Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that has grabbed a lot of attention in movies, books, products, and a slew of other places. When it works, AI performs amazing feats, but they are often of a mundane nature. Vendors frequently equate AI with “smart” products (products that are connected to the internet to provide added value). Products that contain an AI often fail to work or are even counterproductive because the vendor placed profits above functionality. In some cases, as with the self-driving car, the functionality can be downright dangerous. Some people, of course, want to grab headlines by telling mistruths or offering misconceptions about AI. This Cheat Sheet doesn’t clear up all the misconceptions, mistruths, and hype for you, but it does offer you some interesting insights into why the mundane side of AI is actually where you see AI most often.
Understanding the eight kinds of intelligence
Humans demonstrate eight kinds of intelligence, as described in the following table. These forms of intelligence often help us stand out from other species. In addition, knowing the eight kinds of intelligence tells you where we stand out from AI and helps you to know where humans will always excel over an AI. This information is important because many people fear that AIs will take over the world and eventually replace people. Yes, an AI can become quite smart, but not human smart, in every area of intelligence because we don’t truly understand them ourselves.
| Type |
Simulation Potential |
Human Tools |
Description |
| Visual-spatial |
Moderate |
Models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling, video, television, and multimedia |
Physical environment intelligence used by people like sailors and architects (among many others). In order to move at all, humans need to understand their physical environment — its dimensions and characteristics. Every robot or portable computer intelligence requires this capability, but the capability is often difficult to simulate (as with self-driving cars) or less than accurate (as with vacuums that rely as much on bumping as they do on moving intelligently). |
| Bodily-kinesthetic |
Moderate |
Specialized equipment and real objects |
Body movements, such as those used by a surgeon or a dancer, require precision and body awareness. Robots commonly use this kind of intelligence to perform repetitive tasks, often with higher precision than humans, but sometimes with less grace. It’s essential to differentiate between human augmentation, such as a surgical device that provides a surgeon with enhanced physical ability, and true independent movement. The former is simply a demonstration of mathematical capability in that it depends on the surgeon for input. |
| Creative |
None |
Artistic output, new patterns of thought, inventions, new kinds of musical composition |
Creativity involves generating new ideas, artistic expressions, or unique solutions. It thrives on innovation and breaking patterns. Unlike machines, which follow set rules, human creativity comes from intuition and connecting different ideas. While AI can help by recombining existing data, true creativity is about inventing and expressing what has never existed. |
| Interpersonal |
Low to Moderate |
Telephone, audio conferencing, video conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, email |
Interacting with others occurs at several levels. The goal of this form of intelligence is to obtain, exchange, give, and manipulate information based on the experiences of others. Computers can answer basic questions not because they understand the question but because of keyword input. The intelligence occurs while obtaining information, locating suitable keywords, and then giving information based on those keywords. Cross-referencing terms in a lookup table and then acting on the instructions provided by the table demonstrates logical intelligence, not interpersonal intelligence. |
| Intrapersonal |
None |
Books, creative materials, diaries, privacy, and time |
Looking inward to understand one’s own interests and set goals based on those interests is currently a human-only kind of intelligence. As machines, computers have no desires, interests, wants, or creative abilities. An AI processes numeric input using a set of algorithms and provides an output; it isn’t aware of anything it does, nor does it understand anything it does. |
| Linguistic |
Low for oral and aural, None for written |
Games, multimedia, books, voice recorders, and spoken words |
Working with words is an essential tool for communication because spoken information exchange is far faster than any other form. This form of intelligence includes understanding oral, aural, and written input, managing the input to develop an answer, and providing an understandable answer as output. In many cases, computers can barely parse spoken input into keywords, they can’t actually understand the request, and they output responses that may not be understandable. A computer can’t simulate written linguistic capability, because this ability requires creativity. |
| Logical-mathematical |
High (potentially higher than humans) |
Logic games, investigations, mysteries, and brainteasers |
Calculating a result, performing comparisons, exploring patterns, and considering relationships are all areas in which computers excel. When you see a computer beat a human on a game show, this is the only form of intelligence, out of seven, that you’re actually seeing. Yes, you might see small bits of other kinds of intelligence, but this one is the focus. Basing an assessment of human-versus-computer intelligence on just one kind of intelligence isn’t a good idea. |
| Naturalist |
None |
Identification, exploration, discovery, new tool creation |
Humans rely on the ability to identify, classify, and manipulate their environment to interact with plants, animals, and other objects. This type of intelligence informs us that one piece of fruit is safe to eat, and another is not. It also gives us a desire to learn how things work or to explore the universe and all that’s in it. |
Considering the common, real-life uses for AI
There are two levels of confusion when it comes to using AI in an actual product. The first level is the smart device that merely provides connectivity to a back-end application and gives the appearance of using an AI. For example, a smart thermometer might provide connectivity to your smartphone but not rely on an AI to do anything. However, a thermometer that self-programs itself based on how you set the house temperatures does rely on an AI to provide the additional functionality.
The second level is the device that does use an AI, but in a manner that makes it unlikely to work. For example, a smart assistant that supposedly helps you make good decisions is doomed to failure because making such decisions is outside the purview of an AI’s ability. On the other hand, a smart assistant that helps you locate a good restaurant, manages your home’s lighting, and maintains a list of your appointments (ensuring that there’s no overlap) will likely work as long as the application has no bugs and you provide appropriate input.
