The Rise of AI

Artificial Intelligence seems to be the new buzzword in the digital universe. But what exactly is AI? Let’s find out.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

AI or Artificial Intelligence, is the intelligence displayed by machines to simulate human cognitive faculties of speech recognition, language translation, visual perception and decision-making

The aim is to build software that enables machines to think as intelligently as humans do.

How Are Different Industries Using It?

Entertainment

On Saavn or Youtube, your online music or video preferences are tracked and you may be prompted to click on a ‘you may also like’ section.

Role-play video games like Far Cry & Middle Earth build on the traits of overworld characters as the game progresses.

E-Commerce

E-commerce giants like Flipkart & Amazon provide recommendations of brands, styles & price points based on your search & browsing patterns and past purchase history. The sites seek to personalise the shopping experience for customers and simplify the pricing process for retailers.

Different brands may offer products in a different fit from the standard size. Shopclues is employing AI to standardise clothing sizes across its platform and make it easier for customers to choose the right size.

Smartphone

Siri, Cortana, and Google Now in iOS, Android and Windows phones are a prime example of AI in the form of digital personal assistants. They are constantly collecting user information to predict what you would want next. In fact, anything that you ask them, within their capacity across the virtual spectrum, will be done.

Apple positions the IPhone X as a platform for AI. Along with the face ID feature, the IPhone X will accommodate a range of AI-supported apps.

Paytm, the Indian mobile commerce company has a personal assistant Shifu to analyse users’ browsing & purchase cycle. Shifu can solve user queries, personalise to-do lists or set task reminders when you have free time.

Automobile

Google’s driverless cars or Tesla’s autopilot mode exemplify AI through their self-parking, collision-detecting, blind-spot monitoring, voice recognition and navigation features.

Mercedes-Benz will soon be joining AI driven markets with cars designed to predict a driver’s destination.

Back home, Maruti, along with tech startup Fisheye Box, has developed an indigenous self-driving car, the Aerodrive Celerio, which is capable of level 3 autonomous driving – which means you can actually take your eyes off the road!

Ola/b>, India’s popular taxi-service app, uses AI to improve customer experience by reducing travel time or understanding the reasons behind customer cancellation. The algorithms in Ola Share detect common routes and make it possible for different passengers to reach different destinations by pooling a cab. Ola Play remembers songs & music to suit a repeat customer’s preference.

Banking & Finance

AI in banking transactions manages customer databases and sends out notifications in case suspicious activity is detected on a user account.

Paytm is embarking into loans and credit services. Not all people have access to a bank’s credit facilities. Paytm’s credit-scoring model would decide the eligibility of the user and offer an option to pay in 6 months with 0% interest or in 15 months with 5% interest.

Healthcare

IBM’s Watson is an AI application for diagnosing and prescribing accurate treatments, based on the patient's’ medical history. Sedasys System by Johnson & Johnson has been authorised to automatically deliver anaesthesia to patients in standard procedures. AI Will Disrupt The World Of Advertising & Marketing AI is being developed to gain insight into personality traits by recording customer behaviour across digital platforms.

Based solely on a person’s emotions, companies will be able to detect a customer’s next thoughts and actions, and better predict strategies for new products.

In the near future, AI may even displace advertising by customising creatives and optimising various media better than their human counterparts.

Stay tuned to know more on how AI will be the biggest disruptor in technology.