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Big data differs from regular data because big data uses distributed architecture. Which just means that data is gathered from several different computers within a network. Big data is important to businesses because it improves operations, customer service, and marketing, allowing them to make faster and more informed business decisions. Businesses can analyze real-time and historical data to assess the changes in preferences and enable the business to be more responsive to changes. Big data, it is characterized by something called “6Vs.” The 6 V’s include: volume, velocity, variety, veracity, value, and variability. Volume helps define big data because the volume is a large amount of data making it big data. Velocity refers to the high speed of the collection of data. When there is a large and continuous flow of data that helps us define the data as “big data.” The variety of big data can be broken down into 3 categories: structured data, semi-structured data, and unstructured data. Structured data is organized data, and semi-structured data does not have a formal structure. Unstructured data is data that does fit into any typical structure. Veracity is the uncertainty with data. With big data, there is data coming in different types of data coming from multiple sources. Value is what gives data its purpose. Data is useless unless you have a goal in collecting it. Variability is the changing shape of the data you collect. The “6 V’s” of data allows us to understand data and also apply these concepts to define if the data we collect is big data. 

ERP stands for “Enterprise Resource Planning.” ERP is a software or system that integrates functions, streamlines processes, and manages a business. An ERP stores all sales, warehouse, and accounting data in one system. ERP’s can solve communication challenges, can take over the roles of certain positions to manage workers’ time better, as well as track customer data and aid in decision making. CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management.” CRMs can be utilized in marketing, sales, HR, accounting, and orders. CRMs allow for a more standardized way of dealing with tasks allowing for more clarity and productivity. CRM and ERP are both software that get work done more efficiently and effectively, but the key difference between CRM and ERP is that CRM is used more in the sales and customer service side of the business while ERP software is used more in finance and specific business processes. The benefits of utilizing the two software together can be shown by Amazon.

Functions in JavaScript

In JavaScript, functions are essentially pieces of reusable code that are designed to perform a task when called, or executed. Functions have inputs and outputs, much like those that you typically think of in a mathematical context. Functions have parameters that they take – in the above photo, name is a parameter of the function greet. Functions also have code that the execute. The above photo only has // code commented, not giving us an example of what code this function might execute, but we can make up the example that this function might execute {console.log(“hello, ” + name);}. Then, when you call the function, or tell the computer to run the action, our code would execute. Of course, our variable name would have to be previously defined – for the ease of the example, we can say we defined let name = “John”. Without knowing how the greet function actually executes, we can say in this example that when we call greet(“John”) that our function would return hello, John. Functions can become much more complicated depending on the parameters, the functions that you’re actually using, and the statements or code inside the function that the function will execute, but the basic idea behind a function is still inputs and outputs!

The Three Types of AI

We can sort artificial intelligence into narrow, general, and super intelligence. Artificial narrow intelligence is designed to be useful for one certain task, skill, or problem. ANI can come close to human capabilities, and potentially surpass them, but ANI only works under limited parameters. ANI is the only artificial intelligence that exists today. One example of artificial narrow intelligence is Jasper, an AI copywriter which can create content instantly, disrupting many creative fields such as blogging and advertising. Artificial general intelligence is AI with human capacities for cognitive functioning and reasoning, but across many areas. AGI is still theoretical, but would be, for example, a version of Jasper that could not only create copy, but deconstruct the meaning behind this copy. It is difficult to wrap your mind around the differences between AGI and ANI, as the difference lies in the specific cognitive functions that define humans like reasoning and processing, but AGI is basically a more human and adaptable version of ANI. Artificial super intelligence is artificial intelligence that completely surpasses human capabilities. Again, it is difficult to conceptualize what this might actually look like, because we are so far away from this goal, but additional capabilities of ASI past AGI would be the ability to make rational decisions and form emotional relationships. Using the Jasper example, perhaps this might look like a version that could create copy, understand the emotional meaning behind the copy, and then make a decision between two different versions based on which is more emotionally resonant for a specific ad campaign.

Alan Turing was a mathematician, computer scientist among other things and was born in 1912. He died in June of 1954, but is considered the founding father of artificial intelligence and modern cognitive science. Turner believed computers could gain artificial intelligence by mimicking human behavior and as a result of this belief he created what is know as the Turing test. The Turing test is a series of questions that you ask a machine or computer to see if it can act like a human being. This also entails a persons asking the machine questions to determine if it is human or in fact a computer, so now you can go on some websites and take the test to see if you can figure out if you were assigned a person to chat with or an artificial intelligence machine. The Turing test will continue to be essential in our society for helping us determine how smart and how far artificial intelligence has come because now there is more AI than ever before and it is becoming better than it ever has. Systems like GPT-3 are making great progress but they still have ways to go.