This article is an updated version and was originally published on november 2016.

“Julie who is CC’d in this email will contact you to schedule the meeting”

Ah! Where would we be without her? Even though she is an integral part of your daily life, we haven’t really taken the time to fully introduce her to you have we? Let’s fix this right now: come discover what goes on behind the scenes of Julie through this infographic display. You can print it and showcase it above your desk, share it with your friends… the possibilities are endless.

A self-aware intelligence...

If we go back to the definition and origins of the term intelligence, Wikipedia, the king of definitions tells us this:

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Facebook researchers are at the forefront of artificial technology research capable of managing basic human negotiation. This is a key step toward evolving chatbots and that could lead to a number of key economic implications.

Over the past few years, an unprecedented number of users were able to experience a dialogue with this kind of AI, whether that be via virtual personal assistants integrated into their smartphones or connected devices. The most well known technology of this kind includes Apple’s virtual assistant,Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s integrated assistant. Though these assistants have shown their incredible utility in a digital age, their conversational skills remain simple. They’re far from capable of having philosophical discussions with humans as we’ve seen in science fiction. However, though invisible to the consumer, a number of studies are working towards constructing an AI that is more capable of carrying out complex conversation, one that resembles the human.

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Recent progress in Artificial Intelligence has given rise to fears of technological unemployment, when a large part of the population will be replaced by robots in the workplace. That said, a number of companies operating in the sector are proving that these machines are meant to work with humans rather than replace them. 

On Saturday, May 27, Google’s AlphaGo faced off for the third time with world-renowned professional Go player, Ke Jie of China. Go is a board game, known for its complexity, it has long been considered too difficult for a computer to play because the number of possible combinations needed to win is much greater than the number of possible failures. However, AlphaGo surprised the public last year when it played head-to-head with one of the best players in the world, Lee Sedol of Korea. And after defeating Ke Jie 3 to 0 this weekend, the software has essentially proven its superiority. Some may recall the theory of the Singularity, a subject often defended by American entrepreneur and futurist Ray Kurzweil, and will see this as proof that no task is too difficult for AI, and that suchprogramming will surpass human intelligence in all sectors.

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Unsatisfied with media coverage concerning artificial intelligence, researcher Zachary C. Lipton launched the blog Approximately Correct to do justice to his subject. According to Lipton, media coverage of artificial intelligence is based on approximate data and discusses speculative prophecies to the detriment of the true nature of AI innovation.

In an article entitled “AI’s PR problem,” Jerry Kaplan, an entrepreneur, writer and futurist based in San Francisco, posits that Artificial intelligence is the victim of fantastic exaggerations and misconceptions of all kinds. According to Kaplan, recent progress made in this sector has been susceptible to embellishment by the media giving it a false image. Because of this, technical advances as diverse as AlphaGo, self-driving cars and voice-activated virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa, are synonymous with the progressive development of super intelligence that is on its way to surpassing even the human mind.

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Last week, here in Paris, we participated in the Big Data Paris congress, an event dedicated to innovative developments relating to Big Data. This year, the congress decided to also showcase innovations in Artificial Intelligence through their Lab AI. In fact, Artificial Intelligence is a logical extension to intelligent data analysis; after all, the value of data lies in our capacity to analyze it.

Let’s come back to this successful conference!

What is Big Data anyway?

The expression “Big Data” first appeared in 1997 in scientific articles emphasizing the technological challenges when it comes to the visualization of large volumes of data.

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“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” George Washington.

Giving an external person the responsibility to control your calendar is a sign of trust: Julie chooses time slots in your name, communicates with your interlocutors, etc. But until now, she could not monitor and validate the people with whom you schedule meetings. You, as a user, had to give your approval before Julie would schedule meetings, calls and other appointments with the people who contact you.

This approach makes sense for people you do not know or who are not in your network. After all, we do not want to open the access to your calendar for everybody. However, what about the other people, those you know and trust?

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