Wednesday, August 21st, 2019

Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on Digital Businesses

Jonathan Blum

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a scientific field of informatics that, through programs and mechanisms, can exhibit “intelligent behavior”. It creates systems that (to a point) “think” like a human. “Normally an AI system is capable of analyzing large quantities of data (big data), identifying patterns and trends and therefore, automatically formulating predictions with speed and precision,” explains Salesforce, a customer relationship management platform (CRM).

Its development is such that, according to recent figures obtained from Statista[1], the international AI market turned over 9.521 billion dollars in 2018, and estimates that by 2025 the industry will reach a total of 118.6 billion dollars. This would mean 1,247% growth in under ten years.

This accelerated growth of Artificial Intelligence is largely due to its ability to transform industries as diverse as the financial, healthcare, and communications sectors. Its potential in the latter is impressive and it is expected that mass media and the advertising industy will use AI on a mass scale to determine consumer behavior and purchasing patterns, in order to approach consumers in an intelligent and automated way.

Digital businesses are wagering on the main Artificial Intelligence techniques (machine learning, deep learning, smart data discovery, and predictive analytics) for machines to take actions without the need for explicit programming. This means that they are able to make predictions and make decisions automatically based on compiled algorithms. These techniques will also allow algorithms to be classified the way a human brain organizes information. The objective is to be able to predict possible outcomes, such as the likelihood of a purchase or client migration, among others.

Brands are investing heavily in AI for various reasons:

  • Sales: adjusting prices, sales options, discounts and coupons in real time to persuade indecisive consumers.
  • Marketing: creating personalized marketing campaigns that adapt to all digital channels: computer, cell phone, email, etc.
  • Customer Service: implementing software that enables users to chat to bots that assist customers by using a complex language processing system.

Although Its potential is very broad, AI still faces several challenges. Despite being capable of measuring people’s reactions and interests, it still isn’t very efficient when it comes to analyzing factors that are more difficult to measure, such as tone of voice, humor, and sarcasm. Ultimately, it is still a machine that reads information. That’s why it is important for human thought to continue participating in analyzing results. We can’t completely hand over decision making to AI.

[1]Statistics portal for Market data and sector studies.