The vast majority of AI systems in use today are what's called narrow AI (weak AI). These are AI systems designed to perform a specific task very well, but they lack the general intelligence of a human.
Here are some key features of narrow AI:
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Task-Specific: They are trained on a massive amount of data for a particular task and excel at that specific function. Examples include:
- Facial recognition software used for security purposes
- Spam filters that sort your email
- Recommendation systems on streaming services or e-commerce platforms
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Limited Learning: Unlike general AI, narrow AI can't learn new things outside its designed function. They require human intervention and retraining to adapt to new situations.
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Data-Driven: Their effectiveness depends heavily on the quality and quantity of data they are trained on. Biases in the training data can lead to biased outputs.
Narrow AI, despite its limitations, is incredibly powerful and underlies many of the technological advancements we see today.