When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), many of the people I talk to think that it is either something that is coming in the future, or interest in it is limited to geeks. Some see it as a negative tool that will destroy employment for people. And they are surprised when I tell them that they are probably using AI in their everyday lives already — they just aren’t aware that something like a Google search is AI based. And those adverts you keep seeing on social media because one day last week you searched for ‘holidays in the Maldives’ — that’s all down to AI.
Here are some of the everyday uses of AI that you may not be aware of. They have been compiled by 12 experts from Forbes Technology Council.
1. Customer Service
Data analytics and AI help brands anticipate what their customers want and deliver more intelligent customer experiences — better than the old call centre one anyway.
2. Personalised Shopping
When you shop online and you visit a site and look at a product, you may find you suddenly get recommendations for similar products — that’s AI.
3. Protecting Finances
For credit card companies and banks, AI is indispensible, especially in detecting fraudulent activity on your account. It saves all of us from the pain.
4. Drive Safer
You don’t need a self-driving car to use AI. For example, lane-departure warnings, adaptive cruise control and automated emergency braking are all AI functions.
5. Improving Agriculture
Agriculture is an important element of our lives, because we all want and need to eat. AI is improving this important sector with the following examples: satellites scanning farm fields to monitor crop and soil health; machine learning models that track and predict environmental impacts, like droughts; and big data to differentiate between plants and weeds for pesticide control.
6. Our Trust in Information
Trust in information is one of the most critical issues of our current times. We are bombarded with images and articles that we just don’t know if they are telling the truth or not. Experts say that AI will change how we learn and the level of trust we place in information. AI will help us identify the deep fakes and all those methods of sharing ‘fake’ information, and that is very important.
The ways in which we use AI are growing all the time — and if you think you’re not using it, you almost certainly already are.