Big Data & AI – 5 Industry Stories

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Over the last decade, big data analytics has become synonymous with business intelligence. The essence behind big data analytics is to try understanding enormous amount of structured and non-structured data and create patterns out of it. Big data artificial intelligence is catching on primarily because it is well understood that machine learning can wade through mountains of data and create insights from it.

The idea of big data could be applied to nearly all possible fields of work. For example, big data keeps the world safe through predictive analysis of when and where a potential terror attack might happen. Big data analytics could be applied to water levels in dams and reservoirs across a watershed. Which can, in turn, predict droughts or crop yield in the region.

Enterprises have realized the importance of big data artificial intelligence. Thus they are looking to gather actionable insights from their existing data resources. Automation of big data analytics through machine language gives the necessary leverage needed for the company to stay ahead of its competition.

Big data artificial intelligence changing perceptions

It is no surprise that everyone who logs onto the internet leaves a trail of identity footprint throughout the place. Starting from the IP address of the computer through which a person logs in, different unique traits are being impressed on the web. The different websites a person views, the videos he likes, the articles he reads are being documented through cookies. This, in turn, gives rise to an enormous stockpile of information. Big data artificial intelligence feeds on this information. Over time, they can predict the exact type of information that can arouse a said feeling inside the target person.

Though the idea sounds far fetched, it scarily is quite a reality. Big data AI systems have had a hand in subtly altering the tone of major referendums and election results.

Psychologist Michal Kosinski from ETH Zurich developed a method to analyze people((The Data That Turned the World Upside Down)). It involved data that was based on the Facebook activity of the target audience. Kosinski with his program could accurately determine the characteristics of the people. The system could perceive the person, his orientation, race and political views through the posts he likes. With enough Facebook activity data, even the mental state and economic status of the person could be determined by the system.

Strategic Communication Laboratories or SCL, an election management agency used techniques specific to what Kosinski developed. SCL created a big data artificial intelligence system to understand the psychology of voters. They used the model to analyze the social media activity of people to accurately determine the mood of the elections. SCL is regarded to be one of the forces responsible for engineering Brexit. They also claim to have worked on the US elections in the Republican Camp of Donald Trump.

Environmental impact of big data artificial intelligence

It can be seen that the prospects of a system having the power to influence the masses are quite unsettling. But all is not dark in the big data artificial intelligence front. One of the biggest assignments undertaken by AI is analyzing the effects of various degrees of environmental impact man and nature has over the earth.

Satellites revolving around the earth have been sending back detailed visual imagery, which is used as fodder for AI. Using visual big data, the AI system can analyze pollution levels, crop yields, floods and droughts over a region. Descartes Labs, a visual learning startup from Los Alamos, New Mexico an example. The startup uses high-resolution satellite imaging data and feeds it to its machine learning algorithm. Through this, they are capable of predicting corn yields in the US much more accurately than the United States Department of Agriculture.

Computers can inherently see things, but can't understand what they are seeing. Machine learning Orbital Insight, a startup from California works around with satellite data in a different way. They use geospatial big data to count and measure different entities on ground - like roads, rooftops, vehicles stuck in traffic, etc.

Cyber security of big data analytics

Researchers at the Northwestern University have devised an AI system that can score better at vision testing than humans. Cyber security visual computing goes deep beneath the structural constructs of a society. It is a silent soldier that looks for anti-social elements within the foundation.

An Israeli startup named Faception has been working with a major homeland security agency. It developed a system that helps in identifying criminals by their face. Faception's AI system works on big data from visual images to create patterns in them. It uses this to predict the characteristics and personality traits of the people under the scanner. The software was extensively used during the 2015 Paris terror attacks. The system could correctly identify 9 out of the 11 terrorists involved. This is crucial because only 3 out of the 11 had verified criminal records before the night of the attack.

Darktrace, a UK startup works on machine learning for cyber defense. The startup has been inspired by the self-learning intelligence inside the human immune system. It uses a similar technique to develop its AI algorithm which can revolutionize defense mechanisms. Darktrace learns about the unique patterns created out of a user's internet activity. It then uses these insights to detect abnormal threat activity that can arise at any given point of time.

AI pulling off customer service

One of the toughest problems of human-machine interaction is the relevant translation of thoughts between the two entities. For instance, a human might understand what another human wants to convey, even if the sentence has grammatical and structural errors. But the same can not be said about a computer. Artificial intelligence is looking to bridge this gap, by developing a natural language of its own. This helps it in understanding what the person actually intends to convey. And not just the words used in the sentence.

The AI system, IBM Watson, is using large swathes of data to give intelligent assistance to businesses. Watson is intelligent enough to understand different dialects and accents. It has the power to learn incrementally with more available data. Unlike conventional systems, this enables it to reply as a service assistant without redundancy. Researchers believe that this gives the system a more inclusive and human-like feel. Intelligent assistance is now being increasingly adopted over different business verticals.

1-800-Flowers.com is working along with IBM Watson to create Gwyn. Gwyn, abbreviated as Gift When You Need, is a concierge service targeted towards customers looking to buy flowers on the site. The system can converse with potential customers, and suggest products to them based on their needs. 1-800-Flowers. com saw a growth in cross-product sales after Gwyn was initiated into mainstream customer service. People found the system to be sweet and considerate and felt that it had a very positive effect on them.

Big data artificial intelligence in the automobile industry

Tesla had hogged the limelight when they introduced their self-driving car technology((How Tesla is ushering in the age of the learning car)). It is imperative to mention that this was possible only through big data artificial intelligence. Tesla collected data points over millions of kilometers of its customers on the road. The AI system studied the maneuvers of the drivers and learned how obstacles look and how they need to be avoided.

AI does not just keep you safe on the road, but also cozy on the transit. Jaguar Land Rover's Smart Assistant syncs with your calendar and with real-time traffic status can plan the quickest route to your destination. While on the road, it can help with finding nearby gas stations and can even pre-order food at an approaching restaurant.

On the business side, competition is being ramped up in the car-hailing startup segment, with Uber trying out its new driverless cars. The transportation network giant believes that such cars are the future. Driverless cars work on artificial intelligence and 360-degree camera technology through which the visual input is taken in.

Impact of big data artificial intelligence in the future

The growth of artificial intelligence over the last decade has been exponential. The world we live in is constantly emitting data in different forms. The data if used properly, can provide solutions to a lot of existential problems. Clean energy is a global concern now, and artificial intelligence can prove to be very handy in the fight to a better environment. Resource management can be more efficiently done with big data analytics. For example, AI has the ability to change the face of construction in the future. Historically, structural engineering has depended on conventional structural members. They could be remodeled through machine language to reduce resource wastage. We as a society should move towards a zero-waste economy and AI could be the trump card for that.

Original article: Big Data & AI – 5 Industry Stories at Artificial Intelligence in Companies / Machian Future