What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Business?
With the availability of vast amounts of data and the ever-changing requirements of the customers, businesses cannot depend anymore on traditional methods. AI is rapidly evolving as the saviour of businesses by generating actionable insights from data. AI in business encompasses the use of computer software that increases productivity and efficiency. This helps the business to grow and transform.
Why Businesses Should Use AI?
In this era of technology, businesses are being run by data. The complexity of data has made it difficult for humans to process or analyse it. AI is used in businesses to help them get valuable insights into data. This aids the companies in understanding the needs and preferences of the customers. Thus, businesses can act accordingly to meet the expectations of the customers, beating the competitors in the market. Businesses should use artificial intelligence to understand and engage customers, automate business processes, and improve productivity and revenue. It also helps to reduce the operational expenses.
AI Examples In Business
AI is used by businesses more frequently these days. From marketing to customer service, artificial intelligence tools are deployed everywhere. Here are some examples of AI in business:
Smart products and services
Some product like robot vacuums aids in cleaning the premises with AI. They use AI to scan the room, pinpoint the obstacles, and work on the voice commands. Twitter uses AI to identify hate speeches and remove them. Smart thermostats reduce the energy costs of businesses. It first understands how you use energy and then adjusts the temperature according to your needs, without wasting energy.
Helpdesk chatbots
AI-based chatbots help businesses to deliver customer service and real-time conversations. This interaction mimics real-life conversation and communicates with the customers through a chat interface. They provide pre-determined answers to specific questions. These collect data from the user using machine learning. They are trained to understand phrases and get better over time as they learn to understand more queries.
Facial recognition
Today facial recognition is used by many organisations including governmental sectors for security reasons. Mostly, government airports, offices, and premises use this AI-based technology. Social media companies like Facebook also use this AI-based technology.
Personalised recommendation
Whenever you browse a website, you may discover product suggestions. These personalised recommendations or suggestions are based on the behaviour of the user. Artificial intelligence technologies are tracking down these behaviours.
Segmented advertisements
It is somewhat similar to personalised recommendation, yet different. Advertising departments can use AI to segment audiences based on their behaviour and create targeted campaigns for them. For example, based on past behaviour and data, AI identifies if a customer is pregnant and searching for pregnancy-related products. Then that customer is targeted with pregnancy and postpartum products with personalised marketing campaigns.
Fraud detection
Banks are deploying machine learning models to detect suspicious transactions. This AI uses advanced tools like deep learning and neural networks and identifies fraud in real time. It also stops these activities immediately and alerts the authorities. Many companies like Teradata and DataVisor are providing such solutions to banks for financial fraud detection.
Customer relationship management systems
CRM helps in fostering good relationships with customers. Here, AI can be used with data and integration with sentiment analysis that analyse customer conversation. This AI can transform the CRM systems into self-updating and autocorrecting systems, bridging the gap with the customers.
Courier and travel
Courier and travel businesses are also using artificial intelligence to increase customer satisfaction. AI-powered GPS tools like ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimisation and Navigation) are being used by businesses to create the most efficient routes for vehicles. Also, express delivery option, an artificial intelligence system, is delivering products in two hours. All the AI-powered tools are helping businesses like Walmart and Amazon.
Increasing productivity
Many tasks can be automated within a business to increase productivity. Automation of routine work like generating daily reports and drafting communications can help businesses to work more efficiently. And, where the tasks cannot be automated, AI can aid workers by offering guidance. It will help to level up their performance, increasing the overall productivity.
Benefits Of AI In Business
AI is transforming businesses in this modern landscape. It provides convenience, accessibility, automation, and efficiency. All these are related to enhanced productivity and user experience. Here are some benefits that businesses are having with the use of AI:
Automated processes
AI enables businesses to automate their routine tasks and operations, allowing more time for employees to work on critical things. It ensures human errors are minimised and accuracy is improved. For example, automated ticket consoles in metros aid in saving time for the employees so that they deal with other urgent matters.
Informed decision-making
AI and machine learning are faster and more accurate in analysing data compared to humans. With these technologies, businesses can have a vast amount of data available for their employees. This data gives insights into future trends and suggests the right decision to take. It saves time, money, and resources used in the manual decision-making process.
Enhanced productivity
AI used in businesses to automate and optimise tasks is helping to boost productivity. It saves the time of the employees, thereby helping to achieve more in less time. This enhances the overall productivity of the company. As a result, businesses make more revenue.
Recruitment and sourcing
Many businesses are using AI-powered solutions for recruiting and talent sourcing. This helps in finding the best candidates during the screening process. They sort out the applications and the resumes and recommend the top candidates based on qualifications. AI tools help to ask questions to the candidates about their skills and qualifications and sort the best candidate.
Adopting customer-centric approach
With machine learning and AI, businesses can tailor their customer’s needs and create on-demand experiences. For example, in a music streaming app, the use of AI allows the user to create a personalised playlist. It identifies their preferred genre and singers.
Challenges In Applying AI In Business
The application of AI in business is constantly increasing. However, some challenges limit the use of AI technologies in business. Here are some challenges:
- Data scarcity: Most of the AI tools used in businesses need large amounts of data to train the model. In the fresh areas of business where there isn’t much data available, the use of AI is limited. The huge amount of available data is mostly unstructured and unlabeled, and thus poses a major challenge in the use of AI that has training on labeled data.
- Algorithm bias: A major challenge that AI faces is algorithm bias where the software is trained on biased data based on ethnicity, race, and gender. As of now, the software is biased, and thus it limits the use of these AI-powered tools.
- Data security: Issues of threats to data security and privacy in one of the major challenges that artificial intelligence technologies are facing. It limits the use of AI because it involves the collection of sensitive information of people.
How Does AI Work?
AI systems work with large sets of data to understand the patterns and features in the data. It never needs a break and can work constantly through millions of tasks. AI system focuses on three cognitive aspects. These are:
- Learning processes: This process works by gathering data and creating rules for converting data into meaningful and actionable information. This helps the AI system with step-by-step instructions for completing a specific task.
- Reasoning Process: This process of AI focuses on selecting a suitable algorithm to achieve desired results.
- Self-correction processes: This feature of AI makes sure the system can continuously improve its algorithms and guarantee that it produces the most accurate outcomes.
Artificial intelligence systems are the future of businesses. Businesses will need a solid plan to incorporate AI systems into their operations. Companies need to determine what AI can do and what humans can do. This will help to enhance the business revenue and boost productivity and efficiency. AI will help businesses to offer better customer experiences and reduce costs. All this must be done in collaboration.
