How Far Has Artificial Intelligence Come and Where Can we Take it?
Fun fact - the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) was first introduced in 1955, the same year Marty McFly travelled back to. While that is likely only a coincidence, it was the first year where someone asked the question – what more can we achieve beyond human capability? At least it was the year they put a name to it. But if AI has been around for over 65 years, where are all the robot housekeepers? Well, AI has come a long way and there is still a way to go.
To clarify, AI is a machine with the ability to think, learn and make decisions. We use AI every single day, and it goes completely unnoticed. Each time Google fills in what you are looking for, that is AI helping you out. Seamlessly it has integrated into our daily lives, our business, and the economy. When did that happen?
Artificial Intelligence Progress Over Time
A lot of things have changed since the 1950s. Particularly, computer hardware & processing power have had the most to do with the growth of AI. The progress that’s been made in these fields have given us the tools to go beyond what was previously impossible. Now, these requirements are readily available through the cloud.
Not only that, AI has so much more to work with. With everything connected through the Internet of Things, there is much more data to feed into the system! What this data does is train the machines, by inputting and labelling it. AI can then recognize whatever the data may be and independently work with it.
Finally, private companies chose to make major investments in the development of AI algorithms. They then made these findings available to developers everywhere through open source packages and APIs. By doing so they enabled the technology to keep growing to exponential proportions.
AI should be used for product development, for business forecasting, for logistics processes! Why isn’t every company using AI all the time? A few reasons.
What is the ROI in artificial intelligence?
Most of the (technological) explosions that have happened in AI have been in the last 15 years. This is still new and unravelling and so most people do not fully understand AI and the superpower behind it. This includes company leaders and decision makers who know artificial intelligence is an interesting tool but cannot numericize the return. This has been recognized as a setback for the technology, so much so that private institutions such as Invest AI are looking to subsidize new AI investments. The key here is to get educated and educate others on what artificial intelligence can bring to every aspect of business growth.
Invasion of Privacy
A fair concern. With any new technology, particularly one that relies on the transfer of information, how does one know if it can be trusted? Will the information be shared, or accessible, or easily infiltrated? Is AI capable or programmed to respect guidelines put in place such as GDPR or will machine learning take it too far and it will get out of our control? AI guides on ethics and cyber-security have been published on the topic and need to be reviewed before feeling secure in implementing artificial intelligence through company-wide initiatives.
How do we do it?
The technology needed to implement AI is readily available, but we still need people to get it working for your business. Those capabilities are not always lying around and ready to go, they need to be found and fostered. That is the key investment needed to make AI pay in the end.
Today is the right time to look more closely at AI and start asking questions. This technology is only growing and expanding and the company-wide benefits for any type of business is simply untapped. By implementing it early, it will only grow stronger within an institution.
For more answers on AI and how to integrate AI processes into your business, please contact Averna.
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