Many people still think about artificial intelligence (AI) as playing a role in some vaguely science-fiction dystopian future. Much like the Luddites, who claimed a place in history by smashing up textile looms on the premise that technology would displace labor (it didn’t), we are sometimes unable to see what is already in front of us. From entertaining movies and videos recommended to us by our favorite streaming services, to facial recognition systems allowing users to unlock their smartphones with only a quick glance, AI is playing an increased part of our daily lives, and the pandemic has only accelerated that transformation.
The extraordinary circumstances brought on by the pandemic required businesses and industries to quickly pivot as we all attempted to adapt to our new conditions. The result was a digital transformation at speeds never thought possible. AI technology that would have taken years to adopt, took only months, as companies were forced to reimagine their business plans and retool everything, including implementing intelligent supply chain applications and predictive analysis that reshaped our financial systems.
This proliferation of AI is set to reach exciting new heights this year, with vast opportunities across diverse sectors of our economy and our society.
Bridging the Real and Virtual World in a Metaverse
Advances in AI are creating new opportunities in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) which is playing a relevant role in the future of the metaverse. The metaverse, a world of interconnected virtual communities, took the digital realm by storm in 2021 and served as a catalyst for social interaction, business, recreation, gaming, and education, to name just a few.
According to a new study by the National Research Group, 65% of parents considered purchasing a VR device or other metaverse related gifts such as digital assets and virtual tokens for their children this past holiday season.
This trend suggests the race to build the next version of the internet is heating up. On January 18, Microsoft announced it would purchase the videogame publisher Activision Blizzard in the largest deal of the year at $68.7 billion as the company looks to capture opportunities in the metaverse. Microsoft is taking a pragmatic approach to investing in the metaverse – the gaming industry has tremendous potential to benefit from the use of virtual reality and augmented reality. Another tech giant Meta (formally Facebook) is also betting big on the metaverse with large capital inflows. This investment is further evidence that tech companies believe the virtual world is the internet’s future.
In addition to gaming, AI will introduce VR and AR-based applications to create a more immersive experience for live events, family gatherings, and retail shopping. Consumers, for example, will be able to try on clothes virtually before they purchase the item. Other business opportunities will expand, especially in marketing and branding, to create new industries as users shift their focus from the web to the more immersive experience.
The Role of AI and the Future of Recruiting
As the demand for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is on the rise across public and private sectors, AI and machine learning-driven algorithms are starting to drive unbiased recruiting solutions. These are creating more opportunities for marginalized candidate groups and helping companies make data-driven choices. A report by Global Online Recruitment valued the online recruitment market at $26bn. Companies are beginning to train AI capabilities to detect underrepresented candidates and predict underlying skillsets. AI-enabled analytics tools can make predictions about an applicant’s future fit and performance in a company. This is a way applicants can make data-driven choices when selecting employers, which may potentially help to diversify workplaces.
With a diverse and inclusive workforce, companies will be better able to foster innovation. While technology is not always perfect, AI will help drive diversity, equity, and inclusion and assist human resource managers to understand and address inequities in the workplace.
Reimagining Healthcare
The sudden need for remote healthcare and other medical-related practices due to the pandemic has shifted the focus of delivering clinical treatment in a virtual or data-driven manner. As a result, the range of AI applications in healthcare is quickly shaping the future of how service is provided, and the capabilities and tools physicians have at their fingertips. For example, AI has become an integral part of telemedicine, responsible for proactive patient monitoring, end-to-end networking capabilities, and healthcare collaboration.
With the rise of AI, electronic health record (EHR) has long been an inefficient data warehouse. As a result, AI allows a patient’s EHR to be shared seamlessly between different EHR-based systems and software platforms. Such a system can enable an entire healthcare structure from hospitals, laboratories, and medical specialists to have real-time remote access to a patient’s medical data, personal records, and imaging files. In addition, wearables companies are utilizing AI-enabled software to provide granularly detailed data analytics and even produce predictions about health and physical performance.
The pandemic has been an important lesson for every industry sector to maintain its business continuity and to keep investing in technology. AI adoption will continue to gain momentum and will be key to empowering companies around the world to ensure long-term growth. This year promises to see breakthroughs in AI that will make for a more creative, more diverse, and a greater technological driven economy. The consumer is already experiencing how AI is streamlining tasks from shopping, personal healthcare, banking, and how we interact and communicate. With the right AI solutions, the technology has the potential to deliver significant value across business sectors in 2022 and beyond.
