'What we will start to see more of in the short-term is improved analysis and speed, which will make it appear more like the computer is thinking- but it's a process that relies on us.' - Hugh Cox, Rosslyn Analytics

Speaking to students at MIT in October, Elon Musk, engineer and CEO of Telsa Motors and SpaceX, called artificial intelligence 'our biggest existential threat.' He may be the man behind the first commercial flights to the International Space Station, but it's hard to avoid feeling he may have his head in the clouds when it comes to what is science and what is science fiction. At the same time we have films like 2014's 'Her' that depict a not-so-distant future where smart operating systems can have their own emotions and identities, and eventually become so intelligent that they supersede us. While autonomous A.I has been a trope in our culture for many years, the hype and speculation certainly hasn't abated in 2014.

But far from excluding humans, A.I systems based on cognitive computing technology have the potential to augment our reasoning capabilities and empower us to make better informed real-time decisions- and are already doing so.

'People will always remain key in the decision making process- cognitive computing will just require them to impact decisions in a different way and at a different stage,' explains Hugh Cox, chief data officer of Rosslyn Analytics. 'Human expertise, knowledge and experience will continue to be collected, meaning that as time progresses computers will become more adept at making decisions, removing the need for human interaction. But its important to note; the most advanced cognitive computing tool will never replace humans because we have contextual insight that computers simply dont possess.'

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According to IBM's Senior Vice President John E. Kelly, we're on the cusp of the 'third era' of computing- one of cognitive computing. In the age of tabulating machines, vaccuum systems and the first calculators, we fed data directly into computers on punch cards. Later on, in the programmable era, we learnt how to take processes and put them into the machine, controlled by the programming we inflict on the system. But in the forthcoming era of cognitive computing, computers will work directly with humans 'in a synergetic association' where relationships between human and computer blur.

The main benefits of this kind of synergy will be the ability to access the best of both worlds- productivity and speed from machines, emotional intelligence and the ability to handle the unknown from humans.

'They will interact in such a way that the computer helps the human unravel vast stores of information through its advanced processing speeds' says Kelly,' but the creativity of the human creates the environment for such an unlocking to occur.'

Reigning champion

The most well-known representative of 'cognitive computing' right now is IBM's Watson system. In 2011, the computer famously appeared on -and won- US gameshow 'Jeopardy!' by providing questions in response to clues posed in natural human language, which included nuances such as puns, slang and jargon. It was able to quickly execute hundreds of algorithms simultaneously to find the right answer, ranking its confidence in their accuracy and responding within three seconds.

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