Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, considered emerging technologies just a few years ago, are now within reach of more businesses, and they offer faster insights, greater efficiency, and enhanced customer experiences.
The following industry thought leaders offer their predictions for how AI and ML will impact businesses across the range of vertical markets in 2023.
Collaborative Learning
“While active work is going on using AI for intelligent automation, an interesting trend in AI and ML is collaborative learning, that is, enabling AI to augment human intelligence. Through this collaborative intelligence, humans enable AI to train and learn the tacit knowledge that otherwise cannot be learned solely from the data, while AI enhances the human ability to make fast, informed, and smart decisions. This will not just level-up automation but will also enable more creative AI-human collaborations.” Dr. Maitreya Natu, AI scientist, Digitate
Medical Breakthroughs
“AI will yield tremendous breakthroughs in treating medical conditions in the next few years. Just look at the 2021 Breakthrough Prize winner Dr. David Baker. Dr. Baker used AI to design completely new proteins. This ground-breaking technology will continue having huge ramifications in the life sciences, potentially developing life-saving medical treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.” Phil Tee, co-founder and CEO, Moogsoft
Decision-Making in Automation
“Everyone understands the value of automation, and in our software-defined world, almost everything can be automated. The decision point or trigger for automation, however, is still one of the trickier elements. This is where AI will increasingly come in: AI can make more intelligent, less brittle decisions than automation’s traditional ‘if-this-then-that’ rules.” Richard Whitehead, CTO and chief evangelist, Moogsoft
Virtual Training and Coaching
“Immersive technologies will become more commonplace in organizational learning environments. Virtual reality (VR) will be particularly popular in sectors where traditional training requires expensive equipment, such as healthcare, defense and construction. Other industries will begin to use more VR experiences for soft skills training, and early adopter organizations will use VR and AR (augmented reality) for some team events and conferences, reducing the environmental impacts of international travel. Additionally, AI will help employees set goals, mobile apps and wearables will help build new habits, and the metaverse will become the go-to method of communication. Sam Isaacson, global director of coaching, CoachHub
IIoT at the Edge
“I think what we’ll see in 2023 are manufacturers deploying more sophisticated AI capabilities at the edge. The industry isn’t going to slow down its IIoT initiatives, but it needs to make them work so that systems are uber-reliable running AI in edge hardware. There’s zero tolerance for any downtime in manufacturing, it’s too costly. So expect manufacturers to tap into strategies like low-code application development to build out powerful — but more lightweight — solutions. With low code, manufacturers will continue to innovate around AI capabilities without overburdening legacy hardware and limited edge systems, assuring uptime and productivity on the factory floor.” Brian Sathianthan, CTO, Iterate.ai
Manufacturing Robotics
“One area that is taking off today, and will continue to grow in 2023, is robotics. Given the labor shortages and rising production costs, the manufacturing sector has been turning to robotics to improve workflow and increase efficiency. With efficiency as a core priority for every manufacturer, voice applications and mobility solutions are poised to grow tremendously in 2023.” Brenda McCurry, SVP of point of sale and payments, ScanSource
How Innovators Will Make AI and ML Work for Businesses
Industry experts also share their predictions for the AI and ML industry itself. Moogsoft CEO Phil Tee predicts, “The mix of advanced mathematics and informatics is going to unleash a new generation of engineers uniquely placed to exploit the AI wave.”
However, Dr. Maitreya Natu, AI scientist at Digitate, points out, “AI has to be made explainable for its adoption by organizations for making business-critical decisions. AI solutions should be able to explain to business users why it predicted what it predicted. This explanation needs to be related in an easy-to-understand manner to gain the comfort and confidence of business users.”
He adds, “Explainable AI not only helps build trust for business teams in using AI solutions in production, but it also helps adopt a more responsible approach to AI development. This helps developers to ensure that the system is working as expected, confirm existing knowledge, yet challenge it when necessary.”
But perhaps the biggest factor in AI and ML solution providers’ success is timing. Arnold Liwanag, CTO of TealBook says, “AI is advancing rapidly. Look no further than Google Translate’s evolution over the past five years for proof. And as data significantly increases, creating new AI and ML opportunities, early AI investors will soon establish a clear lead in their respective industries.”
Liwanag concludes, “companies that cannot prove themselves quickly and establish a market position will fall behind, leaving a group of clear winners capable of delivering top-tier solutions.”
