Source – forbes.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a variety of targeted uses in the past several years, including self-driving cars. Recently, California changed the law that required driverless cars to have a safety driver. Now that AI is getting better and able to work more independently, what’s next?
We asked seven technology experts from the Forbes Technology Council their thoughts on the advances and implementations in AI that they expect to see in the year ahead. All the responses touched on how AI can help humans now, instead of much further down the road. This is what they had to say.
1. Improved Patient Health Outcomes
I expect that we will see an increased focus on improving health outcomes utilizing artificial intelligence. Patients are producing significant amounts of health data with mobile devices and connected wearables. Providers are using electronic health records generating enormous amounts of information. Applying artificial intelligence will utilize information from patients and providers to actively identify health conditions that may not have been detected until later. – Meghann Chilcott, OrderInsite, LLC
2. Accelerated Improvement
By definition, AI improves the more it’s used. Scrapping the driver requirement means these cars will be logging more miles (potentially by orders of magnitude) than they ever have before. That means the AI will get smarter and driverless will get safer and better at an even more rapid pace. – Timothy Chaves, ZipBooks Accounting Software
3. Voice Assistants
We’ll see more intelligent and natural conversation between humans and voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home. As AI gets better in machine learning, these systems can learn how to speak naturally and in response to the way humans communicate. This will allow for more fluid search. Imagine the movie “Her” in real life. – Tom Roberto, Core Technology Solutions
4. Retail
AI is emerging as a huge tool and resource for retail. Retailers can leverage AI to enhance customers’ in-store experiences, such as digital fitting rooms, or via innovative and interactive mobile apps and even loyalty programs. AI and machine learning are enabling retailers to engage and interact with customers in a two-way, mutually-beneficial conversation instead of just talking at them. – Andres Angelani, Softvision
5. Where It Makes Sense
Go for the low-hanging fruit. Use existing third-party services to implement AI solutions where there are limited costs and clear returns — having a sales-focused chatbot is great for lead nurturing and very easy to implement on a website, for example. Test the waters with small-scope experiments, then start integrating AI into more core business functions. – Ben Lee, Neon Roots
6. Online Chat
Online chat is a good way to engage buyers at their moment of interest. Many don’t realize that the helpful customer rep on the other side is a bot with complex if-then-else statements driving the conversation. In the near future, AI will replace this scripted logic to engage with buyers and intelligently answer their inquiries. – Micheal Goodwin, Server@Work
7. Communication
Artificial intelligence continues to progress and will eventually impact all industries. In the near future, expect communication methods to be heavily influenced by AI and integrated seamlessly. AI can help people improve the way they communicate. With voice recognition, dictation technology and communication tech becoming better, efficiency and productivity will increase in almost all professions. AI in combination with other technology such as virtual reality will greatly improve the way we can communicate. – Alexandro Pando, Xyrupt