It’s all about shifting gears from the eons-old manual business activities to going full-fledged digital. The struggle to keep up with the increasing consumer expectations is real. Whether it’s round-the-clock customer support, face-to-face in-store transactions, or workforce productivity, businesses of today need AI to the rescue.

At present, the digital AI life has augmented human capacities and code-driven systems have taken over more than half of the world’s population into a state of ambient information and connectivity. The way AI has garnered the focus of tech companies worldwide and has been considered the next significant technology shift post the evolution of mobile and cloud platforms is mind-boggling. Some industry experts foresaw it as the fourth industrial revolution.

Even Forbes predicted that by 2020, businesses that use AI and related technologies such as machine learning and deep learning will uncover new business insights and take $1.2 trillion each year from the contemporaries that don’t deploy the same futuristic technologies. In 2021, this prediction came true and there’s an AI surge all over the world. So let’s have a clear picture of how AI is reshaping the present, the near future, and the future.

What are the applications of AI at present?

Cybersecurity
Cybercrimes are on the rise ever since businesses started going remote. The vulnerable nature of data has increased these risks. Enhancing the cybersecurity network is the only way for companies to stay alert and protected. With AI in the picture, curating threat intelligence, providing insights for businesses to fight cyberattacks, and reducing response times drastically is easy.

AI-infused microprocessors
AI has ushered in a new era of semiconductor innovation. Entrepreneurs globally have acknowledged the limitless potential and unique demands of machine learning. They have joined in the race to create chips which are purpose-built for AI to power the next-generation of computing.

Speech recognition
Technology companies considered a keen interest in speech recognition and are working towards making voice recognition a standard for most products. These companies intend to make voice assistants speak and reply clearly with greater accuracy around context and content. Ground-breaking developments keep happening in natural language processing and neural network technology (all subsets of AI) to improve speech and voice recognition.

What’s in store for AI in the near future?

Android Beings/Humanoids
Sounds straight out of a sci-fi movie but this is a huge possibility in future. With the advancements of robotics, humanoids will be the next technological advancement for generations to come. In industries such as space exploration, personal assistance and caregiving, education and entertainment, search and rescue, and healthcare, humanoids will come extremely handy. AI-powered humanoids will work closely with the humans in various ways across these verticals. There will come a time when it will be difficult to identify whether we are interacting with a human or a humanoid.

Driverless taxis

Autonomous vehicles without a human driver behind the steering wheel has been an ambitious project for many automobile companies. Self-driving car trials have happened in many cities of the world so far without any concrete results. However, with the advent of explainable AI aka XAI there’s hope. The passengers sitting in these autonomous vehicles will be provided with reasons why the vehicle is taking a different route which wasn’t possible before with normal AI algorithms. Simply put, XAI will put a thinking-cap to these self-driving vehicles thereby adding additional nuances or facets.

Quantum computing

An upgrade to traditional computer systems will soon be on the horizon. The old-school way of computing with binary states – 0 and 1 will be taken to a whole new level that will be at par with quantum mechanics. Quantum systems work with qubits instead of bits and it opens the door to new possibilities and faster computation for certain tasks such as neural network optimizations and digital approximations.

What’s in store for AI in the future?

AI-based video games

Every gaming enthusiast should look forward to AI-powered adaptive and responsive video gaming experiences in future. These experiences will be generated through non-player characters aka NPCs who act intelligently and creatively as if they are controlled by a human gamer. The entire process of gaming will no longer be reliant on a console or a desktop computer. It will evolve to bring video games to life, study their own patterns, and advance their own processes.

Bionic Organs
A prosthetic organ with the sensory capabilities of a human organ sounds bizarre, doesn’t it? Hollywood movies have popularized this idea for a while now, however, human engineering wasn’t able to deliver smarter prosthetics just yet. It’s a work in progress with bioengineers looking to create human-machine interfaces embodied by a bionic organ that will really feel as if it’s a human body extension.

Ever-changing and emerging algorithm-powered Artificial Intelligence is now a crucial part of day-to-day living. Long story short, AI has become our present and is leading the way to a beautiful future. Today’s technological implementation appears avant-garde, but the entire business framework has become easier than before. AI has already built a strong business foundation and allows every industry to innovate.