Why The Post-Pandemic Age Will Be One Of AI

Did you know that 75% of films watched by subscribers on Netflix are recommended to
them by the company’s intelligent AI algorithms? This is just a sign of the extent to which
AI has become a part and parcel of our daily lives.
From grocery shopping to automotive factories, artificial intelligence and machine learning
have been deployed across a broad array of digital applications. AI is helping consumers
make more informed buying decisions and empowering enterprises with the insights
needed to meet or even exceed consumer expectations on time.
The COVID 19 pandemic was a catalyst in accelerating digital transformation in almost
every business domain. As more businesses got onto the digital bandwagon, they became
more conscious about the data that surrounds them in their newly digitized environment.
This data is the necessary fuel for AI to work its magic and help businesses achieve
business effectiveness and deliver awesome customer experiences. Even as we hope for the
end of the pandemic conditions, the digital traits acquired by consumers and businesses
during the pandemic are likely to remain. This suggests that the post-pandemic era will be
AI’s to conquer.

Here are 5 key reasons why we believe so:

Faster Information Access –

In the digital age, speed will become a decisive competitive advantage. For digital
applications to deliver services faster, they need to process large volumes of data at
lightning-fast speeds. Traditional big data processing systems and methodologies have
limitations in uncovering hidden signals beneath vast tracts of data. This is where AI can be
the game-changer. Over the years, AI systems will autonomously infer conclusions from
data sets by observing patterns, signals, and behavioral traits in customer data. For
example, AI will help doctors conduct diagnosis faster. Very recently, Ezra a New York-
based AI startup has received FDA clearance for their system that can help radiologists
detect signals of prostate cancer by running AI scans on MRI reports. Similarly, AI will help
drive applications like autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and cybersecurity that need
speed to be effective.

Better Marketing Personalization –

Studies show that 61% of marketers globally opine that AI will be a crucial element in their
data strategy. From assigning a more accurate lead score for better sales conversion to
picking the right ads for better click-through rates, AI engines can help advertisers bring
more valuable returns from their marketing budgets of enterprises irrespective of their
size. By surfing through customer data stored away in CRM’s, and other enterprise systems,
AI algorithms can predict demand from consumers according to seasons or market trends
and this insight can help brands prepare better and more creative ads to win their hearts.
Insights into demand can also drive better supply chain decisions and procurement
strategies to ensure optimal stocking outcomes.

Rise of Smart Assistants

Nearly 27% of internet users have used voice search on their mobile phones. This is an
indication of the rising prominence of smart assistants that are doing more intelligent tasks
for people than ever before. Today, we have smart speakers, smart appliances, smart
security devices, smart wearables, and a host of devices that can be controlled and
operated with popular smart assistants on smartphones like Siri, Google Now, Alexa, etc.
With more people investing in smarter devices, such smart assistants will learn more
“skills” and gain more adoption. The foundation of all smart assistants is AI and they
leverage machine learning to study behavioral traits of consumers and respond to natural
language commands. As the pandemic forced more people to order essentials online and
perform most of their work from the comfort of their homes, smart assistants get more
data to learn and respond to even more requests from consumers. This trend is only likely
to accelerate in the post-COVID world.

Optimization of Infrastructure

From manufacturing plants to data centers, AI is helping businesses plan their
infrastructure more sustainably. By analyzing usage patterns, environmental parameters,
and other elements through embedded sensors and smart IoT powered devices, AI systems
can predict wear and tear and also build maintenance cycles to keep machinery at its most
optimal condition. Additionally, AI systems can predict the requirements of power,
computing capacity, and environmental conditions such as temperature based on historic
data to optimize operational costs. As smarter production facilities and data centers are
needed for the continued push to a digital future, the role of AI will only increase with more
such use cases emerging in the future in this sector.

Forecasting Demand

For businesses, the pandemic brought home the realization that massive disruptions can
happen to their normal routine in a matter of days. While preventing disruption due to
such pandemics or natural calamities is not under anyone’s control, it is a sign to plan to
remain prepared to face the worst. The sudden shortage of toilet paper, sanitizers, and
other hygiene products at the start of the pandemic was a sign of not being prepared for
such emergencies. In the future, AI Systems will analyze historic data on demand from
consumers and provide enterprises with insights on what will sell better at such times and
how to optimize inventory to ensure that all customers are satisfied and there is no
wastage due to overstocking.
The future looks bright for AI as businesses across the world are slowly limping back to
normalcy. By 2024, it is estimated that the global market for machine learning alone will be
worth USD 30 Billion. Businesses that hop onto the AI bandwagon are more likely to
remain competitive in the post-pandemic world where digital will be the way to be.