Good resolution #15: List all the areas where Artificial Intelligence may impact your business in the next 5 years

[#TogetherUpgrade2023 ] A new year of challenge, sharing and innovation! To start the year off right, our experts have taken up the challenge of making good resolutions, a challenge they will help you meet with their expertise and advice.

Vítor Pereira innovation manager, FabLab of?#Lisbon ?Inetum want to challenge you ???

In the past few years I have been amazed at the progress being made in Artificial Intelligence. I work in tech and specifically in Innovation, surrounded by AI experts and analyzing Artificial Intelligence use cases as part of my daily work life. It is no wonder that I’m exposed to the strides being made. I’m painfully aware though that this is not the case for most people, be it our clients or friends.

In an effort to understand the market and its appetite for disruptive technologies I try to keep an eye on non-specialized media and entertainment to be aware of how these new tools are perceived by the general population.

Whenever promising emerging technologies gather enough attention a very common pattern emerges: hype builds up, expectations get blown out of proportion, those unrealistic expectations result in disappointment, the hype dies down and then gradually expectations get adjusted, realistic use cases start to become common and finally companies learn how to leverage its potential.

Gartner’s represents this pattern in their Hype Cycle graphic. There is no denying the hype that formed around ChatGPT in these last few months. In a single week more than 5 different people I know brought up the subject :“have you seen this ChatGPT chatbot?”. Of those 5 only 1 works in the tech sector. My YouTube feed keeps suggesting videos about ChatGPT, I do subscribe some tech channels but none focused on AI and most of the suggestions were coming from channels which are not technology focused.

Clients have begun to reach us with ideas on how to apply ChatGPT features into their business. It is fair to assume this excitement will probably follow the Gartner hype cycle. While it remains to be seen exactly how Microsoft plans to leverage this investment, it is clear that people’s expectations around it are at least somewhat overoptimistic.

Among other factors contributing to this view is the current limitation of not providing completely accurate outputs and also the enormous effort and investment needed to train it on new knowledge. Meanwhile many companies are already benefiting from less ambitious but more practical AI Chatbots on their daily operations contributing to the increase of their efficiency and margins providing a competitive advantage. They are focusing on areas that are on the more actionable stages of Gartner’s Hype Cycle: the slope of enlightenment and the plateau of productivity.

AI goes beyond Chatbots or language though. Sound, Images or more generic Data are also moving in leaps and bounds and experiencing their own impact in popular imagination. Similarly, they are also being experimented by organizations to overcome specific challenges which can’t be addressed as efficiently by more traditional approaches.

One thing is becoming clear: we are witnessing impressive displays of AI’s potential to disrupt business. Microsoft’s investment in ChatGPT is being seen by many as a threat to Google’s undisputed domain in search engines, something that would be hard to predict only months ago. In the same way, advances in Artificial Intelligence will bring disruption to many sectors. It may happen just as fast or be a more gradual evolution but we seem to be headed that way.

We recommend that every company should take their time in 2023 to imagine how AI, in it’s different areas, could impact their business and their sector in 5 years. Doing this now provides the necessary time to plan for it, research and experiment, learn what works right now and what we can expect to become viable very soon while making sure all the conditions are there for when it does.

Inetum is heavily invested in researching and deploying on Artificial Intelligence exactly because we know our clients will need our help and willing to co-innovate in this area to make their organizations more competitive and if possible provide them vital competitive advantages.

With that in mind we have prepared and packaged an experience that will help you achieve just that. It is called “Do You Speak AI” and we strongly encourage you to give it a look. May 2023 be the year you become big on AI.