Brace Yourself — AI Is Here To Stay

Artificial intelligence (AI). Virtual reality (VR). Augmented reality (AR). Chatbots. Voice search. Self-driving cars. Smart clothes. 2017 and beyond promises developments in technology that will be game-changing for those who adapt and overwhelming for those who struggle to keep up.

According to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, roughly every 10 years, there occurs a landmark shift in technology that changes the rules of the game for businesses and consumers alike. The ’80s had marked the era of the PC revolution, and the ’90s, the beginning of the Internet age. Now the next 10 years will mark the shift from a mobile-first world to a world that is AI-first.

“When I look at where computing is heading, I see how machine learning and artificial intelligence are unlocking capabilities that were unthinkable only a few years ago.”

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos believes that what we are witnessing is only the earliest days of artificial intelligence.

“It’s hard to overstate how big of an impact it’s going to have on society over the next 20 years.”

Under CEO Satya Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has made a fundamental shift to democratize AI and to make it accessible and valuable to everyone, focusing primarily on building an AI stack spanning infrastructure, services, apps and agents and reaching consumers, enterprises, and developers alike.

Pundits unanimously agree that the world will forever change in the years ahead as a result of advances in AI.

Artificial Intelligence, Not Apocalypse

Whether you are aware of it or not, AI has already crept into your lives.

1.  Virtual Personal Assistants like Siri, Google Now, and  Cortana help you find simple answers to questions like “Where is the nearest Chinese restaurant?”, and maintain daily calendars for you.

2. The algorithm used by  Google’s Self Driving Car and Tesla’s “autopilot” feature are examples of cars learning to drive in the same way that humans do — through experience.

3. Search results on eCommerce websites are personalized based on consumers online shopping behavior using predictive analytics algorithm.

4. Automated Insights, the company behind  Wordsmith, says that e-commerce, financial services, real estate, and other data-driven industries are all using AI to write simple news stories such as financial summaries, sports recaps, and fantasy sports reports.

5. Smart home devices are helping you adjust the settings to your thermostat and other appliances by connecting them to voice-controlled applications on your phone in an effort to increase convenience and save energy.

AI Era Is Going To Change The Norms Of eCommerce

Search query results will be subsumed by AI-driven approaches, and consumers will have human-level interactions with eCommerce storefronts.

Driven by consumer demand and facilitated by the advancements in AI, a new wave of personalization will emerge in the eCommerce industry. This paradigm shift will bring forth far more sophisticated approaches that cookie and pixel tracking facilitate.

AI Is Going To Make Conversations With Bots, The New Normal

Soon the countless wireless gadgets, from smart thermostats to smart ovens, will be stitched together by a singular technology to give us the Jetsons-style reality we’ve all been longing for.

Consumers will soon be able to schedule meetings just by having a text conversation with the Microsoft Outlook bot, have birthday wishes sent to family and friends without setting a reminder, and have an actual digital personal assistant at tow, at all times.

AI Is The Future Of Healthcare

A microchip implant can send a message from your brain to move your prosthetic arm. A diagnostic system can pick up Alzheimer’s a decade before you develop any symptoms. A 3D printing machine can print a pill with a combination of drugs tailored just for you.

Consumers are ready for a new age of “value-based medical care”. The future of healthcare is augmented reality and drug-delivering drones.

AI Is No Longer Science Fiction

Aside from the obvious examples, advancements in AI would soon be helping consumers across diverse markets including genetic engineering, targeted customer marketing in search and social media, detecting trading patterns in financial markets, vision-guided robotics in applications as diverse as military weaponry, surgery, precision agriculture and manufacturing, education, and various speech and natural language applications.

And it has become clearer than ever before that by 2020, this world would look a lot different than it does today.

Originally written and posted here.