profitability measures.DefinitionARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEBefore we can explore the possibilities and implications of AI, we must carefully define exactly what attributes make something intelligent. The most common way to define intelligence in through the term consciousness. A term such as this has no fixed definition; rather, it is a family of related concepts that tie together to form a picture of consciousness. Self-awareness, rationality, the ability for abstract thinking, and strategic thinking characterize consciousness. From this definition or description of intelligence we can gather that to exhibit true intelligence, there must be a conscious state, in other words, a state or condition of self-awareness. AI is broadly defined as anything that a computer does that we normally consider to be a human trait. AI is the part of computer science concerned with designing intelligent computer systems, that is systems that exhibit the characteristics we associate with intelligence in human behaviorunderstanding language, learning, reasoning, solving problems and so on. Todays AI sprung from the discipline commonly referred to Decision Support Systems, and as such, a true look at AI can not be conducted without first taking a look at its predecessors.Why Have Decision Support SystemsDecision Support Systems provide a valuable data repository of lessons learned. By maintaining this data and providing real time updates, managers can help support their business choices by looking at a history of similar decisions made by others in their positions. This does not mean that every decision made, based on this data, will be good. However, it does help lower the probability of a bad one. This function alone can save a company from making a small error to making errors, which could threaten its ability to remain viable.What types of Decision Support Systems are there?Before we can understand the ramifications of these systems we must firs...
