AI- Numbers don’t lie

Artificial intelligence is the buzz word nowadays and all big companies are exploring the power of data. In this article, we will talk about some of the stats about AI, and its impact in the Indian and world economy. AI is not a new term coined in the 21st century, the maths and stats behind AI have footprint from the 1960s. Then why the world is talking about AI now? AI is not a magical system, it uses advance maths on large data to identify patterns and to process large amounts of data we need a lot of storage and computational power which was not possible in the 1960s. After the penetration of the internet and rampant use of mobiles, we are generating huge amounts of data every day and thanks to Google and cloud services like AWS, we can store massive data at a very low cost. We have also companies like NVidia, which are creating high power GPUs for big data processing. So in a nutshell, we have inexpensive cloud storage, high processing powers and active millennial who are generating huge data every day. These basic ingredients have transformed AI from a hypothetical research concept to disruptive business tech. The world GDP is growing at a speed of 3.2%, whereas the insight-driven businesses will grow at a speed of 27%, and will generate $1.8 trillion USD by 2021!

How AI is going to add more revenue to the business? It has three parts. First by adding better customer experience. Amazon’s recommendation system (that uses AI) adds nearly $ 3 – 5 billion USD per quarter, which is almost 30% of the total revenue of Amazon! Second by adding new revenue. Data is the new oil. Companies are using data to monetize uncharted business territories and even selling their meaningful insights and data to other companies. The third is by reducing costs. This is the direct impact of AI on humanity, we are using machines to replace mundane (physical and mechanical) jobs and it will add more revenue to businesses as machines are more efficient and can work for a longer period of time. Gartner says, AI will eliminate almost 1.8 million jobs by the end of 2020 but will create 2.3 million related jobs. So, it’s not true that AI is a job-killing monster but it is definitely impactful. So, how AI is going to change in the future and what we can expect?

AI has three growth stages –

1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) – The AI that we are facing now. It is good at a given task but it doesn’t have the dimensionality to it. For example, consider the self-driving cars. Are they good? Yes, they are better drivers than humans (not in India of course), but they can’t do more than just driving, compared to a human, who can share emotions and help you suggest some good places to try the food.
2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – The prediction of AGI is 2030. It is called strong AI. It is not only good at its work but also has the dimensionality. It is the best doctor, best lawyer, best developer sitting in your system and can help you with anything at any time.
3. Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) – The prediction of ASI is 2070. How it is going to be? No one knows! It can do things that humans can’t think of and it will probably help us explore more about our existence and universe. It is the era when singularity will be achieved. Singularity is the position in time when a technological impact can’t be reversed.

So, should we really believe in these things? Are there any pre hints that AGI is coming? Well, there is. Look at the Gartner’s hype cycle 2019. 95% of the upcoming techs in the next 10 years are AI including artificial tissues for humanoids. Scary hun?

All the major industries, countries and tech companies are doing intense research in AI and trying to capture their own market share, as they know, whoever controls AI, will control the world. Let’s take the example of Google. It has acquisitions and portfolio investments across domains.

There is a fierce competition among tech giants to acquire AI start-ups. Here is some top acquisitions in AI.

All major industries are trying to use AI to increase profit, but finance and telecom seem to lead the game as data is more structured and stored in digital format. The below image shows the leading industries that are using AI in India.

The Indian economy will add 1 trillion dollars in revenue by 2035 through the adoption of AI. The projections are good but numbers today are not that favorable. We are currently in the 5th position in terms of theoretical research papers, but if we will look at the H-index (a metric that quantifies the country’s scientific productivity and scientific impact) we are at 19th position, worse than Taiwan. Only 22% of Indian companies are data-driven or aware of AI. While this is a bad number, that also creates an opportunity for us. AI start-ups in India are growing but still lacking innovation and funds. In 2017, China has raised 28 billion USD for AI as compared to only 87 million by Indian start-ups. It shows, how far we are from becoming the global leader in AI.

We have talent and scope, but most companies are negligent and not accepting the inevitable impact, AI is going to bring. The best way to deal with any technology is to understand its core concepts and apply them in the real world. So, learning AI will not only save your business, but it will also help us grow as an economy. Start learning today!