Artificial Intelligence is not an oxymoron. Intelligence is real. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving. It is a combination of science and art, as data scientists draw knowledge, insights and conclusions from data of interest.
And yes, the various algorithms created by the various scientists may come to similar or dissimilar conclusions on the same data set, depending on a variety of factors. These may include the natural language processing engine used and the attendant ontologies.
All very interesting, but how is AI used in business? As a force multiplier in customer service and marketing? To enhance the customer experience? To perform a specific task? Yes, to these and many more.
Enhancing Customer Experience
Music – I listen to music every time I sit at the keyboard – the streaming service provider is personal choice, they all slice and dice your listening habits and present to you additional artists which based on their own algorithms will keep you in the “zone” of the given genre or artist.
These providers want to retain you, either as a paid recurring subscriber or as a recipient of their accompanying advertising stream. Their goal? To give you more of what you like and less of what you find distasteful. They don’t wish for your ears to bleed. Do they succeed? Sometimes.
Who hasn’t hit the thumbs-down or shouted to their “assistant” – Skip! Next! Thumbs-down, when a selection grates us like fingernails on a chalkboard? When this happens, the algorithms are learning, and as time goes on, fewer and fewer moments of audial pain are inflicted on their customer.
The beauty of application of AI, your ears are happy, and a delighted customer is what every provider desires.
Marketing to Customers
The same theory applies to a thousand other environments when it comes to customer experience. Who hasn’t felt haunted when they read an email on their web-based email account and seemingly within milliseconds an advertisement related to the topic comes flying at us on the margins?
Similarly, when we make a post on a social network, or click on an ad (or make a purchase) from a social networks advertiser and we are buried with ads in everything we read, because the ad network is feeding the content. AI at play again.
Though we all have seen instances where the loop doesn’t close, and the ads keep on flowing, causing us to say, “How many Dodge Rams do they think I need in my driveway?”
Performing a Specific Task
The medical profession has been and continues to be ripe for disruption. Be it electronic medical records portion of the sector, but also in the identification of medical fraud, patient risk factors, and diagnosis/treatments. Natural language processing engines take those MD’s notes, written or audio and evolves these into ICD-10 specific codes.
EOB’s are reviewed for consistency and accuracy, to identify fraud when it is attempted, not after it has succeeded. And medical research is where AI can enhance the medical professional’s knowledge and open up previously unknown options for treatment.
The security industry is another area where AI has shown itself to be a game-changer, and will continue to be so, as more larger and larger data sets evolve. Greater levels of computing power are brought to bear in evolving deep learning and by extension knowledge. In this manner, neural networks evolve which easily outstrip the ability of man, as the numbers of parameters can be in the billions.
Machine learning and AI are here to stay. How are you using them in your business?
About Christopher Burgess
Christopher Burgess (@burgessct) is an author and speaker on the topic of security strategy. Christopher served 30+ years within the Central Intelligence Agency. Upon his retirement, the CIA awarded him the Career Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest level of career recognition. Christopher co-authored the book, 'Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost - Preventing Intellectual Property Theft and Economic Espionage in the 21st Century' (Syngress, March 2008).