The following table focuses on some of the available products that are relatively autonomous and inexpensive enough for many people to own and that actually work. They all rely on AI to help you in some way.
| Product |
URL |
Description |
| Tempus Radiology |
www.tempus.com/radiology |
Performs a cardiac scan in six to ten minutes rather than the usual hour, and the patient avoids having to spend time holding their breath. What’s truly amazing is that this system obtains several dimensions of data: 3D heart anatomy, blood flow rate, and blood flow direction, in this short period. |
| Clocky |
https://clocky.com |
Acts as an alarm clock for those who have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. The device gives you one chance to snooze and then it moves in a random direction — forcing you to get out of bed to turn it off. |
| Enlitic |
www.enlitic.com/ |
Analyzes radiological scans in milliseconds — up to 10,000 times faster than a radiologist. In addition, the system is 50 percent better at classifying tumors and has a lower false negative rate (0 percent versus 7 percent) than when humans perform the analysis. |
| ThinQ Robotic Vacuum |
www.lg.com/us/business/floor-care/lg-r975gm1 |
Vacuums your carpets and floors. This robot has a superior AI, along with a number of intelligent sensors, so it avoids bumping into objects the majority of the time. You can also program it to use various cleaning strategies (to ensure that it doesn’t miss anything by cleaning in the same pattern every time). |
| K’Watch |
www.pkvitality.com/ktrack-glucose/ |
Provides constant glucose monitoring, along with an app for obtaining helpful information on managing diabetes. |
| Moov Now |
https://welcome.moov.cc |
Monitors both heart rate and 3D movement. The AI for this device tracks these statistics and provides advice on how to create a better workout. It offers advice on factors such as how your feet are hitting the pavement during running and whether you need to lengthen your stride. The point of devices like these is to ensure that you get the sort of workout that will improve your health without risking injury. |
| QardioCore |
www.qardio.com/qardiomd-qardiocore-ecg/ |
Provides an electrocardiogram without the use of wires, and someone with limited medical knowledge can easily use it. As with many devices, this one relies on your smartphone to provide needed analysis and make connections to outside sources as necessary. |
| Robomow |
www.robomow.com |
Mows your grass. |
| Roomba |
www.irobot.com/ |
Vacuums your carpets and floors. The robot tends to bump into objects, rather than see and avoid them, so the AI is extremely basic. A counterpart, Braava, mops your floors, and Mirra cleans your pool. If you want your floors vacuumed and mopped at the same time, you can use Scooba instead. |
Defining the top AI industries
The number of industries using AI productively has increased dramatically in recent years. AI research focuses on specific industries because of the way AI works. AI requires lots of data as input, relies on algorithms to process that data, and then provides an output that, hopefully, matches the requirements. Some industries can’t easily meet these basic requirements because of a lack of data or a lack of algorithms to model the industry correctly. Some problems that AI seeks to address have additional requirements to create a usable solution. Therefore, we see lots of experimentation. Here are the top ten AI industries with an overview of current application types and potential future directions:
| Investment Area |
Current Implementation Level |
Application Types |
Future Directions |
| Big-box retail |
Low (waiting on manufacturing, supply chain logistics, and CRM) |
Statistical analysis, customer tracking, warehouse management, basic warehouse robotics, basic automated checkouts, basic trend analysis, customer/employee monitoring systems |
Predictive analysis, seasonal adjustments, automated decision-making based on data, individualized customer experiences, advanced warehouse robotics, product tracking and monitoring, and everything else that online retail is currently employing to improve the customer experience and product efficiencies |
| Business intelligence |
Moderate |
Predictive functionality, decision assistance, improved data use, assistance to management lacking skills in statistical research |
Advanced data analysis and graphical output options, improved predictive functionality, and greater ability to use AI for repetitive or mundane tasks |
| Cloud computing |
High |
Hosting management at various levels (including hybrid and localized systems), a vast array of “as a Service” products (such as Software as a Service, or SaaS), data analysis, customer analysis, and every other kind of analysi |
More of the same applications, with a general movement toward businesses being fully in the cloud and an increase in “as a service” functionality, along with a large increase in predictive analysis |
| Construction |
Low but advancing (seeing improvements in robotics, predictive analysis, and sensor monitoring) |
Sensor monitoring and analysis, basic robotic use, layout management, personnel management |
Planning assistance, construction monitoring, advanced data processing, predictive analysis, post-completion analysis and monitoring, intermediate robotic use (as compared to manufacturing), and improved efficiencies and safety |
| Cybersecurity |
Moderate to high |
AI threat-detection and -response systems including LLMs, enhanced anomaly detection, predictive insights, and AI for handling alerts and incident responses more efficiently |
Development of hyper-accurate AI models with deep domain knowledge and an increased focus on AI security and safety to ensure effective threat mitigation |
| Education |
Moderate |
Assistive learning, games, software |
Modifications of the education process and handling of paperwork requirements, like issuing certificates |
| Healthcare |
High |
Medical record management, test analysis, use with x-rays and CT scans, automated data entry, patient monitoring, treatment design, virtual nurses and doctors, and many other uses |
Improved home healthcare robotics, drug synthesis, drug simulations, proactive health management, early detection and diagnosis, advanced research, and healthcare professional training, among many other improvements |
| Manufacturing |
Moderate |
Robotics, assembly line automation, sensor monitoring, safety improvements |
Full automation, automated decision-making based on data, improved integration, operational cost reduction, balanced scalability, and information channeling |
| Smart cities |
Low (waiting on government politics) |
Water supply, power supply, public safety, surveillance, security |
Improved use of the cloud, addition of sensors, and use of advanced data analytics |
| Supply chain management |
Moderate |
Warehouse management, personnel management, basic and intermediate warehouse robotics, supply chain planning, logistics, shipping |
Procurement augmentation, predictive analysis, improved security, seasonal adjustments, improved logistics and shipping, and advanced robotics |
