AI Tech: Augmented Intelligence

I’ve been working in AI tech for about 10 years. As the former head of the IBM Watson Discovery Advisor Program, and now with CognitiveScale, I’m seeing incredible momentum in the AI marketplace. Specifically, my current field of interest and expertise is augmented intelligence. 

Back in early 2011, IBM held an experiment where our Watson computer competed against the world’s best Jeopardy! contestants. These were all tremendously smart people, and our team was nervous about the outcome. When Watson won, we were obviously thrilled. That was really a watershed moment in the history of intelligent computing.

Fast forward to now, and we see the market coalescing around a number of different needs, such as data science products and cognitive services (AWS, IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure, etc.). Additionally, there are specialty boutique firms focusing on certain domain-specific problems. 

Augmented vs. Artificial Intelligence

CognitiveScale is a software company based out of Austin, TX. Specifically, we work with augmented intelligence which is a fundamental way enterprises can adopt AI tech. Unlike artificial intelligence alone, augmented intelligence is not the notion of computers replacing humans. Instead, we look for use cases where machines can augment human capabilities. 

We have two classes of use cases. The first is the Engaged Type use case. This is where we implement AI to help enterprises personalize an experience for end customers. For example, the goal could be to increase conversions, boost retention or improve customer service.

The second use case is the Amplify Type where we augment the intelligence of the enterprise’s employees. This enables them to make more effective decisions. Augmented intelligence identifies, routes, manages and predicts certain business conditions with the intent to drive business efficiency. 

Underlying all of that is our platform which we call Cortex, and it drives all the use cases. It’s an augmented intelligence platform that allows us to deliver our solutions. Ultimately, each of these solutions represents the wide range of applications that augmented experiences bring for businesses. Simply put, there’s much more to AI than fun B2C experiences – it makes an impact in helping business performance too.


Click here for Part 2 (available July 19, 2019)

Click here for Part 3 (available July 22, 2019)