Whenever I talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), most people immediately think of Terminator or one of the many sci-fi movies that show super-intelligent machines trying to overpower the human race. But in reality, we use AI in our day-to-day lives more often than we think, because it has been adopted by the major platforms, such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Myntra, and Flipkart. When you scroll through Facebook and see videos and articles that pique your interest, when Netflix recommends The Witcher before you can mourn the end of Game of Thrones, or when Myntra lets you know that your outfit will be incomplete without a pair of matching shoes – all this is the work of AI and ML-driven solutions. So we can easily say that it is one of the most disruptive technologies in history that is helping companies enhance efficiencies and boost revenues. It is no wonder that as per PwC's recent report, AI's potential contribution to the global economy is slated to be $15.7 trillion by 2030!
However, the industry is still evolving, and we are a far cry from creating systems that can contend with a creative, intelligent human brain. So, without any further ado let's take a look at a few trends that are going to shape the future of AI- and ML-driven platforms this decade.
Smarter Search Functionality: With the rapid development of natural language processing (NLP), I am sure that search engines would gain a better understanding of our language using linguistics, semantics, and ML techniques. When you search via text or voice recognition using conversational language, technology will be able to respond to even the most complex queries. Search engines and ecommerce websites will display more relevant, contextual results, leading customers straight to the products they want, thereby increasing the chances of conversion.
Working with Limited Data: One of the challenges AI developers and data scientists face is stringent data privacy laws. More than hundred countries have various data privacy laws in place, so it is complicated to make data both protected yet accessible. However, with time, the reasoning abilities and intelligence will improve, which means that we can work even with limited data. Unlike the data-hungry platforms of today, machines in future will learn to cope in cases of missing, unreliable or changing data.
More Accurate Insights and Predictions: Deep learning capabilities coupled with advanced data analytics will help businesses derive more accurate insights into the minds and patterns of customers, as well as help predict and interpret behavior. Moreover, AI- and ML-led platforms will receive these actionable insights in real-time, enabling them to tweak their business strategy on the fly.
Better Product Recommendations: Customers are expecting highly personalized shopping experiences, and AI and ML-driven platforms will evolve to fulfill the role of a live salesperson. So if you are shopping during Christmas, the platform will use past purchase history and current activity to recommend products, and it will also be able to adjust prices of high-demand items in real-time. Leading shopping search engines such as Google Shopping, Amazon DSP, and Taglr are already leveraging AI. For example, Taglr's easy-to-use digital advertising platform, ShopperAds – analyzes demographics, preferences, shopping patterns, and past purchases to recommend relevant products, thus cutting down on transaction time and customer acquisition costs. And as ML algorithms never stop learning, with every shopping experience, the recommendations will be more tailored and precise.
Better Customer Support: Bot platforms will be able to offer 24/4 support via virtual agents and live chat and solve problems in a human-like fashion. Also, ML models will use the questions and answers generated to predict future conversations, thus facilitating interactions with customers. There will come a time when we wouldn't know whether we are chatting with a human or a bot!
So, it is abundantly clear that in next 10 years AI and ML-led platforms will not only completely revolutionize the way businesses interact and engage with consumers, but also help businesses improve productivity, reduce costs, and save time.
(The author is Taglr CEO. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
