Sasi Nair
Mumbai, Feb 13,
Last year’s coronavirus outbreak significantly altered global economy landscape besides forcing changes in everyday activities of mankind, both personal as well as in the office space. The corona pandemic fast-forwarded digitalization bringing a turnaround in confidence for using artificial intelligence (AI). As they say – “necessity is the mother of all inventions”, the apprehensions that people had in artificial intelligence for business purposes evaporated.
AI based technologies have risen in popularity over the last 10 months, especially for repetitive jobs on factory shop-floors when humans were advised to stay home to break the chain of the virus. In the process technologies such as Chat Bots, Voice Bots and OCR have become popular for efficient and effective customer service. Everyone wants to stay connected, relook and rework strategies and importantly ensure incessant flow of money which has been enabled through digitalization and consequently the demand for AI based solutions have increased rapidly.
Everything which was done face-to-face upto the beginning of 2020 began to be explored through interface-to-interface, whether it is official meetings, training sessions, doctor consultations, court proceedings, corporate events and exhibitions and many more activities. With travel restrictions in place businesses are using digital platforms – Zoom calls, Microsoft Teams and numerous AI powered applications for their day-to-day activities. It is a new norm that will continue beyond the pandemic and businesses having realized this are coming to terms with it.
Today data is the new oil in digital economy and is the key for smooth functioning of government, private companies, etc. and without data progress will grind to a halt. Businesses are ramping up the use of artificial intelligence for collecting, analyzing and reporting data to monitor progress. Industry insiders point out that in the current changing business landscape, there is a growing need for accurate data, faster data and more refined data products. Use of AI powered applications will enhance the quality, credibility and timeliness of data. Covid-19 has reinforced the need for modernization as the pandemic and associated lockdowns almost finished the traditional ways of data collection.
Man for long has feared the rise of machine – he was afraid of his own creation outsmarting him and eventually gaining control over him. One primary thought process has been that artificial intelligence will kill jobs but that is perhaps only one side of the story. Although it is true that millions of jobs may disappear but those will be the ones which are repetitive in nature, new roles will be created and AI will perhaps give opportunities for workers to focus on what is satisfying for them. Importantly, AI powered tools are bridging social and cultural divides in everyday lives. Digital translations may not be perfect but they offer some understanding which cannot be overlooked.
Moreover, there will be less paperwork, quicker responses and an efficient work system, some things such as healthcare can become more accessible and affordable. One can get safe, accurate and convenient answers in seconds on their fingertips. With work from home and social distancing norms in force, AI is here to stay and it is the new sheriff in town.
