Self-learning neural networks, artificial intelligence, cognitive systems; what is in store for us and how will it change our society? 

In your head, in your brain to be precise, there is an area that does most of the work for you 24 hours a day from the beginning of your life to the end of it. This area governs pretty much everything you need to survive, breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure. It receives the information from your body, processes it and sends it on. You only notice it when something is wrong, or something is so important that you need to deal with it. Your brain stem, which has developed over 100,000 years, does nothing other than check target values, detect deviations and react; accordingly, the principle of homeostasis. This is the only way you will be able to use the higher cognitive performance. Like planning the future, reading this text, getting from A to B and all the other interesting things you can do with an open brain.

What does that have to do with A.I.?

Roughly speaking, in the coming years, artificial intelligence will be to society what the brainstem is to us. It will take over all the work that is routine. The so-called neural networks can learn independently. In the coming years they will be able to do this better and better. As a result, they will also take on more and more complex tasks.

Impact on all areas of society

This technology will change all areas of society. From the obvious changes in the world of work to less obvious changes in education. Self-learning neural networks are already able to detect skin cancer more accurately and earlier than the experts in the field. Robots equipped with these networks can move surgical instruments 3-4 times more smoothly than experienced surgeons. Radiologists will have to reinvent their profession. Pattern recognition software compares millions of cases in a very short time and can thus better identify pathological changes.
So, it's not just professions that are affected that are obvious, such as assembly line workers or mail sorters. Hardly any people will be found in Amazon's logistics centers in the future. An AI control center coordinates drones that sort or pick up, pack and ship all goods. AI-controlled autonomous vehicles will bring the packages to you, later it will be drones.

The biochip in the brain is still a long way off

The possibility of having a biochip implanted in your brain is still some way off. Do you have arithmetic weaknesses? If so, a direct link to your personal 'cloud' can open an app that calculates a differential equation for you in under a second and projects the result as an image onto your 'inner screen'. Together with your 'cloud', the biochip learns from your requests. Gradually he works so independently that the results fly to you "intuitively".
How will school be shaped in this future? As naturally as we wear glasses to correct a visual impairment, we could use a biochip to get a grip on arithmetic disabilities.
Anyone could access all of humanity's information at any time. Nothing needs to be memorized anymore. Working memory could be expanded so that more information could be 'considered' at the same time. That would make a completely different complexity possible. Orientation as a skill would be needed more than before. The subject could be called: “Informational Orientation”.

What shouldn't be

If the move to the biochip with an internet connection becomes a reality, then the worst possible development is not that an AI will subjugate us humans. One scenario could be that our society develops a technological measure that excludes people who cannot afford, do not want or are not allowed to use these technologies.
Artificial intelligence in connection with "augmented reality" could pervade the entire public space. Traffic lights would then no longer be physically present but would only be seen as a projection of your personal Google Glass onto the iris of your eye. For anyone who does not have such glasses, it is then life-threatening to cross the street. The AI-controlled traffic makes it possible for cars to drive through the city at high speeds. If you have Google glasses, the AI will recognize you. But what looks like a relief could also be deliberately abused by humans.

We need to talk about it

All experts agree that this technology will come in the near future. However, a social discussion does not seem to be taking place at the moment. The possibilities of this technology are not yet foreseeable. In the not-too-distant future, however, creativity and imagination will be the skills that will determine how we use this technology.