The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives. From health care professionals, to the society at larger, everyone has been impacted at an unprecedented scale. Although, the experts, and us included, initially thought that the pandemic was a momentary hiccup, but the two years long stay has made it a predictable white swan which has turned our lives turtle.
However, the pandemic paved the way for innovations and increased application of Artificial Intelligence. No, no, it is not the same as the Steven Spilberg’s utterly depressing movie Artificial Intelligence. It is a bit different from that.
Overview of Artificial Intelligence based Machine Learning and Deep Learning
Artificial Intelligence refers to computer systems that can mimic human behavior, and execute tasks at a much faster rate than a regular person. We might think that there is a long way to cover before computers actually start to mimic human behavior. But if we look closely, we are all surrounded by AI. Phone navigation apps such as Google Maps, Amazon’s Alexa and iPhone’s SIRI are all the result of AI.
AI has two subsets
- Machine Learning
- Deep Learning
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Much of the AI is based on Machine Learning. Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence which uses statistics and learning algorithms for building smart systems. Machine Learning lets computers learn from experience or examples, or both. A good example of Machine Learning would be the recommendations we get on YouTube after watching a certain video. Similarly, many businesses promote their products online through ML algorithms.
Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning
Deep Learning is another subset of Artificial Intelligence. It is inspired by the way people’s brains filter information. It is linked with learning from examples. Deep Learning systems help computer models to filter the input data through various layers to classify information and make predictions. Deep Learning is used in various advanced technologies such as self-driving cars.
Artificial Intelligence during Pandemic
The Corona Virus hit us unexpectedly. At the same time it provided human kind with a unique window of opportunity to prove the advantages of Artificial Intelligence. Covid-19 paved the way for expanding the AI applications to other fields of our society, such as education, and medicine. Earlier, AI was greatly used by software, computer and business companies. However, with time, the role of AI continues to expand. Over the course of two years, the proliferation of AI applications has multiplied. Following are a few segments of our everyday lives that Artificial Intelligence has altered:
- Medicine
- Retail
- Education
- Business
AI Use in Medicine
For starters, Artificial Intelligence helped to increase the output of pharmaceutical companies. It costs about USD 2.6 billion to put each drug through clinical trials, and a scanty 10% of those drugs are successfully brought to market.AI helped to repurpose old drugs through algorithms to reduce the number of chemical compounds for consideration. Through the use of AI the days of misdiagnosis and treating symptoms are going to be behind us soon. The FDA has strict acceptance criteria for clinical trials. It demands transparency based on scientific methods. AI can help FDA verify those strict rules without delaying in the clinical trials, and hence provide people with cures to various ailments quicker.
Doctors are also using Artificial Intelligence for detecting and diagnosing deadly blood diseases at nascent stages through AI-enhanced microscope.
Even for the patient journey AI has made marvelous progress. Machine Learning can be used to generate insights that will help improve the patient’s journey through the healthcare system. The technology will help hospitals in managing the patient data, their history and payment information through predictive analytics. This way, the AI can intervene at critical intersections for the patient, and help evade any confusion in their treatment.
Artificial Intelligence in Retail
One of the biggest outcome of the pandemic is the initiation of contact less deliveries and pickups, especially of meals.
Furthermore, Amazon’s store shows that AI can help shoppers make a purchase without needing the help of sales people at cashiers, or any part of the store.
Just pick up what you want, scan it against the cart to measure the weight and determine the price, and you are good to go. AI will help forecast the fashion trends allowing you to meet the demand of the present and the future. The clairvoyance can help businesses in making better pricing decisions as well. Predictive analytics can also track data from online platforms and channels to help enterprises plan out improved e-commerce strategies and gain competitive advantage.
During the pandemic automation has took over various human aspects. Inventories have also been impacted. AI maintain accurate inventory as it eliminates the risk of human error. AI machines connect more parts of the operations and provide the retailers a detailed view of stores, customers, and goods to help with inventory management.
Artificial Intelligence in Education
Another way AI has affected our lives is through education. From Kindergarten to Graduate school, AI has and can further increase the application of individualized learning through adaptive learning. The Artificial Intelligence systems will respond to the unique needs of each student and put more emphasis on certain topics. The system will create a custom-tailor education system which will help students at different levels to work together in a single class room. The teachers’ job will then be to facilitate the learning and offer help when required.
AI will also be able to fill the gaps in education which the teachers are unable to fill. It will help to solve problems encountered by students. Online courses and tests can identify the teachers which student needs what and provide them with a customized solution.
AI has also changed the way people interact with information on a daily basis. Google adapts the education searches based on the user’s location.
We rarely even notice the AI systems that affect the information we see and find on a daily basis. Google adapts results to users based on location, Amazon makes recommendations based on previous purchases, Siri adapts to your needs and commands, and nearly all web ads are geared toward your interests and shopping preferences.
These kinds of intelligent systems play a big role in how we interact with information in our personal and professional lives, and could just change how we find and use information in schools and academia as well. Over the past few decades, AI-based systems have already radically changed how we interact with information and with newer, more integrated technology, students in the future may have vastly different experiences doing research and looking up facts than the students of today.
Artificial Intelligence in Business
The most common application of Artificial Intelligence is customer experience, service and support. There are several businesses that have already employed the system of chat bots that automatically respond to customers according to their questions by using Machine Learning.
Intelligent systems can also play a pivotal role in helping employees to serve customers and provide them better care such as proposing solutions to various queries. AI can handle customer requests and direct the customer call to the employee best suited to handle the particular problem.
Online search providers, retailers and other digital entities have exploited the AI systems to understand the user buying behavior. It helps them select advertisements that cater to each individual’s unique needs or wants. Hence, targeted marketing has also been made possible. Many organizations are using facial recognition software to identify customers and promote their products.
Supply chains have also become more efficient due to the use of intelligent systems. AI has helped businesses become more efficient while remaining cost-effective. They have eliminated the risk of running short on products in high demand.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has changed the way people interact with one another. It has given boost to the application of Artificial intelligence in various aspects of our lives such as but not limited to medicine, education and business.
Through Machine Learning and Deep Learning computer systems are able to interpret human behavior and make predictions for a better user experience.
