How Deep Learning Mimics the Brain

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly developing at the moment because, as John Light infers (2017), it is both a technology AND a philosophy. I mean, will we really ever replicate human intelligence and sentience in machines?

Although we have gone from hard coding rules into a machine to the machine sensing, comprehending, acting and learning on its own, we have only simulated the logical operations of the mind so we still have our work cut out for us when it comes to machine consciousness because obviously, consciousness is not in our power to create.

Machine Learning (ML) is a branch of AI that enables machines to make predictions from any given inputs, acting without being explicitly programmed and Deep Learning (DL) is a method of ML which uses artificial neural networks for classification tasks and is inspired by biological neural networks which Nagify Richard (2018) explains.

Just as the neuron receives signals from the dendrites and sends them down the axon as inputs to other neurons, repeating the process, Nagify Richard (2018) relates how artificial neurons can do the same to classify data which results in Computer Vision which allows a computer to see and visualize like a human would (Playment, 2018) and also speech recognition etc.

Machines will only ever mimic math logic because it is quantifiable according to the laws of this physical dimension whereas consciousness and emotions are reserved for sentient life forms and cannot be measured or weighed in this physical dimension.

References:

1. Morikawa, R (2018). What's Slowing Down the Pace of AI Innovation?. [online] Gengo. Available at: https://gengo.ai/articles/whats-slowing-down-the-pace-of-ai-innovation/ [Accessed 12 March 2019].
2. Light, J (2017). Why is AI Development so Slow at the Moment. [online] Quora. Available at: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-AI-development-so-slow-at-the-moment [Accessed 12 March 2019].
3. Richard, N (2018). The Difference Between Artificial and Biological Neural Networks. [online] Towards Data Science. Available at: https://towardsdatascience.com/the-differences-between-artificial-and-biological-neural-networks-a8b46db828b7 [Accessed 12 March 2019].
4. Playment (2018). What is Deep Learning and Why you Need it. [online] Becoming Human. Available at: https://becominghuman.ai/what-is-deep-learning-and-why-you-need-it-9e2fc0f0e61b [Accessed 12 March 2019].

How Ingenius is Design Thinking?

I was recently introduced to Design Thinking at work as part of the training and I took some time to grasp the basics. From the team exercises we performed, I perceived how a project team can come together to ideate and collaborate with the client. Ideas are in sympathy to the consumer's feelings and needs making this design approach human-centric to provide innovative solutions that people love.

Design Thinking is also a way for businesses to design for change (especially in IT's rapidly changing environment and disruptive market) by getting a good understanding of the problem and its context and also using many techniques for iterative ideation - which is why it also fits seamlessly into the agile process.

To drive innovative solutions that people love Design Thinking's collaborative efforts include a diverse group of people in the process of generating ideas in a playful atmosphere for a serious task. Design Thinking does not feel like work but yields innovative solutions for complex problems, to deliver products and services.

What I enjoy the most is that when generating ideas no idea is too silly. There is no judgement when ideating as you come up with as may ideas as possible. From there the best ideas are selected then framed for the problem statement. You would be surprised at how ingenius the solutions can be.

Virtual 2 Reality

Dabbling in creative writing tossed me into a world of cyber imagination and romance as I started writing my cyberpunk romance novel, "Virtual 2 Reality". Discovering my passion for creative writing again gave me an outlet to express all the crazy stuff that happens in my head and it's been therapeutic.

So I'm sharing my book which is still developing but I have put it online on a secure website for constructive criticism and votes.

Princess Reyno Eastwood and Colin Ruth are so attached but they have to overcome a system so ingrained in Reyno's culture before they can be together. All they have is the Jabber Board to communicate but now that Reyno knows her true identity she can embark on an adventure of a lifetime with Colin at her side.

Reyno did not know her true identity until beginning the Mochomet programme where computer programs that work in nanotechnology reverse the damage in the brain to the point where the brain functions at optimum capacity. She began to remember her past clearly. That she was stolen from her mother as a new born into a child trafficking system where she was controlled to do things she cannot remember through the microchip implanted in her brain. 

With these challenges facing them and the forbidding of slaves like Reyno to pursue romance, she is at a risk of relapsing the longer she waits to be united with Colin being stuck in the country she was abducted to.

Microsoft Ignite Tour

I've been seeking to attend IT conventions as part of my quest to keep myself updated and in the loop and the Microsoft Ignite Tour at the Sandton Convention Center was a great way to start.

Various lectures centered on Azure (Microsoft's cloud) were given by experts and planned learning paths were available to select from on an online schedule builder. But we chose to attend sessions of which the titles peaked our interests and still we were not left dissappointed.

One of my favorite presentations was on "Understanding Data through Visualization" that introduced me to PowerBI which is a magnificent tool for data visualization through charts and graphs to present and explore the data.

My absolute favorite was on "Making your Application Intelligent" where the code behind Machine Learning was revealed and explained and we learned about ML.Net where you can experiment with Machine Learning.

The food was abundant and great. It was a well-planned event and I hope to attend more like this as they provide a great learning experience which intensely stimulates the intellect.

Quantum Computing Programming is not Mystic

Chris Woodford (2018) asserts that when Moore's law does not apply to physics anymore, Quantum Computing is the next option. We are approaching a point where transistors will soon be as small as atoms. Enter the realm of Quantum Computing...

