You shouldn’t need a PhD in Machine Learning to put AI to work in your business
As the hype around AI is showing no signs of slowing down, more and more SMBs are wondering how they could apply part of this technology in their every day businesses without having the hiring a top-notch tech team.
For the time being, it really seems that the world of AI is split between the multinational tech companies, that is Baidu, Google, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft, focusing on horizontal research and the vertically integrated startups trying to fix one specific industry bottlenecks. Motion AI certainly fits right in the middle of that spectrum as it aims to launch a DIY Artificial Intelligence Platform.
Basically businesses will be able to set up their very own AI software based out of flow chart they drew and that they want their AI to follow. Integration can be through email, text messages, Facebook messenger, microphone input, an HTML5 interface, or access the tool open API for a more custom fit. For now any questions that has a dual yes/no answer or multiple choice questions could apply. Up to my knowledge, this is the first instance of a drag-and-drop AI builder. Some kind of “UI for AI” as they like to call it.
So in a nutshell, Motion AI platform offers to handle the initial training of the AI as well as telecom deployment (i.e. providing you with an SMS number, email, web chat and other channels to communicate with your robot). But practically what would be the fields of applications? For now David Nelson, Motion AI’s founder, states four examples: food ordering, accepting payments, running customer service chats and healthcare-related applications. However, he adds, “we feel like if we focus on building a universal toolkit…then we will really be blown away by what people come up with.”
For now the demo that is available on their website for beta testing is Joe’s pizza shop willing to automate their online ordering. Customers could pick which pizza they would like, which size, any additional toppings and record the delivery and payment methods they would like. Playing around the AI seems relatively decent despite some obvious errors still remaining
“Such are the growing pains of artificial intelligence,” said Nelson. “It’s still learning.”
The Naperville-based startup is a team of 5, looking to raise a seed round in order to hire more soon. For now, they are rapidly gaining exposure, as they were upvoted to the top product on Product Hunt earlier this month (1,150 upvotes until now). Since launching last month, Motion AI has added over 3,000 users to their waitlist and about 7,000 virtual demo pizzas have been ordered.
Beyond the obvious economical gains, in my view the cleaver part of this approach would be the mutualisation of the AI trainings. As it has been proven that it plays a large part in the accuracy of the software, a vast majority of SMBs will not have the data set required to reach an acceptable level. Therefore using a standardized AI platform would make a lot of sense. Let’s hope that such initiative will take off rapidly in order to democratize the use of AI in the coming months. Artificial Intelligence should not be limited to super tech-savvy any longer.
