From Facebook to AI to Blockchain: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Truth about Customer Data in 2018
After the data of more than 50 million Facebook users was stolen and a Facebook manager’s customer-disparaging memo — titled “The Ugly”– was leaked to reporters, the social media giant became a cautionary tale of how a company should not manage customer data. Thousands of AI entrepreneurs meeting in Tokyo this week hope to generate more positive headlines about data that — unlike Facebook’s fiasco — will be embraced by consumers worldwide. Retailers plan to introduce new blockchain and AI technologies that will make customer data more secure, give shoppers more choices and lower prices and fuel a data-driven revolution in retail.
Tokyo, Japan, April 2nd, 2018 — At this week’s AI summit in Tokyo, 50,000 entrepreneurs, AI evangelists, and hot startups will see new technologies that promise to forever change the retail industry. Technologies likely to generate the most interest because of Facebook’s recently-leaked data breach will be products that help tech companies protect customer data. While data security is an important goal for many companies attending the expo, they will also search for technologies or platforms that will help them acquire tons of additional data needed to create the AI algorithms embedded in autonomous, ‘thinking” computer systems and robots.
Retail will be the industry leader in cognitive/AI spending in 2018, investing $3.4 Billion in a range of AI systems, including robotic shopping assistants, augmented reality, and omnichannel operations.
“There is a massive shift underway in retail right now, with more than $3 billion being spent this year alone, on AI systems that predict customer demand, improve customer service and inventory management,” said Alex Isaev, an exhibitor at the Tokyo conference and founder of OSA DC, an AI-driven platform that collects and analyzes data from retailers. “Everyone’s excited about this evolution but it can’t happen without billions of data points about customers, the retail stores they visit, and the products they buy.”
Isaev describes data as the lifeblood of artificial intelligence because an AI algorithm, the “brain” of a smart computer, needs a massive amount of visual and other forms of data to analyze and use as training material as it learns how to perform its assign tasks. With enough data, a well-trained smart computer will make autonomous decisions, anticipating a buyer’s purchase and making sure the product they plan to buy is in stock.
In addition to tons of data they need to train, algorithms also need powerful computers and a neural network, an interconnected web of computer nodes loosely inspired by the interconnected neurons in human brain cells. As an AI algorithm processes training data, connections between nodes learn from each new piece of information, eventually building up an ability to interpret future data. Unfortunately, in recent years, as demand for AI-powered products increased, these building blocks of artificial intelligence remained in short supply, slowing down the pace of AI machine adoption throughout the retail industry.
But at this week’s AI Expo in Tokyo, industry experts anticipate an end to these shortages thanks to the invention of synthetic (“artificial”) data and the launch of Neuromation, an AI development platform. Maxim Prasolov, CEO of Neuromation as well as a speaker and exhibitor at the AI Expo, created the platform on blockchain, the distributed ledger technology supporting crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, to help AI developers use shared computing power, deep learning networks, and buy the real or synthetic data they need to finish training their AI algorithms. They also have access to the Neuromation Synthetic Data Generator, which mimics real data closely enough that AI algorithms can use it to complete their training.
“Neuromation makes the AI engineering process faster, cheaper, and easier for retailers,” said Prasolov. “By creating a shared, powerful, blockchain-based neural network for AI development, we’re going to help mid-size retailers create customer-predictive, inventory-tracking deep learning tools that will help them compete with the big boys like Amazon or Wallmart.”
In “The Ugly” memo leaked to news reporters last week, Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth appeared to prioritize the company’s growth over all else, a view that may have led to questionable data collection and manipulative treatment of its users. While AI entrepreneurs meeting in Tokyo this week, including Neuromation and OSA DC CEOs Prasolov and Isaev, want their companies to grow, they agree growth is impossible if they do not respect and protect the customer data retailers need to remain competitive.
Neuromation and OSA DC, partners in AI development for the retail industry, will demonstrate their affordable and secure AI and data-generating tools and platform during the three-day AI Expo in their shared booth (4–7). The Expo begins Wednesday, April 4th at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight) in Tokyo, Japan.
To learn more about AI Expo Tokyo, visit: www.ai-expo.jp.
To learn more about Neuromation, visit: www.neuromation.io
To learn more about OSA DC, visit: www.osadc.io
REPORTER INQUIRIES:
If you’re interested in interviewing managers from either Neuromation or OSA DC, call (510) 677–2947
