The benefits of AI
Is AI good or bad? Technology continues to transform our world, in both good and bad ways. AI is not a miracle solution, but it is a powerful technology that holds both great promise and potential risk. This blog provides an overview of the most predictable pros of AI, as far as we can anticipate for a technology that evolves so rapidly. Our conclusion: AI can be immensely enriching if used in an informed, skilful, and critical way. And that starts with reading and learning more!
What are the benefits of AI?
The benefits of AI are diverse and include:
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Efficiency: AI can perform repetitive tasks faster and more accurately than humans.
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Accuracy: AI systems can analyse data with high precision.
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Consistency: AI delivers consistent results without fatigue, which is essential for tasks that require high accuracy.
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Personalisation: AI systems can propose individual approaches for each case or person, taking into account a wide range of information.
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Objectivity: AI is, in principle, not influenced by bias - provided the data it learns from is also free of bias.
AI helps both companies and individuals by automating tasks, which leads to cost savings and increased efficiency. For example: when implemented correctly, AI can help in healthcare to support early disease diagnosis, while in the financial sector it can help detect fraud. AI also enables new products and services, such as personalised recommendations in e-commerce and improved search results on the internet.
What can AI do better than humans?
AI can help overcome typical human limitations and perform certain tasks better and faster, especially when they are repetitive or heavily data-driven.
Artificial intelligence can:
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detect patterns in extremely large volumes of information
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never get tired or bored
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stay focused, without being distracted by what stands out most
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process massive amounts of information at high speed
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quickly scan thousands of images, maps, audio files and other data
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group similar types of information
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add (more accurate) observations to its dataset using more sensors than humans have — like seeing infrared or ultraviolet light, hearing other frequencies, or detecting magnetic and electric fields
Our tips for learning about AI
Who benefits from AI?
Individuals and employees gain from artificial intelligence:
- AI systems make professionals more productive by supporting their routine tasks.
- AI can help neutralise a work disability. For example: GPT systems that assist in writing better, error-free texts.
- An employee with knowledge of AI systems is more resilient to spam, phishing, and fake news both at work and at home, as even criminals use AI.
- The cherry on the cake: proficiency in AI can lead to a 25% increase in salary in certain sectors.
Why encourage the use of AI in your company?
AI helps companies maintain a competitive edge over international competition. In addition, the technology provides opportunities to do more with a smaller workforce: a practical and efficient solution to current labour shortages. Furthermore, AI is also widely used for safety and quality control. As such, using AI results in higher profits while but leaving more time for human tasks.
Why is AI important for Flanders and Europe?
Flanders boasts an innovative knowledge economy where the primary resource is the brainpower of our professionals. Staying innovative is crucial, especially in a small open economy like ours, where international competition can have a significant impact. Additionally, Flanders struggles with labour shortages: there are too few people in the labour market to do the work required in companies, leading to missed opportunities and high work pressure and job turnover among those who do work. AI promises efficiency increases at the company level, which can alleviate labour shortages. And AI can help people with a work disability, increasing the number of available professionals. Finally, European regions are counting on AI’s promised efficiency gains to counter the declining productivity growth in their countries. Broad and rapid implementation of AI thus increases prosperity in Flanders and Europe.
Source: Why AI? (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency)
How does AI help a history PhD student?
In this column, Flemish PhD students various fields of study share how they use AI. Lith Lefranc (UAntwerp) leads you into the world of historical research. She uses machine learning techniques to automatically search handwritten historical texts.
The risks and drawbacks of AI
Technology keeps reshaping our world, for better and for worse. AI is no silver bullet: it’s a powerful tool that also comes with real risks. Discover the main risks we know (or expect) today, and how we can best manage them.
GenAI in healthcare: a revolution
When we think of GenAI we usually think of ChatGPT. But GenAI, the generation of new information by an AI system, can be so much more. In healthcare this technology is rapidly changing the sector, via synthetic data, digital twins, foundational models and last but certainly not least: administrative automation and streamlining.
The sweat metric. (Or how to not ruin your learning process by using AI)
People use AI to make their lives easier, but how does it really help us? Yannick Willems from Learning Bites uses ChatGPT to become smarter. By using AI not merely as a shortcut but as a tool to challenge oneself in new ways.
Isabelle Borremans
Isabelle is not an AI expert, but she has been communicating about AI (and AI training) for VAIA for four years. So, she knows exactly how to communicate effectively about AI training. Feel free to contact her with any questions on how to promote your AI course. She’ll gladly challenge you with questions like:
- Who is your target audience? Can you be more specific?
- What networks reach that audience?
- Where does your audience prefer to take courses?
- What AI skills does your audience need?
- Does your training match their needs?
Besides communication, Isabelle also works on VAIA’s strategy: Who is our audience? How can we reach them? How can we spark their interest in AI?
Related courses
Machine learning and deep learning fundamentals
Workshop - Leuven - VIB, Training geselecteerd in de Belgische AI Factory Antenna (AIFA)
HPC Café
Seminarie - Online, Karlsruhe - KIT, HammerHAI, Training geselecteerd in de Belgische AI Factory Antenna (AIFA)