“Artificial Intelligence could be as important to transforming the economy as electricity was 100 years ago” said Andrew NG, one of the leads at Google Brain and a co-Founder of Courcera. It is difficult to go a day without hearing about Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning. Whether in the context of the holy grail of business or the opposite, a combination of SkyNet and Big Brother all rolled into one. A topic as broad as this deserves a clear definition. “Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning focuses on the development of computer programsthat can access data and use it learn for themselves..” http://www.expertsystem.com/machine-learning-definition/
While Machine Learning is a subset of the AI world, it is an integral aspect of any business solution leveraging AI. Machine learning improves similarly to how babies learn about their environments. Humans feed Machine Learning systems with massive data sets so it can learn what a dog looks like, what a cat looks like, and eventually the ability to distinguish photos of the two animals. Every time a human corrects a machine learning system it improves and learns from its’ past corrections.
Narrow versus Broad Machine Learning
AlphaGo beating the best Go player in the world, Elon Musk stating that his driverless trucks (Tesla) will be able to drive across the country in less than a year, and Siri are all narrow applications of Artificial Intelligence. To understand broad AI, think in terms of the Replicants from Blade Runner, or for the non-cinephiles; a robot following you around answering your emails and cleaning up your crumbs left behind from your grilled cheese. This is an important division of terminology because most business tools leveraging Artificial Intelligence will be narrow AI.
Where are we now?
What does narrow Artificial Intelligence look like today? Applications such as Siri and Alexa have risen to be the tools we verbally communicate with the most in our day to day lives. A recent survey estimates that more than 10 million houses are using Amazon’s Alexa device, while anyone with a smartphone in their pocket has a virtual assistant at their disposal. A company called Cogito has a solution that provides real-time guidance for call centres and sales teams by combining voice analysis with Machine Learning to improve customer interactions. Streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify are great examples of how digesting and analyzing consumer data helps teams understand their customers better and continuously provide better-personalized services fueled by individual data.
Where are we going?
This is the tricky part, as we are all, daily, shaping what AI tools are being developed right now. In the next 5 years, there will be millions of dollars spent researching and creating different Artificial Intelligence applications. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft will be leading the pact as these three companies have all made points of saying how important AI will be for businesses and consumers alike. Think about all those monotonous tasks that plague your fellow employees; planning meeting times, reading thousands of applicant’s resumes, or sifting through the gold in a sea of social media posts. These tasks are low-hanging fruit for AI applications, for these are the tasks that our Machine Learning-powered tools can accomplish today. With autonomous cars on the way, our music and shows already being curated for us, we are going to continue to see new ways where AI is helping us make better products.
Where is Semeon Analytics right now?
Semeon Analytics provides teams with Actionable Insights based on public and private consumer data to fuel better business decisions. If you are looking for ways to leverage your consumer data to boost your ROI let us help you build up your Data Analytics strategy. Our expert team has partnered with companies such as Honda, Sephora, and Visa to update their communication strategy and align their products with their customers. Contact Semeon Analytics today for a Free Demo
