Here are some of the topics where AI research would greatly benefit from solving mundane, formal or even expert system tasks:
1. Natural language processing such as Speech and voice recognition systems (Google now, Baidu voice recognition, etc.)
2. Expert systems such as flight tracking, cancer research, drug discovery, anomalous cell behavior, and other clinical systems.
3. Neural network systems (DNN) — recognition tasks such as pattern recognition, face recognition, character recognition, handwriting recognition (fill in the blanks for more yourself)
4. Robotics — Specifically motion planning, computational geometry, unmanned vehicle (space and terrestrial), industrial robots for all possible tasks in factories and homes (moving, spraying, cleaning, painting, drilling, coating, carving, babysitting, cooking (again fill in the blanks for more), space exploration robotic tasks
5. Fuzzy logic systems — consumer electronics, automobiles, etc.
6. Deeper Vision — Human and space activity recognition, grouping and figure-ground, visual data mining, drilling (earth and in space)
7. Search and (Information) Retrieval — Collaborative filtering, information extraction, image, and video search, intelligent information system
8. Probabilistic inference — Graphical models, kernel methods, nonparametric Bayesian methods, RL (reinforcement learning), problem-solving, decision making and more.
9. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology — This is a huge area to explore.
10. Self-driving cars: AI in transportation is expected to provide safe, efficient, and reliable transportation while minimizing the impact on the environment and communities. Self-driving cars will also mean lesser road accidents as they are programmed to focus more on safety than human drivers.
11. Medical field: For improving healthcare, artificial intelligence in medicine is a great idea that can advance patient communication and healthcare professionals. It helps to Fast & Accurate diagnostics, reduce human errors, design treatment plans, drug creation, etc. The microscope uses Artificial Intelligence to find cancer cells more efficiently.