How Businesses Are Using AI in 2019

Chinese-American computer scientist and AI leader, Andrew Ng, is quoted as saying “AI is the new electricity”. By this, he means that we are experiencing an AI revolution that has the power to drastically change our future for the better, in much the same way that electricity has done in the last 100 years. We now have large quantities of data and the most powerful computers we’ve ever had in human history, as well as a deep understanding of AI that was nurtured over many decades. With these tools at our disposal, companies are increasingly exploring new ways to use AI to take their industry to the next level.

Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service

In the retail sector, AI is being used to personalize promotions, lead people to stores, intelligently target products to interested potential customers, and to directly connect with customers via chat services. Research by McKinsey determined that within retail, marketing and sales has the most potential to see significant value from AI .

Digital companies like Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, use AI to deliver highly personalized recommendations for content. They do this by analyzing your preferences and pairing it with information about who you are from your profile . British telecommunications company Sky also intends to use AI to recommend content to users based on what mood they are in, taking personalization to the next level.

In an interview, Coca Cola also talked about how using customer data has shaped their marketing practices:

“We want to focus on creating advertising content that speaks differently to different audiences. Some people love music. Other people watch every sport no matter what time of year. Our brands are already visible in those spaces, and we’re working hard to use data to bring branded content that aligns with people’s passions.”

Utilizing AI for marketing and sales isn’t just for large businesses. There are now affordable AI applications that don’t break the bank that are helping small businesses compete with larger ones.

AI is being used in customer service to understand customer problems and provide solutions the customer is happy with. The use of AI in customer service is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. Research by Oracle found that 80% of marketing leaders are either currently using, or plan to use chatbots to talk to customers in the near future . It’s no secret that providing good customer service creates trust in the company’s brand and will lead to repeat customers as well as new customers. Salesforce predicts that deploying AI for Customer Relationship Management will lead to a huge $1.1 trillion increase in global revenues by 2021.

Hiring New Talent

AI is being used in recruitment to select high-quality candidates and streamline the recruitment process. Natural language processing algorithms can scan resumes for keywords and match these resumes with similar ones from candidates hired previously. This technology is getting stronger all the time and not only cuts down on ours spent looking through resumes, but also removes some unconscious human biases from the selection process.

Al can also be used for advanced targeting of candidates by searching for job roles, skills, hobbies, and anything else the company finds desirable and finding candidates that meet these criteria. Intelligent targeting can go even further than this. For example, if an AI searches for a particular candidate and can determine their demographics and interests, the company can then tailor the hiring experience to the candidate. Let’s consider a candidate who lists cinema, or gym as an interest, the company can focus on those benefits during the hiring process . This is a key area where AI can really help, 46% of recruiters said “finding the right candidate” is the biggest hurdle in hiring today .

Data Collection and Analysis

We produce a huge 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day . Businesses all over the world are collecting vast amounts of data and that data can unlock key insights into improving customer experience and efficiency for these businesses. Data is analyzed by AI programs and can generate reports so businesses can better understand their customers and how they behave, this data can then be actioned to meet business goals.

For example, Amazon utilizes AI in its Amazon Go stores. Amazon Go is a series of physical stores that don’t have any cashiers or registers. The idea is that you walk into the store, pick up what you want, and leave. The store is equipped with computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning AI that will track you through the store and add anything you pick up to a digital receipt sent to you on the Amazon Go app. Theoretically, Amazon could use this data to analyze how often you purchase certain items and whether there are other factors that determine your spending, such as your behavior (mood) as you shop . They can then use this data to tailor the experience to the customer’s needs.