I’ve been reading Ray Dalio’s brilliant new book Principles. What a genius that man is. Not only smart and an absolute original but also quite an eccentric. His company, Bridgewater Associates, the most successful hedge fund in the world, has been an innovator in algorithmic decision-making since its inception. Data, AI and algorithms provide the company with the tools to make decisions unencumbered by emotion or swayed by internal politics (this is a huge deal for Ray Dalio, he talks about it frequently in the book).

But now, finally, AI is being touted as the technology of our age. As big a deal as electricity was 100 years ago.

•  AI is a huge market. The global artificial intelligence market had an overall valuation of US$126 billion in 2015. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 36.1% through 2024 when it is expected to reach an overall valuation of US$3,061 billion.
• Fingers crossed, we’ll see AI replacing much of the government. Can you imagine how much more streamlined and efficient governing would be? No more gridlock, brinkmanship and general craziness when it comes to things that matter to all Americans: infrastructure, education, health care.

Read on below for more examples of how companies and industries are using AI for greater efficiency and competitive advantage. It’s a MUST READ.

AI is the new electricity (Source: Computerworld)

• A.I. is the technology of our age. It is to our lives what electricity was to people who lived 100 years ago.
• A.I. will revolutionize medicine, manufacturing, transportation, education and all other aspects of life. What’s truly new is the placement of A.I. into everything.
• Amazon is investing $228 million in new AI positions, followed by Google ($130 million) and Microsoft ($75 million).
• The new iPhones are powered by Apple’s A11 bionic processor, which is a six-core SoC optimized for A.I.
• Of course, I don’t really know what any of that means but I know enough to be impressed that Apple’s “Neural Engine” can perform up to 600 billion A.I.-specific operations per second.
• Social networks use AI heavily. Facebook’s algorithms and face-recognition features use it. The company’s DeepText technology aims to understand the intent of various posts on the network and also Messenger.
• Google Maps, as well as Lyft and Uber, use A.I. to estimate how long it takes a car to move through traffic.
• Airplanes are piloted by A.I. Boeing 777 pilots manually pilot their airplanes for an average of seven minutes per flight. The rest is controlled using A.I. autopilot.
• Google’s Smart Reply feature uses it. So do banks, which use A.I. for fraud detection, mobile deposits, credit checking and other tasks.

AI is Transforming Retail and Customer Service (Source: Martech Advisor)

Worth a read for my retail friends – link above – excellent and very informative.

•  By 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be carried out without humans. (Source: Gartner)
• Netflix uses AI algorithms to make personalized recommendations. Interestingly, so as not creep out users, Netflix avoids over-personalization by occasionally recommending off-target shows to the same user.
• USAA’s combination of 7000 behavioral factors is 88% accurate in identifying how a customer is most likely to contact them (email, web, phone) and the products they are looking for. Before AI, the system accuracy of USAA was only 50%.
• There are two aspects to AI-powered ecommerce. The backend – where predictive analytics is leveraged; and the front-end where relationships are established using an AI identity like a chatbot. (Note: I believe we will soon prefer to deal with chatbots vs. real people much in the same way that we’d rather use an ATM than wait in line and deal with a bank teller.)

Restaurants are utilizing data in detailed ways (Source: Eater)

•  Danny Meyer-backed salad chain Tender Greens along with many other restaurants, big and small, use data to streamline operations by tracking sales, inventory, reviews, service pitfalls, customer preferences, and more all in one place.
• Salido is a popular Manhattan-based restaurant data operating system. It’s backed by chef Tom Colicchio. He’s using the service to “revamp and expand” his sandwich chain ‘Wichcraft.  Salido is also being used by Daniel Humm’s Made Nice and Jean-Georges Vongerichten‘s ABC Kitchen.