Artificial intelligence isn’t a new concept. In fact, the concept of AI dates back 70 years or more. Thousands of researchers in the 1950s explored using artificial intelligence as a means for solving problems, such as Alan Turing, who pondered the mathematical possibility of the subject. In the 1960s, the U.S. Department of Defense scientists attempted to use artificial intelligence in a bid to replicate basic human reasoning, a project within what is now known as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), originally under the Eisenhower administration. And, in the 1970s, DARPA also used a version of early artificial intelligence to finish street-mapping projects.
Today, the world is becoming more aware of AI than ever before and seeing the effects of it in our daily lives. Increases in computing power and very large amounts of data has accelerated advancements in narrow AI to the point that the science has finally begun to deliver on its many promises. In fact, artificial intelligence and deep learning systems have risen to wide popularity in recent years. Self-driving cars have begun to hit the roads and millions of consumers use virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa.
But AI is far more than just a tool for consumers. It’s also a tool that can help businesses move faster, earn more and beat the competition.
The business potential of Artificial Intelligence
In business, the possibilities of artificial intelligence can’t be overstated. AI holds the power to help businesses make faster and better decisions, to create better products, to deliver outstanding services and to achieve competitive advantage.
Dell EMC’s Suresh Sathyamurthy recently shared some compelling statistics that demonstrate AI’s potential to help businesses. He says that proper adoption of AI will help companies:
- Complete IT projects 3x faster
- Meet and exceed revenue goals 2x as quickly
- Enjoy 33% more budget to invest in innovation
Every business must achieve these things or else risk being beaten in the marketplace. And artificial intelligence is about far more than just completing projects faster, exceeding revenue goals and making strategic investments. It’s also about staying relevant in the marketplace and remaining ahead of the competition.
With tremendous market hype, the growing interest in AI has dramatically increased over the last two years. In fact, according to a Gartner study, more than 30% of CIOs will see AI as a top 5 priority by the year 2020. And while the rush to the future of AI is on the minds of many companies, there is a worry that some will not properly identify the true needs and business values before creating AI-based products. Additionally, they also need a plan for overcoming AI-related challenges.
Overcoming AI-related challenges
In a speech delivered by SAS Africa VP Desan Naidoo at the SAS Road to Artificial Intelligence Event on June 28, the executive argues that while companies will need a combination of data, analytics, and collaboration to succeed, they still face several challenges on the road ahead. This comes from determining “what to optimize, assessing and preparing data, and skills,” Naidoo said.
Naidoo asserts that by empowering machines to make decisions based on data and facts, human-related decision making resulting in biases can begin to be eliminated. As AI has yet to evolve to this point, organizations should start small and utilize data already available to optimize processes and solve business-specific problems. To that end, a bigger question can be introduced: How can an OEM’s solution help an end customers’ ability to collect and use the data generated by the OEM’s system? For instance, the OEM system can either perform the analysis and deliver the intelligence to the end customer OR they can create a way for sharing the OEMs system data with the end customer’s data science team(s).
Getting answers for Your questions, solutions for your problems
UNICOM Engineering is a trusted partner to OEMs and ISVs worldwide. We ease the burdens of deployment so that you can focus on delivering innovative artificial intelligence applications that solve real-world problems. Contact us today to learn more about how your company can realize the benefits of AI.