Photo by TheDigitalArtist / CC0
Caption: AI is already transforming the way we live. But the pace of change will only increase.
According to Innovation Enterprise AI, chatbots will power 85 percent of customer service online by 2020. Then there is the rise of voice-activated virtual assistants, the use of AI and big data in sales and marketing, and even the use of the technology to replace a traditional corporate hiring process.
In fact, Accenture, which researched the impact of AI in 12 different countries, predicted that it could double the GDP growth by 2035 and increase business productivity by over 40 percent. But AI has many different applications, and below, you’ll find some of the more mind-boggling ones.
1. AI Can Now Predict Mortality and Diagnose Cancer
Deep learning algorithms can already predict the onset of Alzheimer’s even six years in advance. MIT researchers also use AI to predict breast cancer five years into the future. But now, it will be possible to predict premature mortality due to chronic disease as well.
Dr. Stephen Weng, from the University of Nottingham, currently leads the research. After the analyzing data of over half a million people between the ages of 40 and 69, Wang reported that “machine learning algorithms were significantly more accurate in predicting death than the standard prediction models developed by a human expert.”
2. AI Helps to Create Hit ‘Not Easy’ Single
AI has already mastered voice recognition and even voice generation, but now, it’s making forays into the musical space as well. “Not Easy,” a single ultimately produced by the X Ambassadors, Elle King and Wiz Khalifa, is a song whose overall musical theme as well as lyrics utilized AI technology to sift through big data to search for the emotional essence of heartbreak.
The single ultimately landed on the No. 4 spot of the iTunes Hot Tracks list. But this is only the beginning, as now AI-powered technology can generate a voice from text and clone the voice of real humans. In March 2019, “Q,” the first genderless AI voice, revealed at the human rights festival Copenhagen Pride. You can already imagine how soon AI assistants will become its own species with which we’ll interact on a day-to-day basis.
Photo by mcmurryjulie / CC0
Caption: By 2020, 30 percent of online searches will be done without a screen.
3. AI Poker Bot Libratus Beats Human Pros and Gets Hired by the US Army
In 2017, a poker bot named Libratus made headlines by defeating four top human players in the game of Texas Hold ‘em. In early 2019, Tuomas Sandholm, the project lead signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the U.S. Army in which his start-up will work for a Pentagon agency called the Defense Innovation Unit. At this point, the Pentagon runs around 600 AI-related projects at a cost of $1.7 billion.
But it doesn’t mean that the disruption in the poker market is over. Industry leaders like PokerStars, who recently celebrated the 200 billionth hand dealt on their platform, also have to adapt. They’re now preparing to roll out the new Aurora gaming engine and eliminating automated scripts that previously allowed players to profile weaker opponents.
And eventually, AI will be a part of a poker platform that will help players to improve their skills without putting real money on the line.
4. SAP’s HANA Gathers and Analyzes all Relevant Business Data in One Place
Companies like SAP are already transforming the AI landscape with the use of machine learning technologies like HANA. Such cloud-based technology is able to gather different types of information across multiple data-access points used by the company.
That includes financial transactions, production line outputs, inventory, conversion data, and much more. This AI-driven technology is already in use by large companies like Walmart to manage its huge volume of transactions and reduce back-office costs.
There are More Changes on the Horizon
Elon Musk sends out the Starlink satellites to provide internet connectivity throughout the whole world. By the end of 2020, there will be self-driving taxis available in some states. And soon, we will order our lunch and groceries through Amazon’s Alexa. At this point, it’s hard to imagine what other developments will disrupt the way we do business and think about technology. But it’s clear that the future belongs to the AI.
