Top Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Trends in 2019

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been the most discussed amongst other emerging technologies of 2018, adding the extra zing to the coffee breaks of technocrats. With global leaders like Amazon, Google and Microsoft ramping up resources for research in these fields, the trend is definitely not going to dip down anytime soon. In fact, Google is offering free online training to enhance knowledge and build capabilities.

Analysts believe, 2019 is going to be the year for business enterprises who have been waiting to finally get on board to witness a plethora of advancements for their industry. What are the technology disruptions we expect next year? New and innovative uses for machine learning across industries? Impact of artificial intelligence in education? Human and machine interaction evolving further? The rise of AI-powered assistants? This is just the starting of the digital revolution, so let's educate ourselves on what the mavens of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are predicting for the months ahead.

New and Innovative Uses for Machine Learning Across Industries

Speaking of a technology as advanced as machine learning, seldom would you be able to trace out an industry that would not benefit from it. I mean, is it even possible for a business to not take advantage of a technology that would make it more profitable or successful? The next year is expected to witness multiple new ways of machine learning implementation, few of which are already undergoing a trial run across industries.

The Food and Beverages industry is experimenting with machine learning by using the technology to predict which items will run out of stock within a specified timeframe. This timely prediction has huge cost benefit, which helps to keep a balance between the high demand for commodities like milk, mineral water, salt and supply of the same.

The US Army is currently using machine learning to predict when fighter vehicles need maintenance or repair. A serious thought on this will make you realize that there are millions of pieces of equipment that the Army uses on regular basis. So in order to keep track of the data involved, the Army is taking help of an AI assistant. For the first cut deployment, a few scores of armored infantry vehicles will receive sensors inside of their engines. These sensors will record temperature and RPM (revolutions-per-minute), then transmit it to the software. Machine learning capabilities will look for patterns in the data that match engine failures in similar vehicles.

Now just imagine if your car could do this. AAA benefits might become obsolete if your car could tell you that the transmission is about to crap out on you. If the army is benefitting from the technology, I'm sure the day is not far till we experience it in the civilian world. Self-driving autonomous cars are live examples of smart usage of artificial intelligence.

Life Sciences and Healthcare industry is also unraveling potential new uses for this technology. Recently Google did a pilot project on artificial intelligence, and they have begun to predict the chances of a patient’s death using machine learning with a staggering 95% accuracy. AI created by the company looks at the variables of a patient’s health records, takes into account demographics, health history, and other factors. It then predicts the probability of the patient’s death within the stipulated hours of hospitalization. That sounds a bit despondent when you first hear about it but think of the impact it could have on the healthcare industry. The timely predictions can enable medical practitioners to take appropriate action. Machine learning could help save millions of lives, isn’t that amazing? And the days are numbered by when we will start reaping the actual benefits.

Recently a research group has used machine learning to predict stock market performance based on publicly available income documents. These documents were combined with stock price data before and after market announcements. The model’s objective was to find a relationship between the language content and the impact on the stock price. After the completion of testing, the most successful result was a 62% chance of predicting a bearish performing stock. That's not the highest percentage, but when you're investing in something as speculative as the stock market, most of the investors will take chances with 62% accuracy.

As you can see, artificial intelligence and machine learning are empowering us to predict the future by using the data from the past. As far as, AI and ML predictions are concerned, we will be finding out more about enterprises that have discovered how to use these exponential technologies to read and interpret data.

Human and Machine Interaction on the Rise

The growth of artificial intelligence has transformed common human perception that the technology is nothing more than a robot programmed to do routine tasks, that’s no longer true. In fact, enterprises are beginning to see AI as an integral extension of their core business, contributing to its success. More organizations are working to enhance the relationship between the human and the machine. AI is being designed and improvised as we speak to catapult this into groundbreaking reality.

Research organizations that are developing AI are putting efforts to get it to comprehend the subtleties of human interactions. We express more than we realize when we speak. Could you imagine a chatbot being able to recognize more than what you are implying with your words? That would be so amazing for enhancing customer service beyond excellence.

Analysts predict that AI will continue to evolve throughout this year and whole of 2019. Having said that, we will also begin to understand the limitations of AI very soon and realize where human intervention is necessary. It will be interesting to notice where we strike the balance and find success.

The Evolution of AI Assistants

How often do you reach out to your favorite AI assistant for help? I use Google Assistant to help me book flights and Amazon’s Alexa to switch off lights. And these mundane tasks are only just the beginning. We will soon begin using these assistants for daily operational tasks such as searching the internet, reading emails, responding to communication and even paying bills, booking cabs and ordering products.

2019 will be a year of development for the AI assistant, showing us just how powerful and useful these tools are. It will be in more places than your home and your office too. Companies such as Mercedes and BMW are launching AI assistants in their vehicles starting this year or next. As days go by, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon will continue to make advancements to their AI assistants making our lives even easier and more convenient. Technology experts believe that the year 2019 will see emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning penetrating several new areas, impacting jobs like talent acquisition, banking, finance, accounting and even intellectual jobs like teaching.