The fourth industrial revolution ushered in a new era of life-changing technological advancements. One of the many successes the fourth industrial revolution has brought to life is artificial intelligence (AI). We have all heard about AI and have probably used it without even knowing it. However, when people tend to think about AI, their mind generally pulls up an image of Arnold Schwartzenegger in the Terminator, where robots take over the world and push the human race towards extinction.
It is this image that has many people asking will I lose my job to a robot? And this is why many people find the notion of artificial intelligence terrifying. However, it is important to understand that contrary to popular opinion; AI is not a robot it is instead it is a branch of computer science that aims to embed software with the ability to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence. This includes visual perception, voice and speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages.
AI makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks. AI is a part of almost all aspects of our daily lives; for example, the following features all use AI technology:
- Smartphone assistants like Siri
- Self-driving cars like the Tesla
- Drones used for delivery
- Your social media feed
- Streaming apps like Netflix, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
- Navigation apps
- Banking apps
These are just a handful of ways AI has already been integrated into our normal daily activities.
Benefits of AI
Data mining
In order for businesses to remain competitive in this corporate environment, they need to ensure they have all the relevant information available to them. However, it is impossible for a human to go through all the information that is available and find the data that is relevant to their specific company. That is where AI is critical. AI is able to mine through a massive amount of data within seconds; it is also able to discover other important information and findings while processing this data. This gives businesses insight into information which was previously undiscovered to them. This gives a huge advantage when it comes to the marketplace.
Real-time assistance
In today’s fast-paced, instant environment, customers are used to getting an answer right away. Therefore businesses need to ensure they cater to this want. But how do they ensure that thousands of customers are answered instantly? With AI, businesses are able to ensure that they are available to customers 24/7/365. AI technology is able to answer simple questions or respond to complaints. It is also able to refer customers to relevant departments or give assistance where it can.
Outcome prediction
AI is able to predict outcomes based on data analysis. It does this by identifying patterns in a set of data, then using that pattern is able to make accurate predictions. This is vital information for companies that need to buy a specific amount of stock. However, the prediction ability of AI is not only useful in the retail industry, but it is also critical to the prediction in the medical field, financial field, sales and other industries.
