Technology in times of crisis: Beating the Covid-19 blues

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Tech is already at the cutting edge of helping us deal with various disruptions from the COVID-19 threat, as people use video conferencing and online collaborative tools to work from home. Many people stream music, video, and games to assist us through our self-imposed quarantines. Colleges and schools are forced to deliver their classes online to keep their students isolated and safe. In one or the other way, tech is getting used as a substitute for travel that’s no longer possible during the COVID-19 emergency.

Impact on Data Science and Analytics Industry

As data has become the new lifeblood of every function, most technology-functionalities rely upon the nature, maturity, or harnessing of information. In one in all its analysis, MIT Sloan Management Review concluded that exhibited ROI, or a lack thereof, is likely to be the biggest determining factor in whether organizations will buildup or contract their data science and analytics efforts. For those data teams that have exemplified strong, positive ROI, the demand for analytics might increase in a recession.

Impact on the AI Industry

The crisis is already emptying call centers as AI chatbots are zooming in to replace human call center workers. While call centers have long been a frontier of workplace automation, the crisis has accelerated the process.

As near 38 million Americans have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and some of these jobs might not come back, U.S. companies that are on the cutting edge of AI are only growing ever more powerful.

The 5 most valuable companies in the world are increasingly all AI companies. Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet).

In China, the same situation, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba are entirely AI companies. Alibaba and Tencent in terms of market capitalization are the most foremost China domiciled companies and both are cutting edge AI companies.

Every time there is a major technological disruption, such as AI, it gives us a possibility to remake the world. AI could be very advanced technology, affecting both developed economies and developing economies. The advice to developing economies is to specialize in AI to strengthen a country’s vertical industries and invest in education because AI remains so immature.

Impact on Robotics & Automation Industry

Coronavirus appears to be accelerating the adoption of workplace automation  and the trend is probably going to stay around after the pandemic. Adopting AI and robots could keep businesses going during social distancing and reduce the health risks to human workers. But with unemployment already at Great Depression levels, many of the jobs lost to automation might never be regained.

Simbe Robotics produces an autonomous shelf-scanning robot called Tally which will audit inventory at grocery stores through computer vision and machine learning. That’s particularly useful for food markets as they struggle to stay products on the shelf during the disruption of the pandemic. Robots are thus making an enormous difference.

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