How "Real" Businesses Are Using AI

These days, you'll be hard-pressed to find a company that isn't currently invested in, or planning to invest in, some form of artificial intelligence (AI). True, some of the momenta behind this trend is fueled by businesses not wanting to feel left behind as their competitors take a technological leap forward. However, there are also good and valid reasons for companies to invest in AI. In fact, some of the most well-known organizations already have, with great success.

Speech and Language

Skype, which is now owned by Microsoft, has invested in a real-time language translation service. The system uses intelligent automation to parse words into their equivalent meaning in the users' languages, which is then presented as text on the Skype platform. So two people who speak completely different languages could talk to one another and understand what the other is saying, in real-time. The implications for this are enormous as any business that has international clients could use this application to strengthen client relationships or expand into new, previously inaccessible foreign-language markets.

Voice Assistance

Amazon was an early adopter of AI technology and the company's commitment to the technology is visible throughout its operations and numerous products. However, the brand's voice assistant, Alexa, represents one of the most exciting applications of AI. The application is designed to relay queried information and perform user-given commands. It accomplishes these tasks via natural language processing and deep learning, two sub-branches of AI.  The extremely popular application can also be programmed to perform new commands with the use of its dev kit, making it an extremely versatile tool for consumers, businesses and developers alike.

Big Data Analysis

With the amount of data that companies have access to growing at an exponential rate, it's not uncommon for even a small company to handle terabytes of data on a regular basis. Analyzing this much data with traditional data processing tools can take hours or even days, making it virtually impossible for companies to get the up-to-date insights they need from their data.  Google's open source machine learning library, Tensorflow, is designed to allow researchers as well as companies to process and analyze large amounts of data faster than ever before, using deep learning neural networks. Tensorflow can be used as automation software, similar to that used by companies like WorkFusion, making even the most complicated data analysis quick, easy and accurate.

Personalized Marketing

Companies invest a lot of money into deciphering the minds of their customers, specifically what they will and won't buy. Artificial intelligence allows businesses to use everything they have at their disposal, including their website, customer data and the user experience to discern what appeals to consumers. Using statistical probability results generated from a machine learning algorithms, businesses can figure out who is most likely to buy what and even identify new market segments to whom they can market products and services.

The applications for AI are widespread and nearly limitless. As more businesses realize the full scope of possibilities with this amazing technology, the more integrated AI is likely to become in "real" businesses everywhere.