Adopting Artificial Intelligence amidst COVID-19

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AI and ML are not only the substratum for the transformation in the way of business, but also is an underpin to gain a competitive advantage.

COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of automation technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) across organizations worldwide. But many organizations face foundational barriers like lack of budget and lack of skill & expertise on these emerging technologies.

To benefit more and to create more value from AI in business, companies need to have clear strategies for sourcing data that AI requires and need to digitalize the core parts of the business. A survey by McKinsey, reports that digitized firms that have invested more on AI, benefit immensely, and have gained overall value by implementing AI in most of its business functions. The report further states that 17% of the respondent companies have already embraced AI in their organization, where only 18% have a clear strategy enforced.

Data Literacy

According to a survey conducted at the EmTech Digital conference, 42% of the respondents cite a lack of quality data and unbiased data is the greatest barrier in AI adoption. This is attributed to data illiteracy. According to sources, 85% of artificial intelligence-based projects fail to owe to the lack of skilled personnel in the organizations. To overcome this barrier, organizations need to have a straightforward data strategy to empower their employees with data access and upskill & train them accordingly. Some organizations also opt for AI-as-a-service solutions to benefit from AI without the need for training the employees.

Digitalization

AI finds its use across many areas in a business, but the leaders are hesitant to adopt these technologies despite its benefit. One of the main reasons is company culture and inability to change to modernization. Mc Kinsey survey reports that only 26% of respondent organizations use AI in their business operations, wherein only 6% use AI in primary decision making.

Organizations must bring in AI business models and simultaneously empower employees over AI and create a comprehensive AI culture

Progress with AI

With AI comes the responsibility to consider – security, ethics, and privacy. Acceptable usage of AI technology and transparency in AI-based activities in organizations will help to build a sense of trust among people. Google has sworn to produce responsible AI for everyone and earlier this year Vatican officials signed a pledge with Microsoft and IBM to promote ethical use of AI for protecting the rights of the people.

With the latest technologies, opportunities are endless. Effective utilization of these resources will surely help in organizational transformation for the best during these times of crisis.