{"id":140133,"date":"2020-01-08T06:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T06:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/?p=140133"},"modified":"2020-01-08T06:28:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T06:28:00","slug":"top-2020-ai-trends-why-people-actually-want-more-machines-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/2020\/01\/top-2020-ai-trends-why-people-actually-want-more-machines-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 2020 AI Trends: Why People Actually Want More Machines in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning<\/a> will soon be everywhere, and we will learn to love them for all the right reasons. That is my prediction after seeing the latest research about these fast-evolving technologies. Read on for a quick update on 2020 AI trends from leading industry analysts.<\/p>\n

Expect Booming Growth for AI and Machine Learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Begin with the big picture: Gartner<\/a> analysts said that AI<\/a> \u2014 with a particular emphasis on machine learning<\/a> \u2014 will eventually infiltrate just about every existing technology. IDC<\/a> predicted companies will invest over $265 billion worldwide in new intelligence technologies by 2023.<\/p>\n

Slightly further out, IDC<\/a> researchers predicted that AI will be inescapable by 2025. These analysts saw AI as a \u201ckey ingredient\u201d in 90 percent of business software applications. They also said that over 50 percent of user interface interactions will incorporate AI into computer vision, speech, natural language processing, and augmented and virtual reality. Forrester<\/a> analysts called automation \u201ca force-multiplier that will disrupt economic opportunity for many\u2026 a dynamic already underway that will pick up substantial speed and scope and requires attention now.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI: Fastest Route to Victory<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One pervasive theme in 2020 AI trends was speed, or as many analysts called it, \u201chyper-automation.\u201d Gartner<\/a> analysts predicted that hyper-automation will spread big-time, notably into more traditional knowledge worker tasks. By 2024, IDC said AI-fueled enterprises with \u201cproactive, hyper-speed operational changes and market reactions, will respond to customers, competitors, regulators, and partners 50 percent faster than their peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding customer experience (CX), Forrester<\/a> researchers saw near-real-time experiences becoming table stakes for most industries as companies were pressured to build matching real-time customer experience signals. Forrester researchers predicted that CX leaders will manage a \u201cportfolio of automation experiences, from the building and testing of data to the delivery and perceived value (or lack of value) of those experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humans Plus Machines: The New Norm<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here is the kicker, and it\u2019s heartening to us humans: Gartner<\/a> researchers said that AI and machine learning will not completely replace people because \u201cAI-driven autonomous capabilities\u2026 cannot match the human brain\u2019s breadth of intelligence and dynamic general-purpose learning. Instead, they focus on well-scoped purposes, particularly for automating routine human activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester<\/a> analysts picked up the human-machine thread, predicting that work will depend on \u201ca symbiotic relationship between [hu]man and machine. This is not a [hu]man-led, machine-do structure; instead it will match leadership, decisioning, and executive tasks across robots and machines that best deliver the desired outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, about those 90 percent of enterprise applications that IDC predicted will be chock-full of AI, the same researchers said most will \u201cdeliver incremental improvements to automate processes and replace heuristic or rule-based techniques to make applications smarter and more dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Machine Learning Benefits Daily Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are many places in the business where a strategic dose of AI and machine learning will quietly, yet dramatically change how people work and companies operate. These include order to cash, design to operate, customer experience, and procurement.<\/p>\n

In this video<\/a> demonstration at the 51风流TechEd<\/a> event, I saw how image-based recognition helped automate the procurement experience. It showed how a buyer ordering everyday equipment \u2013 such as a laptop, keyboard, or mobile device \u2013 would not need to type in product names or model numbers. The buyer could simply take a picture of the product on their mobile device and the algorithm would quickly find the exact product or suggested comparable items from the supplier catalog.<\/p>\n