Artificial Intelligence - Time is Now!

I asked ‘Alexa, can you tell me what is Artificial Intelligence ?’ and she responds in the simplest of terms and her answer goes like this - ‘Branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problem creatively’.

Alexa has truly become an integral part of my life and a newest addition to my family/living room. Well! A digital assistant, but something we all can relate equally as a human persona making impact in our daily lives. Alexa, Cortana and Siri are no mere voices but are human assisted technologies which are expected to make our lives better and exciting.

I may be the n'th person calling the arrival of Artificial Intelligence(AI) as a specialized and a disruptive field that is out to change the world. It is truly transformative in the power it possesses and the societal impact it has on the whole. Till date we have witnessed innumerable technology triggers, and nothing has profoundly come close to what AI can do or solve. Few months back, I came across an app called 'Seeing AI' and I was thoroughly intrigued by the transformative nature. This app is a classic evidence of what AI can do for individuals, and the use case here is to assist people with blindness or low vision. To Alexa’s earlier response of a ‘computer program solving problem creatively’, this app is a classic evidence.

In general, ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI)’ as a field for a long time has been looked at as an academic exercise. Reasons can be many, but few factors have contributed to the surge in how it is perceived today. AI is not new, has been in existence for decades and has become a talk of the town for the last couple of years. While technology is a key driver for any business today, businesses are looking at AI to bring in agility and help transform their journey in the digital world. This is where solution providers are innovating to bake in AI driven algorithms into their solutions and compliment the business need.

In fact, considering AI to fuel the next level of growth is becoming increasingly prevalent with the solution providers constantly scouting for avenues to offer incremental value to their customers. 

Though AI has served businesses at large, it is still considered niche and hence adoption has been less mainstream. Technology advancements have happened, required tools are in place, but 'Are there challenges for Enterprises and solution providers to bring AI to the forefront'? Answer is ‘Yes!’ and below are a few starters at this point in time.

• Business Scenario: Often it is unclear to businesses on use cases where AI could make a difference. This is the biggest challenge for many in how one goes about converting a ‘Business Case’ into a ‘Machine Learning’ problem. Many enterprises are handicapped just on this phase.
• Data Corpus: Central to addressing any AI problem is existence of data. You might have an ambitious use case to address, but it can be given life if and only if you have sufficiently good/large corpus of data. A show stopper for sure otherwise. Data consolidation and getting a sense of the overall data fabric is a journey and its takes time. Essential that Enterprises spend significant time building bridges between data silos or repositories in their efforts to start their AI journey.
• Technical Validation: I truly believe that there is no boundary to what one believes as a case where AI will be a key enabler. In view of the fact that industry to an extent is on an experiment spree and research is still underway on many facets of AI, technical validation on the feasibility of implementing a chosen use case needs a closer look. You do not want to end up in a research mode with no line of sight for an intended solution. This is where some of the enterprises have ended up with failed experiments, concluding that time is not ripe yet for AI. Taking up use cases where it is practical in view of current technology innovation becomes primary while one starts their journey on AI.
• Team Composition: This is true in any field but lack of availability of skilled professionals is quite glaring. Hence it is even more critical to invest in up-skilling or look for experienced individuals who understand the nuances of driving large scale AI projects. Individuals/Teams must move from the world of BI (mostly descriptive) to Predictive/Prescriptive and not having a seasoned ‘Data Scientist’ will be a major hurdle. 
• Experiments: While innovations are underway in this field, it is very important to start the journey, and take up few experimental projects. End of the day, it takes time to realize what can be solved and who cannot be in view of the current state of technologies. While a few talk about starting their journey soon, many are waiting for the technology to mature.
• Accuracy: Natural tendency is to work towards a high level of accuracy (domain specific) that is impractical with the dataset one possesses at the start of their journey. One has to come to terms that accuracy as an attribute can/will be addressed over time as they get acquainted, aggregate and get familiar with the overall data landscape in view of the problem under consideration. 

Artificial Intelligence is here and now. This field carries significant clout as the next big thing in the field of Information Technology, and a key lever to foster ‘Digital Transformation’.

Human assisted technologies are becoming prevalent and we witness them in various forms all around us. Be it Digital Agents, Route Navigation/Optimization Systems, Semi-autonomous vehicles, Predictive Healthcare, Predictive Maintenance or Forecasting sales/weather/natural calamities, AI is already mainstream and making a strong headway in giving life to some of the profound use cases that will have a positive impact on human lives and society.

As an Enterprise or a Solution Provider, if you have plans to consider Artificial Intelligence for your businesses and solutions – The Time is Now.