Don’t get left behind — adopt AI now
AI-first for countries & companies
The importance of artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be growing day by day and this week saw Donald Trump sign an executive order to make AI a national priority. The USA has been accused in the past of doing too “little too late” with regards to AI and it seems they are now having to play catch up. However, countries seem to be following the trend of successful multi-national companies when it comes realizing and embracing the potentials of AI.
In 2017 Andrew Ng famously described AI as “the new electricity,” he said:
“Just as electricity transformed almost everything 100 years ago, today I actually have a hard time thinking of an industry that I don’t think AI will transform in the next several years.”
Now in every household and business, we use electricity without even thinking, will the same be true of AI?
Many companies are now describing themselves as AI-first, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are perhaps the world leaders. However, a recent Forbes article declared Uber as the fist AI-first company using AI “as their core driver of competitiveness.”
Uber doesn’t waste time discussing whether or not to use AI, they “don’t even think about it anymore.” They don’t just use it for certain projects but across the whole company, for: “fraud detection, risk assessment, safety processes, marketing spend and allocation, matching drivers and riders, route optimization, driver onboarding, and just about everywhere else it’s possible.” In other words for Uber, AI is has become as commonplace as electricity.
Adopt or die
I agree with Andrew Ng that AI will become as widely used as electricity, however, I would go further and suggest that AI will become the lifeblood of most companies and that if it is ignored companies could lose their competitiveness.
In the film, Moneyball, Brad Pitt’s character, Billy Beane, tells his head scout (who is opposed to his data-driven approach to baseball) that he must “adapt or die.” Billy Beane went on to use data to revolutionize the world of baseball and teams that didn’t adapt lost their competitive edge. The same will be true for companies: those that do not adapt, by adopting AI, will be left in the dark and it may be problematic to catch up.
Catch-up may be futile
A recent piece in the Harvard Business Review outlines “Why Companies That Wait to Adopt AI May Never Catch Up.” The authors argue that the so-called “fast-followers” strategy (which has worked for other technologies) will not work for AI and therefore, it is vital to adopt AI as soon as possible to keep competitiveness. The reasons they give are very compelling, I have summarized them below, but I thoroughly recommend reading the whole article:
- System development time: although AI can be used in almost any circumstance, the most effective solutions will be tailormade and this requires time and effort. This may require large amounts of training or a deep understanding of systems.
- Integration time: even once systems have been developed they will need to be integrated within current “business processes and IT architecture.”
- Human time: most AI technology is not fully autonomous and requires human interaction, this needs to be taught to human operators.
- Governance time: with the new technology will come new governance structures which will need to be implemented.
As you can see to effectively implement an AI system and strategy in a company takes time and effort, however, once this groundwork is done scaling up can be done much faster. The article goes on to recommend:
“if you want to be successful with AI and think there may be a threat from AI-driven competitors or new entrants, you should start learning now about how to adapt it to your business across multiple different applications and AI methods…In short, you should get started now if you haven’t already, and hope that it’s not too late.”
How to adopt AI
As the example of Uber (above) shows, AI can be used in many ways across almost all aspects of a company. At GoodAI Applied, we have experience designing, developing, and implementing solutions for different clients across different industries. We have made everything from the world’s first diamond selection tool for The Diamond Pro to an automobile sound analysis system for ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab. We have worked with banks, HR experts, insurance companies, multi-national telecommunications providers, and many more.
We start the process of AI adoption with our AI Design Sprints to determine the problem and define the task with our client. We work in compact sprints and cycles, evaluating after each one together with the client in order to make necessary adjustments. This allows us to approach the problem in a flexible way making iterations and providing proofs of concepts throughout the process. We believe this method is preferable to committing to a lengthy project without a clear outcome.
Most businesses can be improved in some way by AI, it is just a matter of finding out the right solution for your needs. If you are interested in implementing an AI solution, or would like to explore how AI might improve your business, don’t hesitate to contact the GoodAI Applied team.
