For some people, the words Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) may conjure images of a dystopian world of machines, which are stronger, think faster, have no morality, and seek to either enslave or destroy mankind. Others may view AI through a utopian lens, as an idyllic existence where autonomous machines see to our every need.
However, the reality is much different than popular fiction. In fact, AI and ML have longer and far more humble roots. The commonly accepted birth of AI/ML, as we know it today, was in the late 1950’s, primarily with researchers at IBM’s Watson Computing Center in New York, where they taught computers to play simple board games like Tic-Tac-Toe and Checkers.
Of course, AI and ML aren’t just used for board games or other recreational pursuits. Advanced AI and ML have become crucial to the Intelligence Community’s (IC) ability to compete with adversaries like China and Russia, who are both aggressively pursuing AI/ML programs for intelligence and military purposes.