Authored by Dr. Pradeep K. Mukherji, Managing Partner Tauran Advisors
Artificial intelligence (AI), one of the most transformative technologies of our time, has blurred the lines between humans and machines. As machines learn from data and understand patterns to make predictions and enable decision-making, AI becomes ideal for a wide range of tasks, such as automating repetitive tasks and innovating new products and services. Mimicking human-like capabilities, AI is helping businesses improve their efficiency, productivity, and customer experiences. AI encompasses machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, pattern recognition, and natural language processing to revolutionize the way we live and work.
Factors driving the interest in AI
While AI has powered various applications, including the Internet of Things (IoT), automation, and security, it was primarily perceived as an embedded technology.
The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked interest in Generative AI (Gen AI). The ability of AI to generate human-like responses and be freely available opened up new avenues of opportunity. Gen AI democratized the use of AI for creating artifacts that previously demanded a process-driven and creative approach.
OpenAI's strategy of offering free access to ChatGPT made it the fastest technology to reach 100 million users in history.
A recent report has identified India, Singapore, Finland, Ireland, and Canada as leading countries in the development of AI skills. These nations are also at the forefront of adopting AI solutions across a diverse range of sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, education, construction, manufacturing, defence, environmental conservation, and social welfare.
Emerging AI Use-Cases in Select Sectors
Since the launch, Gen AI continues to unlock numerous applications across various business sectors. With ongoing enhancements to AI-specific hardware and software tailored to industry-specific needs, the momentum in AI adoption is set to continue its growth.
In India, the use of AI is steadily increasing across various sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Here are a few Artificial Intelligence Industry use cases.
Healthcare: Drug discovery, diagnosis, and personalised patient care plans are undergoing a significant transformation through the use of AI.
Agriculture: Developing new crops, improving farm yields, monitoring crops for pest infections and diseases, and optimizing irrigation and fertilizer schedules represent some of the use cases in this sector.
Manufacturing: AI solutions are being leveraged to automate tasks, optimize the production process, and improve quality control in manufacturing. AI-powered systems inspect products for defects, predict machine failures, and optimize production schedules.
Services: AI improves customer service, streamlines operations, and facilitates the development of new products and services. For instance, AI-powered chatbots provide 24/7 customer support, and AI-driven analytics offer in-depth insights into customer behaviour.
Opportunities in AI
Gen AI today has multiple use cases, including powering productivity apps, coding, creating music and audio, generating videos, developing content, and producing images.
As organisations prioritise their investments in AI to improve compliance, cybersecurity, predictive capabilities, process automation and optimization, content personalisation, sustainability initiatives, among other use cases, AI is expected to play a critical role in the enterprise digital strategy. Multiple research studies estimate that the global AI market is expected to surpass 2 trillion US dollars by 2030, primarily driven by increased AI adoption across industry use cases. Research by Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the impact of generative AI is poised to increase from less than 1% of total spending in IT hardware, software services, advertising, and gaming markets to 10% by 2032.
Benefits of AI
AI technologies can provide benefits in both business and government sectors.
Process Automation: AI driven automation of processes offers significant ROI. Automating repetitive task free up employees to focus on higher-value tasks that require higher level of skill and are more strategic in nature.
Enhancing Productivity: AI-powered robots and systems can streamline production processes, reduce errors, and improve efficiency. This results in lower operational costs and higher product output.
Pattern Identification and Interpretation: AI can automate labour-intensive data interpretation and pattern identification to help with better decision-making like improving performance in tasks such as programmatic ad buying, which requires rapid real time data analysis automated decision making.
Customer Engagement and Experience: AI can engage with customers through natural language processing chatbots, intelligent agents, and machine learning to gain insights into customer behaviour and deliver personalized experiences.
Smarter Policymaking & Reimagined Service Delivery: AI can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of policymaking by providing decision-makers with the tools to deliver more value to their constituents. Governments have been leveraging AI to deliver optimized and superior services to their citizens.
Risk Management and Innovation: AI and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are enhancing risk assessment and risk management capabilities of firms through minimising incidence of fraud and security breaches. AI is also driving innovation through fresh insights into data pattern and trends, leading to development of new product, services, and business models.
Challenges with AI
However, amidst the euphoria and surge in AI usage, it is necessary to be aware of the myriad challenges that it poses. The broader use of AI solutions exposes society to a range of risks, including security, privacy, legal, ethical, and social issues. It is paramount that responsible and ethical AI use remains a central focus to fully reap its benefits. The following factors require oversight through effective policies and regulations:
Data Privacy: AI systems rely on large amounts of data to train and operate, which raises concerns about personal data privacy and security. It is essential that data is properly encrypted to protect it from unauthorized use.
Security Risks from AI: AI systems could be used for malicious purposes, such as spreading disinformation and deepfakes. Safeguards must be developed to prevent the misuse of AI and to protect against AI-powered weapon-scale cyberattacks.
Copyright Issues: AI-generated content blurs the conventional lines of ownership, raising complex intellectual property rights questions. Ensuring proper attribution and compliance with copyright laws is essential to proactively avoid potential legal disputes. The adoption of techniques like watermarking, algorithm audit, disclosing provenance of AI-generated content can help to distinguish between authentic and synthetic information.
Unbiased & Ethical use of AI: It is imperative to address ethical and legals implication in the use of AI by ensuring that the systems are unbiased and are being used in a manner that upholds human rights and fundamental values.
Wrap up
At the cusp of this new AI-driven era, our ability to harness AI's potential while mitigating its challenges will define the growth for businesses and global economy. Though todays focus of tools AI is on productivity gains and organisation effectiveness, leaders in Government and Business must recognise that a revolution in business & organisation model innovation is coming. Much like the advent of the first web browser, ushered in the internet era and upended the way we work and live, generative AI has the potential to disrupt every aspect of our work and live-through creative destruction.
It is essential that global community put in place a robust regulatory framework to catalyse responsible and collaborative approach for AI development and use. It is imperative that we create an environment with well-crafted guard-rails to realize the ultimate potential of AI without compromising about its ethical use. By striking the right balance, we can leverage AI's transformative power to address the most pressing issues of our time and build a more equitable and sustainable world.
This article was originally published in the December 2023 IMC Journal of IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, India's leading Industry body. Download the IMC Journal below.
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