Just how smart is AI?
Artificial intelligence is no longer a thing of science fiction novels and films, but part of our everyday lives. From improving medical diagnosis to summarising drawn-out meetings, AI has myriad applications and is perhaps the most rapidly evolving and far-reaching tool in the history of humankind.
Grab your headphones and join us to find out how AI it works and if it really is that smart.
21/05/2025
“We should view artificial intelligence as a tool that, if used well, enhances our human capabilities, improves our efficiency, our productivity and even our capacity to innovate. A tool no different from a scalpel or a car which, when used responsibly and for its intended purpose, can greatly improve how we live and work.”
At times it can seem like magic, but there’s a lot of science behind it. Artificial intelligence is a tool that we cannot do without.
In episode 7 of our podcast, we delve into the fascinating question: Just how smart is artificial intelligence? Mónica Molés, head of the interdepartmental artificial intelligence group at the Banco de España, helps us unravel the mysteries of this groundbreaking technology.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just the stuff of science fiction films, but a tool we use every day. From asking Alexa to do something for us to Netflix recommending what to watch, AI touches every part of our daily routine. But, how does it really work? Mónica explains that AI uses mathematical and statistical techniques to learn and improve from data, without programmers having to define responses for every possible situation.
One of AI's most remarkable applications is deep learning, which mimics how the human brain works. Neural networks learn to recognise objects, such as cats in photos, through trial and error, like we do as children. Moreover, generative AI, trained on vast amounts of internet data, can create new text, audio and images based on probabilities.
Despite these developments, Mónica stresses that AI is not the same as human intelligence. AI cannot replicate the emotional and social intelligence of humans or their ability to think logically and critically. Nonetheless, if put to good use, AI is a powerful tool that can improve our efficiency, our productivity and capacity to innovate.
We’re already making use of AI at the Banco de España, for instance, to enhance the reliability of our risk analysis and to simplify tasks for our employees. Mónica encourages us to treat AI as an assistant that helps us do our job better, but always guided by our criteria and judgement.
The above text was generated by artificial intelligence based on the content of this episode.
Notes
The interview was recorded at our Alcalá 522 offices, by the “Red Sphere”, one of the Bank’s most emblematic and best-known sculptures.