How to Equip Your Business for the AI Revolution In 2021?

The ‘More than Human’ exhibition at the Barbican explores creative and scientific breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and tries to showcase its potential to transform and revolutionise our lives in many ways. After seeing it last week and being overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of concepts, sounds, information, and objects combining to examine our relationships with technology, I decided to focus this piece on the fundamentals of the AI revolution.

So, what exactly is AI?

“AI comprises a collection of algorithms, which are executable mathematical functions that process data through a series of rules and step-by-step instructions,” according to Barbican’s literature.

“AI algorithms model and simulate environments with little human intervention, using data and rule-based logic.”

We have all heard of artificial intelligence (AI). We are aware that it is a technology that already has an impact on how we perceive the world and has the potential to have a significant impact on all aspects of our lives, including healthcare, mobile apps, city planning, surveillance, and manufacturing. Fundamentally, it is a technological advancement that’s going to rule the world.

Is 2021 the Year When AI Goes Mainstream?

AI has become ingrained in the collective consciousness of every business in recent years. It has become a topic of discussion in the media. Artificial intelligence is being considered by businesses of all sizes to solve real-world problems.

Only the wealthiest firms could afford to invest in AI technology in the past, but that is rapidly changing. In fact, due to AI’s rapid development, startups and younger enterprises will be able to adopt the technology sooner than their corporate counterparts.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, AI has the potential to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Nearly 70% of this potential global GDP increase will go to China and North America.

Great Possibilities For AI in a Wide range Of industries

AI applies to a wide range of challenges. Businesses may use AI to boost sales, detect fraud, improve customer satisfaction, automate labour processes, and perform predictive analysis.

AI applications can benefit industries such as health care, automotive, financial services, and logistics. Better tools for early diagnosis can be provided by artificial intelligence to health care providers. Autonomous vehicles are a direct result of AI advancements.

AI-based process automation and fraud detection can help financial services. AI can help logistics companies manage inventories and deliveries more effectively. AI can be used to map consumer behaviour in the retail industry. Smart metres and smart grids can help utilities reduce their power consumption.

Artificial intelligence is also responsible for the rise of chatbots and virtual assistants. Alexa from Amazon, Google Home from Google, Siri from Apple, and Cortana from Microsoft all use AI-based algorithms to make life easier. These technologies will play a more significant role in determining consumer behaviour in the future. An AI-powered chatbot or virtual assistant will handle the majority of your future transactions.

Organisations Realise The True Potential Of AI

Machine learning and AI will have a significant impact on your organisation’s efficiency. Intelligent systems can help you automate a lot of your labour and lessen the chance of human error. Your systems will learn and become more intelligent over time. It will produce better results.

Many companies are beginning to see the considerable benefits and potential competitive advantage that AI can provide. Every industry is becoming more interested in investigating the possibilities.

Artificial intelligence is already being used by businesses to make practical judgments. Coca-Cola, for example, released Cherry Sprite as a result of its AI product research. In addition, the soft drink business intends to develop its own virtual assistant for use in vending machines.

Using Artificial Intelligence in Your Business

With so much talk about AI, there is a genuine fear of missing out. Keep in mind that the AI revolution is just getting started. Only 4% of surveyed firms have invested in and deployed an AI-based solution, according to the Gartner 2018 CIO study (registration needed). The remaining businesses are at various phases of planning. Do not worry if you do not have an AI-based solution yet. It is important to begin researching possible tools for your company. Here are a few strategies to consider:

Identify the Requirements of Your Company

Examine your company and decide which strategic pain points may be addressed using AI-based solutions. For your business, AI can deliver predictive insights. It can assist you in automating processes. You can figure out what your company’s goals should be by examining them.

Identify the Threats

Any new technology is fraught with dangers, but the only way to master it is to use it and learn from your failures. You might start with smaller projects and assess each failure closely. It will assist you in better understanding your risk factors and provide you with information to help you make better decisions in the future.

Locate Useful AI Services

AI developers are required to implement AI solutions in the actual world. Developers are in short supply due to the fast-growing AI business. Additionally, to train and deploy AI systems, developers must access scalable and cost-effective computational infrastructure to handle the necessary AI processing. They also require raw data and experts for data labelling, model output validation, and other tasks. It takes a long time and money to build this AI infrastructure.

But many businesses can not afford to hire 100 data mappers and build the infrastructure to support them in-house. Still, there exist services that make AI app development accessible and reasonable for them. As a result, you will not have to start from scratch regarding infrastructure and human capital. These services can help you accelerate your AI initiatives.

Build The ideal backdrop

You need the proper people and the proper culture to win any technology war. It takes time to hire employees and to develop a positive culture. To boost your prospects, you must invest resources. While investing in new technology and skills is costly, it is worthwhile. It has the potential to revolutionise your business completely.

Let’s Get Ready For The Future

While AI has numerous benefits and potential applications — as well as a prestigious exhibition dedicated to the subject’s past, present, and future — the technology is still in its infancy, and the human skills required in businesses to understand the strategic opportunities as well as the operational requirements are not always readily available. As previously said, AI requires time and data to reach a stage where the technology is beneficial. It also necessitates people’s expertise. Those companies that believe that this technology will be helpful to them in the future should begin planning now for the future.