According to Genesys, 60% of company leaders in the United States expect that their companies will be using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2022 to improve budgeting, staffing, and operations.
Currently, about 46% of US companies already use AI for these functions. Given this reality, it is safe to say that we’ve reached the tipping point in AI adoption.
The rising adoption of AI at home and in the workplace makes it possible for regular people to interact with AI on a regular basis. AI is indeed taking over the world. There’s no avoiding it. Below are some of the fascinating ways that AI is increasingly getting closer to regular use.
1] ID Verification Is Now Fully Automated
Have you ever wondered how your identity gets verified so fast on internet platforms after sending copies of your government-issued picture ID? Do these internet platforms have an army of people just waiting to verify the IDs of the thousands of customers they serve every day? Well, what they have is an army of robots packed in some data center somewhere.
AI now makes it possible to fully automate end-to-end identity verification and authentication. Robots can tell if an ID is authentic or not and cross-check if the pictures or videos taken of the customer match the picture on their provided ID.
This makes it easy for online platforms to ascertain in real-time that the thousands of customers they serve every day are who they say they are.
2] Product Search Using Photos on E-Commerce Platforms
When Google launched their reverse image search feature, it was a game-changer. Now you could search the web to get more information about random images you found online. Creators also found a way to see who was stealing their photos on the web.
E-Commerce platforms are following in Google’s footsteps and are revolutionizing their customers’ shopping experience using image search.
If you are browsing the web and you stumble on a picture of a stunning product, all you now have to do is pop up the image on the search bar of a retailer’s site or app such as Amazon Part Finder and the e-commerce giant will direct you to a product page where you can purchase the item. These image search and visual recognition capabilities are made possible by AI.
3] AI Customer Assistance
As companies realize that customer satisfaction is essential for customer retention, they are investing more and more in customer support. This is a wise investment as Walker Consulting notes that customer experience is steadily growing to become the key differentiator in business.
One of the areas in customer support that has attracted a lot of investment in the past few years is AI customer support. AI has been able to streamline and improve customer support in ways previously thought impossible. Through features such as automated live chat, AI customer assistance is available 24/7 to answer routine questions customers ask.
Further, AI has reduced the time it takes for agents to research the correct answers for questions as AI can retrieve the correct answer in real-time. This has led to increased customer engagement as it alleviates the typical frustrations customers face when they have to wait for their questions to get a response.
4] Self-Driving Cars Are Here
There was a time self-driving cars were only a subject of science fiction. Not anymore. Self-driving cars are here and it is only a matter of time before they dominate the highways. The situation is even more impressive when you consider the fact that self-driving cars were not a matter of serious public consideration at the turn of the millennium.
AI has made it possible for car companies to make exponential leaps in this space. Tesla is top of mind when it comes to this area. Nonetheless, there are several players in the industry that are making a lot of strides such as Uber, Lyft, Apple, IBM, and Waymo.
5] The Smart Home
Of the things that only belonged to science fiction movies just two decades ago, the smart home is a great candidate. AI now makes it possible to give voice commands to your home to control temperature, lighting, window treatments, and security systems, among others. This was unimaginable just a few years ago.
As technology advances and economies of scale are achieved, the regular person can now afford to have smart home technologies in their home. In fact, Zion Market Research projects that the market for smart home appliances will reach close to $50 billion by 2024.
The growth of the industry will allow the regular homeowner to integrate smart home solutions into their everyday lives to solve even the most routine problems. This will make life simpler and more efficient for everyone.
Depending on how they are programmed, smart devices can solve several problems and execute a variety of functions in a typical home. Further, these devices can learn the behavior and habits of the residents in the home and anticipate their needs.
For instance, a smart home can turn on the heater and warm up to a particular temperature in anticipation of the resident arriving home from work at a particular habitual arrival time.
