Artificial Intelligence in 2018 and how it will refuel your business (Part 1.)
Artificial Intelligence is the next big thing and its effect on business will be game-changing. Recently, Artificial Intelligence, better-known as A.I, has attracted attention in mainstream media and the business realm –but for good reasons of course. In 2016 alone between $26 billion and $40 billion were invested into A.I. technology –largely from seasoned digital companies like Amazon and Google, but also from a few Silicon Valley startups– so it is still fair to say A.I. has gained rapport with hundreds of businesses as they maneuver in the digital age. Today, the anticipation of an era where robots and technology will improve our life is no longer a fantasy as we embark on the next digital age –and this time, with even more advanced technology.
The hype around AI is due to massive amounts of data collected nowadays and the new software capable of organizing it for easier consumption. You may not be aware, but you are always supplying data about yourself. Millions of gigabytes are sourced from daily activities including web browsing, texting messaging, application usage, social media updates, transactions and even driving. Data is omnipresent. And because technology is used more than ever before, the digital exhaust –or the trail of data we leave behind– has reached once-unimaginable levels. This soar in the volume of data has refueled A.I. systems and is driving a new wave of A.I. development.
Today’s A.I. is capable of interpreting data better than ever before and will expedite our understanding of our world quicker than human intelligence ever could.
Now, while you may have heard everything from a potential robot apocalypse to how technology is going to steal every job, it is fair to assume technology would prefer harmony with humans. And in recent years it seems technology has done just that. Today 77% of Americans own a smartphone and spend on average 3 hours per day on their devices.
Technology has become a tool to rapidly advance societies, simplify life, and create more productivity for businesses. But, with more data and computing power available, businesses around the world need to adjust to a changing digital landscape in order to add value for their customers and remain competitive.
But is advanced technology coming in the future or should we expect an Iron Man J.A.R.V.I.S butler before the new year? And in response to this, I say both –A.I. exists today on a small scale, but it will grow to impact every aspect of human life– and McKinsey believes so, too. According to the 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report, there are four, major families of (A.I.) technology being deployed on large and small scales.
The first branch is physical A.I. –which includes robotics and autonomous vehicles. Of all the branches, the Physical A.I. space has gained the most attention because of its reputation for bringing mouthwatering, futuristic products to life. The average person refers to this branch when they think about robots and wacky technology. From Atlas, the Boston Dynamics utility machine, to Waymo’s self-driving cars and the like, the complexity of physical A.I has awed the entire world.
The second branch of the A.I. family is videography –where video surveillance works alongside computer software to recognize humans, vehicles, or other objects. This branch involves developing systems for image processing and video processing. And unbeknownst to many videography is integrated into even the simplest of tasks like unlocking our phones.
At the recent reveal of the iPhone X, Apple introduced the face recognition feature. This feature is a combination of videography and machine learning. In Laymen’s terms the process of face recognition goes a little like this: first, image processing software allows the phone to identify your face. Then machine learning follows and signals to your phone that a match of the correct facial dimensions have been made. Lastly, once the correct match is made, algorithms in your device alert your phone to unlock itself.
But, even before this exciting feature rolled out Apple and their users were already interacting with A.I. In September of 2013, Apple coined the fingerprint unlocking feature for iPhone’s and millions of users raved about it. This strategic move put A.I. technology in the palms of millions and gave Apple a head start on its competitors in the A.I. space. And now that Apple has pushed the boundaries of advanced technology in mobile devices yet again their customers and competitors can only fantasize about what’s coming next.
The third branch is natural-language processing (NLP), also called Cognitive Engagement. NLP is the detection of both spoken and written language. With the rise in popularity around Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, digital assistants are increasingly common. Siri and Alexa are virtual agents that can converse with you by voice or online chats. These conversational interfaces have replaced human to human communication in many businesses and have strengthened cybersecurity, too. The use of biometrics such as voice recognition has added an additional layer for authentication and helped maintain the safety of valuable information for mobile banking and digital financing platforms.
And, in 2018 it is likely you will be even more intimate with these interfaces. David Mattin, global head of trends and insights at TrendWatching, says these digital assistants could become virtual companions. An augmented reality experience already developed in Japan by the name of Uni allows users to have dinner with a virtual celebrity.
The coming interfaces of the future will drive millions of people to have deep conversations and even relationships with intelligent agents.
And last but not least, machine learning itself. Machine learning, at times referred to as deep learning, is the use of advanced computers to recognize patterns and draw conclusions from large sets of data — these conclusions are typically far beyond human reasoning capabilities. Think of it as “analytics on steroids.” Machine learning applications can predict what certain customers are likely to purchase and automate personalized targeting of digital ads. So, when it seems that you can’t hide from pop-up ads and product suggestions as you browse the web, more than likely it is because A.I. technologies are at work trying to bring you –the customer- closer to things you are interested in based on data you have already shared about yourself.
However, even though companies and their executives are aware Artificial Intelligence applications exist, many fail to find answers to their most pertinent questions: How can our company implement A.I applications into our current systems? Where do we start?
Part 2 will touch on methods for to implementing A.I. into current processes and gaining an edge in a quickly changing business environment.
