wireless connection for artificial intelligence capabilities. The world was introduced to ambient intelligence on a commercial scale roughly eight years with things like Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. We had seen this on a small scale with virtual assistance like Apple’s Siri back in 2011. Now we have ambient intelligence in our homes and offices that allow our environment to respond to our needs and use AI to predict our requests in the future. In an Amazon Science article by Rohit Prasad, he talks about the vision of ambient intelligence was to have AI assistance embedded into the background that is also learning about you. Machine learning is essential to the rise in ambient intelligence by allowing our environment to learn about us, and assist us in our daily lives. Along with just being embedded in our environment ambient intelligence is designed to automate our lives or do things without the user’s commands.
Ambient Intelligence in the Home
Now picture what life would be like if your entire home was surrounded by ambient intelligence. Your smart bed vibrates to wake you up and your curtains open up automatically at 7 am. You had a rough night so the bathroom mirror scans your face and tells you what products you need to use before showering. The kitchen is linked with the rest of the house so it prepares a breakfast fit just for you. While eating David your virtual assistant runs you through your To-Do list and reads off any text messages you missed. Notice the only physical thing you have done all day is wash your body and eat the already-prepared food.
Season two episode 4 of Netflix’s Black Mirror White Christmas is a great example of ambient intelligence aside from the dark story behind it. One of the main characters Greta, paid to have her consciousness put into a device similar to an Amazon echo called a Cookie to automate her daily routine. The simulated Greta inside the Cookie was ordered to make sure all the things the real Greta does in the morning are already done for her. She controlled the lights, and toaster, and ordered groceries for her, so these things were never a thought in the real Greta’s mind. This is a good visualization of ambient intelligence learning its user and controlling the devices on the network without any input from the user.
Ambient Intelligence at Work
The next aspect of ambient intelligence to envision is at the workplace. Imagine David the same virtual assistant is also in control of your fully autonomous vehicle taking you to work. Taking your rough night into consideration he stops at Dunkin to get an order of munchkins to snack on at work. Upon arriving to work your smart office sorts your emails based on importance and even sends replies to some based on what it has learned about you in the past and your typing habits. The business AI system at your job uses gives you tasks they deem suitable for you based on your work efficiency rating. This system is inside every office, monitors employees’ work habits, and predicts which employees are the most suitable for a task depending on the due date, severity, or technical skills needed. The result of this is a workplace with little to no authority figures no managers or supervisors. With ambient intelligence, there is a possibility of getting by an AI system rather than an actual person.
Ambient Intelligence in the World
Ambient intelligence doesn’t have to only be a part of individualized spaces like the home or office. It can be in any setting like restaurants, clubs, etc. Restaurants no longer have menus but tablets that allow the customer to log in to view their own personalized menu. It’s the same menu but set up to show meals you eat often or meals you might like based on other choices. Along with that, the menu will save any special instructions you have for certain meals so you don’t have to tell the waiter every time you go. No need for bartenders or bottle service when you can have an automated system to prepare your favorite drinks for you. Just walk up and the system recognizes your face and makes your favorite drink or you can choose from your list of saved drinks. This same system could hopefully eliminate binge drinking or drinking and driving. It does this by tracking the number of drinks you have ordered and their alcohol percentage and banning you once you’ve reached your limit. It knows your limit based on previous experiences and data collected from your house tracking the aftermath of boys’ night. That and it scans your face and monitors body movement every time you walk up to get a new drink. This level of computing may be a little invasive but can make everyone’s recreational time a lot safer not just for the person but everyone.
Conclusion
If the implementation of ambient intelligence we have today continues and advances we could live in a world like the one described. It has the potential to make everyone’s lives a lot simpler or create a dystopia where AI controls every aspect of our lives. There are definitely some privacy and security concerns for having computing like this on a communal level or even in the workplace. Overall ambient intelligence is already here and isn’t doing anything but improving over the years with the rise in smart devices and the internet of things.