Quantum Computing is a radically different way computers will work but how will this affect software developers and programmers? Will programming change radically too?

Don't worry, the programming follows the same rules and is not some weird ethereal magical stuff that you imagine when thinking about quantum physics. But instead of bits, Woodford brings out that information will be stored as quantum bits also known as qubits.

Q# is a new quantum computing computer language by Microsoft that Paz (2017) infers is used for expressing quantum algorithms. He also mentions that because quantum processors are not widely available, Q# subroutines execute on a simulator.

In fact, you can start using the Q# programming language on Visual Studio 2017 and later as demonstrated by Mahesh Chand (2018). 

As technology develops rapidly, programming will continue to be the bedrock of systems and the rules by which we program won't change any time soon especially if even in quantum computing, programming functions on the same principles.

References:

1. Woodford, C. (2018) Quantum Computing [online] Available from: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/quantum-computing.html [Accessed 23 December 2018]

2. Paz, A. (2017) The Q# Programming Language [online]Available from: https//docs.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum/language/?view=qsharp-preview [Accessed 23 December]

3. Chand, M. (2018) Getting Started with Q# Programming [online] Available from: https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/getting-started-with-q-programming/ [Accessed 23 December 2018]

Chatbots Transforming Consumer Support

Consumer Support automation is a niche in the market that chatbots are rapidly filling more especially in major chat products such as Facebook Messenger. In layman's terms you can now shop online with assistance from a chatbot as you communicate what you are looking for (Schlicht, 2016).

Schlicht describes a chatbot as a service that can live on a major chat product and can be powered by rules or AI through machine learning as an example. It mimics human conversation to provide customer services.

I took the liberty to test one myself; a chatbot for Fandango on Facebook Messenger. Kajabi (2018) explains how Fandango is an app you can download to watch trailers, read reviews of recently released films, and interact with other people who love motion pictures. The chatbot on Facebook Messenger allows users to do some of those things without leaving Facebook.

Below is a screenshot of my experience with the chatbot:

Rathinam (2018) invokes that one of the greatest disadvantages of chatbots is that they are expensive to integrate as they must integrate with existing software to function. Aside from this drawback they lower the cost of having actual humans interact with consumers.

He also mentions how chatbots are not entirely efficient because they lack the contextual knowledge to effectively account for all the complexities of language and will therefore require more advanced AI to iron out their inefficiencies.

It seems that current chatbots are only good for the basic queries for a business. You may still need to call the Customer Helpdesk for the more advanced queries. But this is where chatbots have room to thrive as AI also advances. 

Niko Bonatsos has said that "~90% of our time on mobile is spent on email and messaging platforms. I would love to back teams that build stuff for places where the consumers hang out!” —  Managing Director at General Catalyst

Hence chatbots are truly a niche market and we can expect to see growth in their development in the near future.

References:

1.  Schlicht, M. (2016) The Complete Beginner's Guide to Chatbots [online] Available from: https://chatbotsmagazine.com/the-complete-beginner-s-guide-to-chatbots-8280b7b906ca [Accessed on 20 November 2018]
2. Kajabi (2018) 20 Examples of Facebook Messenger Chatbots to Inspire You in 2018 [online] Available from: https://blog.newkajabi.com/chatbot-examples [Accessed 20 November 2018]
3. Rathinam,  P.(2018) AI 101: The Basics of Automation for Customer Support [online] Available from: http://customerthink.com/ai-101-the-basics-of-automation-for-customer-support/ [Accessed 20 November 2018]

Simple Macro in Excel

As a growing software developer I've begun to contemplate what I can automate to make personal tasks easier and convenient for me. For instance, between my cousins I am in charge of an account we hold to save money for family funerals. I have an excel spreadsheet with everyone's details, 19 rows and 4 columns. I wanted to find a way to highlight a row when it's someone's birthday to display to anyone using the spreadsheet.

Excel macros came to mind and I got excited to figure them out. I remembered at my first job the senior developers used them quite often so I thought "Why not teach myself?"

Before you can use macros you have to enable the "Developer" ribbon in Excel. Go to File >> Options >> Customize Ribbon and select the Developer option in the list box on the right.

Go to your worksheet and select the Developer ribbon then select Macros on the left. In the pop-up, type the macro name, select "This Workbook" option then click the Create button. The Visual Basic Editor will open but before you add code to that module, go back to your worksheet.

Select Macros again and click the Options button. Enter the shortcut key combination that you want to fire your macro. Ctrl + Shift + something else will reduce the chances of overriding any predetermined shortcuts in excel. Add a description and click OK.

Now click the Edit button on the main macro pop-up and it will take you back to the editor. Below is some code I wrote for my birthday macro. The code has to be in Visual Basic for Applications(VBA).

The code first loops through the birth date column to remove any highlights. Then it loops again to find the day and month equal to the current day and month to highlight the row of the person whose birthday it is. If there are no birthdays a message box pops up.

This was a simple and fun macro to do on excel for the first time. They can get complex and you can automate almost any repetitive task you find yourself doing on excel.

UPDATE: I've improved the macro to show upcoming birthdays as well by highlighting the rows        in a different color.