Artificial Intelligence, or AI, can sometimes be a confusing term, and it’s one that’s showing up in an increasing number of places. Like “big data” or “the cloud” it’s being used so frequently that its meaning is becoming less and less obvious, especially to non-technical users. But at Saab’s Digital and AI department, we firmly believe that AI has the potential to completely transform so many aspects of life: from how business is conducted to how we stop wildfires. So, we’re on a mission to bridge this gap and demystify AI for everyone.

AI, quite simply, is any computer program or process that attempts to mimic human behavior. What started with simple algorithms from pioneers like Alan Turing has grown into a realm of technology that now touches just about everything we do. There’s AI that helps keep our satellites in orbit, and there’s even AI for your morning coffee.

While there are lots of technologies that qualify as AI these days, it’s helpful to have a bit of structure and specificity to that term. Think of AI as the top-level, catch-all term for any technology that attempts to think or act like a human. The chess game on your laptop uses a “classical” AI opponent.

Then comes Machine Learning, often just called “ML”, which represented a big step forward. Unlike “classical” AI, which needed to have each rule explicitly written out in code, ML algorithms have the ability to learn and adapt themselves, based on new information. Think of your favorite video streaming service: each movie or show you watch is a new input to an ML algorithm that “learns” your preferences without having to be explicitly programmed to know every single movie option out there.

There’s actually a sub-type of ML called Deep Learning, or DL. DL is inspired by the connections of neurons in the brain and uses this as an approach to teaching computer algorithms to do more complicated tasks. DL works best when you have lots and lots of data you can use to “train” the algorithm. Thankfully, in our interconnected world, this is less and less of a problem.

The Saab Computer Vision Platform specializes in Deep Learning, because we believe it yields the best results for teaching computers to see like we humans do! Our platform is powered by a number of custom DL neural networks we built ourselves to help get the best results with as little time and effort as possible.