AI and automation are science fiction stories fully realised. They are entering commercial environments to the point where some technologies are an expectation instead of a nicety. Organisations need AI and automation to maintain industry relevance and meet customer demands.
The way every sector is adapting is unique. For those curious about specific ways these nebulous technologies are helping companies make money, these are some of the most impactful AI and automation tools businesses believe in for the future.
AI – Threat Detection in the Cybersecurity Sector
The more companies rely on tech, the greater chance that tech is subject to the whims of hackers. It’s an unfortunate reality. Luckily, the way threat actors use AI and automation for malicious intent can get flipped on its head by cybersecurity analysts and defenders. AI algorithms and neural networks can analyse big data to learn about hacking trends based on everything from press releases to internal attack attempts.
IT and cybersecurity professionals are stretched to their limits right now. Labour shortages abound, and alert fatigue runs them ragged, increasing the chance of unintentional negligence and human error. Employing AI to help identify server requests and isolate potential authentication threats is an indescribable help to such a critical industry.
AI can perpetually analyse hacking trends, allowing analysts to stay ahead of the game regarding risk prevention and remediation strategies.
Automation – Employee Onboarding in the HR Sector
Onboarding is one of a company’s most repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming tasks. If turnover is high, specific industries spend more hours on hiring and onboarding than on business-critical tasks. It’s also frustrating for new hires to manually fill out stacks of paperwork they don’t understand for HR departments to lose in a sea of filing cabinets.
Case studies show how it can reduce employee ID creation time by 93% and reduce the time to fill out an employee starter form to five minutes.
HR departments have countless opportunities for human error to arise, and automating everything from sending forms to having new employees sign electronically to then immediately cataloguing them in a centralised database creates a hands-off, accurate and speedy experience for everyone involved.
It also automates employee access to essential job forms like benefits information and welcome packets. With increased visibility and transparency with these kinds of documents, all created because of automation, it opens workers’ hours to more valuable tasks. Plus, it improves worker quality of life when they don’t have to jump through countless hoops before their first day.
AI – Voice Assistants in the Consumer Goods Sector
Everyone knows Siri, Cortana and Alexa. They are the friendly neighbourhood voice assistants that use AI to perform search engine searches, tell tech users a funny joke and navigate lost drivers to their parked cars. Voice assistants like IoT devices shine with how much they can integrate. Tech-savvy homeowners can tell an AI voice assistant to automate turning on their smart lights when the smart lock on their front door unlatches.
It feels like science fiction when people in households can tell their house to perform a task for them, and it responds in kind. It’s the most accessible form of AI – and automation – on the market. It shapes any industry, from household goods to tech, because they want it to have functionality with AI voice assistants. If companies can merge these ideas, then their products become instantly more valuable and competitive.
Automation – Curbside Pickup in the Food Sector
An unexpected boon from social distancing was curbside pickup. Though this is quite a manual service because customers have to drive to pick up food, how does it exemplify long-lasting automation technologies the food industry can leverage?
In science fiction media, there are depictions of robots carrying out food platters to patrons from phone-ordered meals. Curbside pickup utilises technology to send orders to relevant staff automatically, and they know precisely when to bring it out to the car because GPS signals notify restaurants when customers arrive.
It has saved companies money from staffing amidst labour shortages and increased sales through enhancing convenience for the consumer.
Looking at the big picture, businesses thrive off curbside pickup because the ads for curbside pickup can be automated, too. The automation of curbside tech can combine with AI – generative AI creates social media content promoting curbside pickup and, therefore, drives sales by targeting at algorithm-determined times for their audience.
AI – Sample and Drug Analysis in the Medical Sector
The medical industry is innovating countless ways to use machine learning algorithms that work seamlessly with AI. As if from a film, computerised intelligence is sitting alongside doctors and on lab desks to revolutionise pharmacies and hospitals. All of the data adds up to inspire determinations in an AI humans never would have conceived.
Startups use AI to analyse drugs and ingredients to help chemists expedite testing. With inputs, the AI could devise medicine suggestions for ailments humans currently don’t have a cure for, such as the common cold or Ebola. Even if the recommendations aren’t flawless, it kickstarts chemical ideation.
Algorithms can also parse tissue samples. Doctors can send samples to an AI for assessment to speed up diagnostics administration. Because it’s working from such a large medical data set, AI can provide reasonably accurate answers based on tissue composition. Past diagnostics, it could still take blood or hair samples to perform drug testing or assess someone’s ability to participate in medical trials.
AI and Automation Is Movie Magic in Real Life
These advanced concepts aren’t exclusive to sci-fi media anymore – they are fully incorporated into society. AI and automation can expedite services, exceed customer expectations and increase bottom lines for tech-forward companies.
The technologies are not even close to their final form. There may be no such thing, and they will continue to reshape every industry for the rest of time. All humans and businesses can do is remain excited at the possibilities.
Eleanor Hecks is the managing editor at Designerly. She’s also a mobile app designer with a focus on UI. Connect with her about digital marketing, UX and/or tea on LinkedIn.
