How artificial intelligence is changing the world, one industry at a time

ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) is beginning to show its potential. It can be used in countless ways. Every industry has the ability to profit from it. However, AI is still a hazy topic. Many businesses do not know exactly how they can benefit from it. They are not sure of the optimal way to implement it.

A good starting place is taking a look across several industries and seeing how the leading companies are harnessing AI to accomplish things better, faster, and more profitably. The following provides a peek inside a few industries and how they are currently using artificial intelligence:

1. FINANCE

When it comes to the finance industry, there is a lot of data available. Because of this, AI has significant potential and many financial professionals and companies already understand this.

Some companies are implementing AI systems to do everything from manage finances to forecast stock trends. To do this, they simply combine market data and AI’s predictive systems.

A few financial companies are starting to rely on robo-financial advisors. These automated services obviously cannot yet be used for the most complex financial situations, but they work well for simple financial problems, especially giving basic recommendations to clients based off of their investment, saving, and spending data.

Banks across China have been some of the earliest adopters of this type of AI technology. Many banks across the nation are not looking at fintech companies as disruptors, but rather as partners. Bank of China has partnered with Tencent and China Construction Bank has partnered with Alibaba. One of the biggest areas these companies are partnering in is robo-advisors, as well as using AI technology to find ways to reduce poverty around the country.

2. MANUFACTURING

The manufacturing industry has been a long-time adopter of artificial intelligence. The industry ratio of robot workers to human workers has slowly shifted, over several decades, to a majority of the former. AI robots can assemble products and pack them, as well as run machines that use each raw material to create every part of the finished product.

The impact of robotics in the manufacturing industry is only going to grow by leaps and bounds over the next few years, with AI slowly gaining the ability to problem solve and identify quality control issues.

3. HEALTH CARE

There is a massive global shortage of nurses and doctors, making it easy to see that there is plenty of potential for AI in the health care industry.

In some countries, AI robots are being used in the place of nurses or as nursing assistants. And there is plenty of room for this type of AI implementation in the sector in the future. Currently, though, AI is also being used to assist with predictive medicine, providing a reduction in the strain on health care facilities and in the need for high-level treatments.

The predictive AI uses data from patients’ families, lifestyle, profession, and genetics, as well as utilizing other individuals’ data for comparative purposes, to create preventative treatments plans.

In the future, the health care industry is looking to use AI to make diagnoses such as depression, based on vocal tone data, and x-ray results, just to name a few.

4. LOGISTICS

Supply chain logistics and shipping can be very messy. They involve a lot of people, a lot of products, and numerous other factors.

For years, the industry has suffered because of human error — when a person is dealing with so many numbers, names, and schedules, it is not difficult to make a mistake.

Logistics companies have realized, though, that AI does not make mistakes. It is error- free. This is why many involved in logistics are beginning to find ways to integrate AI more and more.

Some businesses are using AI to help with everything from optimal route detection to space allocation. And then there is the potential for self-driving cars.

Another popular AI technology to use in logistics is sensors. They help companies track where their items are and they help logistics companies keep track of their vehicles, including in necessary maintenance that might be imminent.

One company that is all in on AI for logistics is China’s JD. com. The company is hiring a new division of AI specialists to identify and implement how AI can successfully be used in their logistics, as well as in other arenas. They want a smart warehouse and logistics system, with everything from unstaffed vehicles to space management. To ensure that they are harnessing the best AI systems, the company is even opening up their own AI research centers.

5. MARKETING

Marketing professionals are beginning to fully realize the power of AI. They are using it to create content from data. They are utilizing it to track the actions of website visitors and then adjust marketing content for specific actions.

The benefit of AI is that it allows marketers to take data from individuals and create marketing campaigns for the masses or take data from the masses and create marketing campaigns that are personalized.

A likely feature that more and more marketing professionals will begin to utilize is the creation of personalized marketing messaging by using an action that an individual made and then making a recommendation for a next action based on what other users did who had made a similar initial action (i.e. think Amazon’s recommendation slider, “Customers who viewed this item also viewed”).

6. CYBER SECURITY

Malicious activity on the Internet is growing. To combat this, the cybersecurity industry has to step up their game. Artificial intelligence is one of their strongest weapons.

The latest cyber security software that is equipped with AI can not only predict and block malicious activity that is occurring, but it also learns from it.

As AI cyber security continues to improve, less interventions from the operator’s end will be necessary. Currently, the software often identifies non-malicious suspicious activity and brings it to the attention of the operator through an alert. These false positives, as prediction becomes more effective, will become less and less frequent.

Additionally, strides are being made to enable the AI software to handle the attack on its own, allowing the cyber security operator to carry out larger and more complex tasks.

7. SALES

The sales process has been in evolution since sales first came about. Individuals and businesses are constantly trying new ways and coming up with new methods for improving the sales pipeline.

The future of sales improvement is clear, though. AI is the best option. It has the potential to enhance every part of the pipeline. AI software could generate leads, prioritize leads, personalize sales pitches for each lead, and so much more. This technology is only in the early stages but the industry is already showing no hesitation in adopting it.

8. SMALL BUSINESS

Small businesses face many struggles. They not only have to compete with businesses that are their size but also businesses that are 100 times larger and have much bigger budgets. They do not have divisions of the company, such as a marketing team or a finance team. Instead they have one individual who is responsible for every task in that role, or even in multiple roles.

This is precisely where the power of AI can truly be seen. The smartest, most progressive small businesses are identifying every piece of AI software that is on the market. They are automating every process that they possibly can. The investment is worth it. Instead of spending time on mindless, repetitive tasks, all employees can be involved in implementing creative strategies that will grow the business and its profits.

9. INSURANCE

Insurance is currently spending more on AI globally than any other industry. They are using it for everything from customer service and finance to IT, strategic planning, and sales. More than half of the AI investment is going to improving general business operations and the rest is going to various transformational projects. More specifically, a lot of transformational projects include utilizing AI to reduce and prevent accidents and injuries. for example, several insurance companies are developing AI wearables for high-risk work settings, creating significant savings in the long-term.

A Chinese life insurance company, Ping An, is combining AI with big data and cloud technology to become more socially responsible. The company has created a variety of AI solutions that run the gamut in the entire health care treatment process. One example is their use of AI to interpret CT scan results, allowing for patients to get feedback faster. The company has also created a lung nodules detection program that has broken the world record in accuracy of detection.

The bottom line is that AI is disrupting industries across the board. Businesses can take these learnings and insights and apply them to improve their own processes.

Michael Ngan is the country general manager of Lenovo Philippines.