Open Source Data Pipelines for Intelligent Applications

Chapter 2. A Platform for Intelligent Applications

Artificial intelligence is the new must-have for every organization—or at least that’s what business leaders have been led to believe. Every day we are flooded with stories about advancements in self-driving cars, personal assistant devices, facial recognition technology, and more. Businesses in all verticals want to take advantage of newly accessible AI technologies, but few understand what exactly that means or where to start. Even fewer businesses understand intelligent applications and their place in the AI story. In this chapter, we’ll define the terms artificial intelligence and intelligent applications and answer some commonly asked questions about them.

Defining Intelligent Applications

Sherard Griffin, one of the authors of this book, illustrates how clear the power of AI is becoming to even the youngest users:

My 10-year-old son and I attended a conference for developers. As part of the conference, he was interviewed by a journalist who asked his thoughts on AI. After contemplating for a few seconds, he responded that he believes AI will simultaneously be the savior and destroyer of mankind. After a few curious looks from people around the room, he then went on to clarify his thoughts by giving examples of otherwise great AI technologies that exist today which are on the verge of being misused. The first example that came to his mind were virtual AI assistants, a recent addition to our home. He said, “It can really ...