Is it time to invest in AI technology?
“It is difficult to think of a major industry that AI will not transform. This includes healthcare, education, transportation, retail, communications, and agriculture. There are surprisingly clear paths for AI to make a big difference in all of these industries.” – Andrew Ng, Computer Scientist and Global Leader in AI
Times are changing, businesses need to adapt, and quickly, if they want to stay afloat. Moving forward, companies are going to have to redirect their business strategies and AI seems to be the way to go. It is, without a doubt, that people are beginning to realize the importance of digital mediums to continue their day-to-day operations and 2020 might just be the year that industries will begin to fully embrace technological advances.
Those businesses that have already adopted AI technologies have witnessed a 5% increase in performance, productivity, and business success. Data doesn’t lie, and it’s clearly telling us something. More than half of UK businesses don’t see the importance of investing in AI technologies for the long-term – and they should. The use of such tools not only facilitates business operations, but it also allows company to reallocate human labor to more crucial sectors and designate more mundane tasks to such machinery. Chatbots for customer support and sales, “forecasting and data simulation algorithms, and automation functions such as process simulation for science and manufacturing” are just some of the examples where business are enlisting artificial intelligence to streamline services. Yes, investing in AI can be a financial burden, however, it will pay-off in the long-term. Statistics and trends show that technology is developing at a rapid rate and IT WILL play a big and critical role in our future. Businesses that fail to see this and adjust to growing trends will be left behind and struggle to keep up with those organizations that acknowledge the opportunities AI can bring to them.
But, just adopting these tools is not enough. AI can be a complicated instrument to understand, which is why businesses will also need to invest in proper training and development for their employees. This innovative technology can make operations a lot simpler, however, according to Barclays, “the most important thing about AI for business isn’t the technology: it’s the problem that you’re trying to solve”. Before thinking of embracing this powerful tool, the business should avoid thinking of it as a bigger picture and, instead, think of ways AI can create small improvements. Once should ask themselves what, and if, there is a specific problem that they are trying to fix, and then whether AI can present itself as an appropriate solution. One of the many benefits of this technology is the evidence that it provides and its ability to scan through large amounts of data to bring new insights to the company, insights that can shed light, for instance, on customer behavior or buying trends/preferences.
Most companies are initially reluctant to utilize such tools, as they simply are unaware of how to use them (especially the large quantity of fruitful data it can provide) and fail to understand their potential. People and businesses need to begin informing themselves on how to employ such tools to not only benefit themselves, at a personal level, but also bring forth their business and remain competitively active in the market. We use technology on a daily basis and AI is becoming increasingly embedded in the way we conduct business today. It is about time companies stop shying away from AI and start to fully embrace it. Technological development is our future and we should be excited to see how it unfolds in the coming years.
