The Effects Artificial Intelligence has had on Society and on Business

The Effects Artificial Intelligence has had on Society and on Business Until recently, many people thought it unlikely for machines to have human-like abilities. Human-like abilities were generally only attributed to animals, and not machines. However, with technological advancements such as computers, many are beginning to realize the importance and impact such machines have in business. There are virtually no businesses today who do not implement the use of the Internet and networking technologies. The reason is because e-Business has made it more efficient, effective and has saved companies time and money when dealing with their business practices. It is difficult to assign intelligence to man-made objects, so first we must define and discuss what intelligence actually is. This is a complicated subject, raising questions of consciousness and self. Even intelligent behavioral studies in humans have been difficult and complex to understand. However, one popular early definition put forth by John McCarthy at the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, is, "making a machine behave in ways that would be called intelligent if a human were so behaving" (http://www.answers.com/artificial+intelligence&r=67). This is when the term â€Å"artificial intelligence† was first coined. Basically, it is giving a computer a rational mind-set comparable to humans. This raises a whole question: is making artificially intelligent machines ethical? This question will be addressed later in the paper. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be classified into two categories: strong AI and weak AI. Strong AI involves some form of technology that can reason and solve problems as a human does. Strong AI is then classified into two forms also: 1... ...rtificial+intelligence&r=67>. The History of Artificial Intelligence. July 1997. Online. Internet. Thinkquest. March 12, 2005. < http://library.thinkquest.org/2705/history.html>. The Honda Humanoid Robot ASIMO. 2004. Online. Internet. Honda Motor Company. March 12, 2005. < http://world.honda.com/ASIMO>. The MITS Altair 8800. Online. Internet. The Computer Science Club at University of California, Davis. March 12, 2005. <http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/items/mits_altair_8800.html>. O’Brien. James A. Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology in the Business Enterprise. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York: 2004. Pop quiz: What was the first personal computer? 2002. Online. Internet. Blinkenlights Archaelogical Institute. March 4, 2005. <http://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml>.