Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently on everyone’s lips. If you had talked about this topic ten years ago and listed examples, most people would have thought of self-driving cars and robots. But the possible applications in everyday life are also almost unlimited. In fact, we claim that you’ve already used 5 AI technologies this week – perhaps without even realizing it. How many points on this checklist do you recognize from your everyday life?

 

AI as a cell phone guard: the face as a password

A quick glance at the camera and the cell phone is unlocked. Thanks to intelligent facial recognition, the latest smartphones can be unlocked without a PIN or fingerprint. Even in poor lighting conditions, with a different hairstyle or new glasses. This function is based on AI, because when facial recognition is set up, a detailed image of the face is captured via the front camera and analyzed and stored using complex algorithms. With each unlocking process, the stored analysis data is compared and further training data is collected. Some cell phone models also assign the pictures in your gallery to specific people or animals, for example, so that you have all the photos of your favorite Labrador mix Polly at your fingertips with just one click. This feature is also based on AI.

 

AI as a personal assistant: devices that obey your every word

A short command and the light is switched off, a call is made or the next route is selected in the navigation system. AI voice recognition makes it possible to control smart speakers, cell phones or cars by voice command. Natural language processing (NLP) plays a key role here, as it is necessary to recognize what the person has said (Automatic Speech Recognition) and what they want to achieve with their statement (Natural Language Understanding). If these blocks are successfully recognized and merged, the request is processed and the command is executed.

 

AI as the best advisor: recommendations just for you

Just one click and you’ll receive tailored recommendations when shopping online, in your podcast app or from your favorite streaming service. AI is increasingly being used for personalized recommendations and advertising. Based on data collections and analyses, so-called user profiles are created using machine learning, on the basis of which recommendations are generated that best match the user’s individual preferences and interests. The advantages for providers and consumers are manifold: companies can offer a customized consumer experience that sets them apart from the crowd and can lead to an increase in sales. At the same time, potential customers are more satisfied because they find the right product more quickly – and sometimes they even find things they didn’t even know they needed 😉

 

AI as a mediator: language talent, thanks to AI

One click and you are speaking Chinese. There are around 7000 languages in the world – and just 2% of Germans have knowledge of 5 languages or more.[1 ] We often find ourselves in situations where language barriers can lead to limited access to information or misunderstandings – and sometimes we are just proud to be able to order our food on vacation in the language of the locals. Machine translation (MT) has become an integral part of many people’s everyday lives, as it not only enables efficient communication across borders, but also multiplies the availability of information and thus access to knowledge and resources. With MT, text is automatically transferred from one language to another. Neural machine translation marked a real breakthrough, as the systems are trained with the help of self-learning algorithms, large amounts of data and immense computer capacities. Instead, all text elements are analyzed and it is recognized how the words influence each other and how they relate to each other. Nevertheless, it must be said: Even if entire manuals or product reviews are now completely machine-translated and you don’t even notice it at first glance with some texts, not every text is equally suitable for MT.

 

AI as a bodyguard: no chance for spam mails in your inbox

Is your spam folder full even though you haven’t filled it? AI has probably done that for you. By using AI-based methods, email providers can filter spam more effectively and reduce the amount of unwanted emails. Incoming emails are scanned using machine learning and checked for warning signals such as malicious IP addresses and links, suspicious attachments or suspicious keywords. If enough criteria are met, the message is marked as spam and moved accordingly. If the marking is incorrect or a spam mail sneaks past the AI bodyguard, this error can be corrected manually by marking the message accordingly. This will help the system to learn and adjust its parameters, which will further train and improve it.

 

These are just a few of many examples that show that AI is for everyone! If you would like to gain further exciting insights into innovations, AI and virtual reality and experience for yourself how they can strengthen competitiveness, visit us at the 15. and June 16 at our EDIH Saarland stand at the
make-it.saarland 2024
at the E-Werk Saarbrücken.

[1] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1267264/umfrage/umfrage-zur-anzahl-gesprochener-sprachen-in-deutschland/#:~:%20mehr%.