Computer Science · Chapter 7
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) does not stand still. Every few years new technologies change how we compute, communicate, learn, shop and govern. This chapter surveys the most important recent trends: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things, Mobile Computing, and the "e-" services (e-commerce, e-governance, e-medicine and e-learning) that ICT has made possible. For each, the aim is to understand what it is, how it works in outline, and where its benefits and drawbacks lie, because these are the technologies shaping the world today's students will work in.
Artificial Intelligence is the branch of computer science that builds machines and software able to perform tasks that would normally need human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, understanding language, recognizing images and making decisions. An AI system typically learns from data, understands the situation, and decides on an action, improving as it is given more data. Everyday examples include virtual assistants (Siri, Google Assistant), recommendation systems on YouTube and Netflix, spam filters, face recognition, self driving cars and medical diagnosis tools.
Robotics is the field concerned with designing, building and using robots, machines that can sense their surroundings, process that information and act physically, often controlled by AI. Robots are used on factory assembly lines, in surgery, in bomb disposal, in space and undersea exploration, and in places too dangerous for humans. AI gives robots the ability to perceive and decide, so AI and robotics together produce machines that can act intelligently in the real world. The benefits are speed, accuracy, tireless operation and work in hazardous places; the concerns are high cost, loss of some human jobs, and questions of safety and ethics.
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, storage, servers, databases, software and processing power, over the Internet ("the cloud"), so that users can access them on demand from anywhere instead of owning and maintaining their own hardware. You pay only for what you use, much like electricity. Well known providers are Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Cloud services come in three main service models:
Clouds are also arranged by deployment model as public (open to all, run by a provider), private (dedicated to one organization) or hybrid (a mix of both). The advantages are almost unlimited storage, easy access from anywhere, easy backup and recovery, lower hardware cost and easy scaling. The disadvantages are dependence on a good Internet connection, concerns about data security and privacy, and reliance on the provider.