Artificial Intelligence has registered tremendous growth over the last few years. Now, more than ever before it’s being used across multiple industries and has shown success in streamlining various sectors. In fact, in 2018 investments going to AI startups from venture capitalists increased six-fold from the year 2000.
So, what is this technology used for?
AI has dominated most of 2018 and does not seem likely to slow down in 2019. Machine Learning and Deep Learning, which are subsets of AI technology, are some of the most beneficial applications in the technology. This system can learn without programming and get better with use. For this reason, it is being used in Customer Relationship Management, surveillance, spam filtering, social media management, virtual personal assistants, face recognition and so many more areas.
In this article, we will look at the key Artificial Intelligence predictions expected 2019.
Self-Driving Finance with Specialized AI Applications
Smart technology is defining how people bank. Self-Driving Finance is a good example of practical implementation of machine intelligence in banking. It is currently in use by millions of financial institutions in different parts of the word. With minimum effort or human interference, this tech safely guides businesses and customers towards achieving their financial goals. Based on what is happening in several banks worldwide, the number of clients that will depend on Machine Intelligence to drive/ manage their finances and realize their financial objectives is expected to surge in 2019 and beyond.
“To deliver effective Self-Driving Finance, financial institutions will require specialized forms of AI for each of their customer segments such as retail, small business, and wealth,” states David Sosna, CEO at Personetics Technologies.
Shifting Towards Transparency in Use of AI Systems
In the past and even now, transparency is almost non-existent in most internet-based companies. Large corporations like Facebook and Google are obsessed with keeping a secret what they actually do with customers’ data. Such lack of transparency has led to controversial fails in use of AI-based software. A good example is a case of Amazon where their virtual assistant, Alexa, recorded a conversation by a couple in error using an Echo device and then sent it to the man’s employee.
But for smart technology to realize its full potential, it must gain people’s trust. Some companies are already working to achieve this. For example, towards the end of 2018, IBM announced a service that aims to increase the visibility of AI-based models for enterprises. This year, we may see more emphasis on measures to advance the transparency of AI-based systems. Transparency in the use of this tech by businesses, which has been quite prominent in public discussions, is likely to grow and have more impact in the coming months.
Explosion of Conversational Commerce and Chatbots
“Bots, which are essentially AI-based programs, have revolutionized the way people shop online. Perhaps their biggest advantage to businesses is that they can bring about high impact at relatively low costs. For this reason, over 80% of businesses hope to have a chatbot up and running by the year 2020,” – said Lisa Houser, a Marketing Expert at Skillroads.
These words could not be truer. Unlike a human assistant, an AI assistant/ bot is always on and able to make customer`s engagement faster and more personal. With the steady growth of bots, 2019 look like the year of widespread chatbot use bringing about conversation commerce as the new default of shopping online.
Smart Robots Will Create More Jobs
According to PwC, AI-based technology could take up 7 million jobs in the UK and create 7.2 million new ones. That is an increase of around 200,000 opportunities. The fear that robotics will take up human jobs and lead to massive unemployment has been a heated topic of discussion for some years now. Perhaps it could be true in the long-term future.
But this year, it is predicted that AI tools will create more jobs for people than it is taking. While employment opportunities in manufacturing are set to go down, industries such as healthcare, education and the public sector are likely to be boosted.
Connecting the World with the Internet of Things
It is projected that by 2020, approximately 50 billion mobile and computer devices will be connected to the internet. Also described as IoT, this global interconnection could boost business efficiency. When it comes together with machine learning, it leads to smarts homes made possible by home automation. In 2019, it is forecasted that people will be able to set automation for homes through AI-enabled digital systems. For example, you will be able to adjust multiple devices and systems to your preference.
Increased Use of AR and Other Smart Tech to Make Life Easier
Augmented Reality, which is a tech that superimposes digital images or animations over real life, is getting more popular by the day. By 2022, the augmented and virtual reality markets are projected to reach $209.2 billion.
That is to say, we will see a great increase in the use of this technology in the coming months. The tech is already is gaining more and more traction in websites and applications. For example, IKEA Place is an app developed by IKEA – one of the largest furniture retailers globally – allows users to virtually place/ superimpose the companies’ products in their homes to visualize how they would look.
Other AI-utilizing technologies worth mentioning that are set to make our lives easier include smart devices such as smart speakers, smartphones, and self-driving cars from car makers like Tesla.
Machine intelligence is everywhere; there is AI in healthcare, government, and politics, marketing, and business promotion, education, human resource management and so forth. AI-based systems are here to stay. Therefore, as a professional or business owner who wants to keep up with changing times, you must learn to interact with smart machines.
About the author:
Alice Berg is a career advisor with a strong interest in progressive technologies. She helps people to find their own way in life, gives career advice and guidance, helps young people to prepare for their careers. You can find Alice on Twitter.
