The next decade promises an explosive growth in the application of AI
TREND 03 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
As costs fall, availability rises, and 5G connectivity sweeps the world, the next decade promises an explosive growth in the application of AI across all corners of life and business
The role of AI over the coming years should not be underestimated. Self-learning technologies will underpin many of the trends discussed elsewhere in this report and beyond, thanks to the convergence of four factors:
In the business world, the promise of AI freeing humans from repetitive and administrative tasks will come to fruition through the widespread adoption of robotic processing automation.
This has been on the horizon for some time, and while some businesses have been relatively successful at implementing this kind of technology already, the improvement of data quality and the fall in the cost of AI technology and expertise will help adoption go mainstream.
People will be freed from the highly necessary but time-consuming and uninspiring tasks of database management, documentation, report generation, and more, and can instead focus more time on strategic, creative, and empathetic activities.
Increased collaboration between AI and humans will require staff to develop skills and capabilities that businesses should already be investing in if they intend to grow over the next decade.
Machine learning will enable businesses to deliver personalized experiences to their customers at scale.
This is akin to the recommendation engines that have been so successful for the likes of Netflix and Amazon, but with a major upgrade: personalization will be processed and deployed in real-time.
The speed with which AI will be able to identify, learn and make decisions from a person’s interactions with a site or app means cues around your intention, mood, and preferences will be captured and fed into the logic behind the content, products, and services that are shown to you, there and then.
Similarly, real-time data will inform AI-generated simulations and predictive modeling that will help businesses to test and pursue ideas without wasting time and money on developing MVPs or running A/B tests. The models and simulations will test hypotheses virtually, allowing you to pursue ideas and outcomes that are statistically most likely to succeed.
Digital security will rely on the evolution of machine-learning algorithms to identify and protect assets against cybersecurity threats that are themselves driven by AI.
The anticipated boom in innovation expected from the rollout of 5G and its impact on the Internet of Things will create a swathe of new vulnerabilities. Companies serious about security will be forced to deploy machine learning capabilities to monitor for, identify, and prevent attacks. ⬥
It won’t be long before we’ll have forgotten what life was like without AI, much like we take the internet for granted. Businesses need to make sure they aren’t taken by surprise.
