How To Tell If Your Business Requires AI

Artificial Intelligence has arrived and how! Gone are the days when it would take hours for deriving insights and waiting before the desired outcome was achieved.

More and more companies are now looking at unleashing the power of AI to add value to their business. That said, few others are still contemplating whether to rebuild their organisational goals in accordance with AI. Despite advancements witnessed over the years, skepticism continues about how far is it better than the primitive technology we used to rely on. Let's delve deeper and try putting it all in perspective:

What is AI:

Essentially, determining patterns and making predictions constitute the heart of Artificial Intelligence. It helps automate tools (and processes) that drive routine tasks and improve outcomes. This in turn helps businesses save time and focus on more important or strategic tasks at hand.

There are varying stages that work under this one big term - AI. Stages namely, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Predictive Analysis, among others, promise broader applications for operations across industries.

When did it all begin:

Perhaps the start of this breakthrough can be attributed to Alan Turing and his Imitation Game. It's been more than five decades since AI has been around, but major leaps have been witnessed particularly in the last four years.

According to Fortune, on Feb 24, 1956, Arthur Lee Samuel played a game of checkers on television with his opponent: a 36-bit vacuum tube computer made by International Business Machines. What followed was a heady period of excitement during the 1950s and 1960s, when computer scientists sketched out dreams and designs of advanced problem-solving machines that, in many cases, mirrored the robotic creations of science fiction novels. 

How AI progressed over the years:

AI serves to interpret and answer, predict and forecast. This trial-and-error approach boasts of an array of solutions for furthering business transformation. The system gets ‘trained’, learns to 'understand' and thereby delivers the desired output. Basis its analysis of huge volumes of data, campaigns are devised, resume screenings are carried out, security checks are made and healthcare patterns are determined, to name a few.

Today, implementation of AI tools is especially noteworthy with regard to Apple (Siri), Google (the Assistant), Microsoft (Cortana), and Amazon (Alexa). The giants have leveraged AI in a way that would have seemed impossible in the days of a non-AI world.

Read on to know what more this trending technology has to offer: 14 Ways AI Will Benefit Or Harm Society.

Why AI:

While impacts of AI have been acknowledged far and wide, have we weighed its cons as well? With AI comes automation which may lead to cost-cutting across industries. However, the benefits and experiences as seen in the past cannot be overlooked. And so the opportunity-cost of this uncertainty around AI can only be measured in hindsight.

It is therefore recommended to re-engineer business models around AI capabilities. A lot of this 'change' will depend on ensuring companies are adept with the current progress, the kind of strategy envisioned, instilling an understanding of AI into systems, and how rapidly an AI-driven competence is incorporated in the process. At the same time, it is important to bear in mind that the technology is still growing.

My take:

If you still feel your organisation does not require deploying AI-capable applications, perhaps it's time to revisit the thought. 

Evidently, the ambition of taking AI to scale has taken off for most organisations. Sooner or later, a world sans AI will cease to exist. It is therefore best to let AI revolutionize the business landscape. Going with the AI-wave will not only help an organisation have a competitive edge, but also help meet its goals better. Thus, in view of future implications, it is time businesses acknowledge the vast impacts and take advantage of various ‘smarter’ opportunities that AI has to offer.

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