With the developments in AI comes a new generation of search possibilities & with it, an entirely new ways of running business.
Since the dawn of the intranet in 1983 & the subsequent launch of the WWW (world wide web) in 1990, the human race has learned to accept the vast amount of data literally at our fingertips. The internet has transformed global business & commerce, with internet sales in 2017 amounting to $2.3 trillion (£1,723,183,000,000.00) & predictions state that this will rise to $4.8 trillion by 2021. However, behind the keyboards & programming, a mindfield of technologies, algorithms & data has been the driving force of what we have come to accept. Until now. With the developments in AI comes a new generation of search possibilities & with it, an entirely new ways of running business.
In the UK alone we are seeing great advances in our technologies & in AI. Although a 2017 report from PwC shares concerns that 30 % of the country’s jobs might be under threat from the technology, the technologies coming in to the UK could see a productivity boosted by 30 %. With Facebook & Google already seeking to open offices in London, with the promise of thousands of new jobs, this is only one area whereby the UK’s AI capabilities will be utilised.
In addition, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and the minister in charge of the UK government’s AI strategy, Greg Clark, has already started to lay out his plans for the AI investment in the UK. With investment figures in excess of £100,000,000 planned for the British AI industry, with £400,000 being invested to address the shortfall in STEM skills; the UK is critically aware of the need to invest in the AI processes.
A survey undertaken by Deloitte in 2017 identified the following:
Top expected uses of AI in business. Public & private sector organisations picked their top three expected uses of AI.
· 62% Automate judgement based process
· 54% Predictive & prescriptive analytics
· 54% Automate manual processes
· 46% Interact with clients & customers
· 38% Analysis of large & unstructured datasets
These figures speak volumes about the way in which business owners are identifying the need for AI & where its applications will be of most use to their sector. However, despite the figures seeking to identify where business owners share their ‘expected’ uses of AI, when you consider where AI is currently being used & it’s applications; it paints a very different picture.
A survey undertaken by the Boston Consulting Group/ MIT Sloan Management Review 2017, reveals some startling responses to the actual reality of the take up of AI.
· 85% Believe that AI will allow them to obtain/ sustain competitive advantage
· 39% Have an AI strategy in place
· 20% Have already incorporated AI in some of their offerings or processes
· 5% have extensively incorporated AI in their offerings or processes
So, why do these figures vary so widely? Why is the belief in AI & the actual physical application still currently have a vast disparity in percentages?
Ray Eitel-Porter, Accenture Applied Intelligence lead in the UK and Ireland says “AI has been a mainstay in science fiction since its inception and there’s a reason it does so well at the box office: we’re addicted to fantasies about super-intelligent robots. Despite AI progressively entering the real world, it’s hard to shake the image we’ve built up in our imagination.”
“We risk discarding AI before it has had a chance to develop if we fail to recognise that certain traits we would associate with intelligence haven’t been achieved yet. We’re still in the early stages of a fast-moving field with limitless potential. Leaders should avoid locking themselves into contracts with one provider, maintaining the flexibility to take advantage across the vast ecosystems which will develop over the coming years.” www.raconteur.net
Therefore, is there an unease in business around AI? Are we concerned about the potential of the AI system & of course, can we, as humans, ultimately be replaced? What sets us apart from true AI? We accept Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant in to our homes every day. We carry these AI Assistants in our pockets, on our wrists, in our cars. So, what is the difference between our reliance on the AI Assistant & the AI business models? Can we reach beyond the fantasy & embrace the reality of AI in business, or does our inherent fear of being superseded by a superior intelligence, ultimately shy us away from the possibilities that AI can lend us?
