Introducing AI Prototyping Projects

Envisioning and Scoping AI Prototyping Efforts

I’ve had the privilege of helping a number of teams explore AI concepts through AI prototyping projects lasting anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. In this article I’ll talk you through what AI prototyping projects are, the value they offer, and how to effectively start, operate, and conclude them.

What are AI Prototyping Projects?

First, let’s start with a definition of what an AI Prototyping Project is:

AI prototyping projects are short-lived development projects focused on artificial intelligence applications that are designed to demonstrate the viability of a concept in an interactive way while identifying risks and key obstacles that would prevent the AI product from succeeding when converted from a prototype to a real software project that will be deployed for others to interact with.

There are a few key aspects to this:

• Short-lived: your prototyping project should have a fixed duration of anywhere from a few days to a few sprints at most. Constraining AI prototyping projects to a single week is advisable in most cases as it focuses your efforts on the most critical aspects of discovery, but more complex scenarios may require more time.