A 1982 Ford Sierra advert had the ultimate tag line for augmented intelligence:
Man and machine in perfect harmony!
This metaphor works on so many levels: the idea that the human is in control and the machine obeys; similarly, that if we provide the direction, the machine will take us wherever we wish; that with minimal physical effort the machine does all of the hard work; that without the human input, the machine cannot fulfil its potential – it’s just a hunk of junk; and that together we can explore wonderful new vistas and get there quicker.
But what is augmented intelligence and why do we need it?
The what
Gartner defines augmented intelligence as “a design pattern for a human-centred partnership model of people and artificial intelligence (AI) working together to enhance cognitive performance, including learning, decision making and new experiences”.
This was aptly articulated by Gartner’s Svetlana Sicular, “Augmented Intelligence reduces mistakes while delivering customer convenience and personalisation at scale, democratizing what was previously available to the select few. The goal is to be more efficient with automation while complementing it with a human touch and common sense to manage the risks of decision automation”.
It’s a best of both worlds scenario, which creates real value.
The potential
In a 2019 forecast, Gartner predicted that “In 2021, artificial intelligence (AI) augmentation will create $2.9 trillion of business value and 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity globally”. Albeit, that was pre-pandemic forecasting because, if anything, COVID-19 has increased the urgency for digital transformation.
The Forbes predictions for 2021 highlighted this, also citing Gartner, with 82% of CFOs identifying advanced data analytics technologies and tools as top priority for 2021. Then the World Economic Forum’s worldwide forecast for the next five years of 85 million workers being displaced by automation and 97 million jobs being created by the robot revolution. And a quote from Ritu Jyoti of IDC that “Companies will adopt AI — not just because they can, but because they must.”
And finally, from another Gartner blog, “By 2025, AI will be the top category driving infrastructure decisions.”
That’s a lot of hype. So let’s get to the why.
The why
Businesses are asking increasingly complex questions of their data and expecting the answers to be accurate, immediate and valuable. Without the correct tools, it’s a challenge to procure these answers in a timely and ready-to-use format.
It can also be a struggle to harness the potential and derive value from big and real-time data, which is increasing exponentially. So opportunities to increase revenue, value-add and enhance customer experience are often delayed or missed completely. Plus, using legacy technology to solve the problem creates a distinct disadvantage compared to pure-play online competitors.
Using machine learning (ML) algorithms, AI can process and analyse this data in real-time to generate insights that improve consumer relations and elevate your business model across all aspects of your organisation. The more data AI has access to the smarter it becomes – and we’re not just talking about improving customer experience here. You can have end to end visibility of your supply chain; predict production run cycles and costings; manage inventory levels and reduce waste; supervise scheduling and monitor efficiency; accurately forecast cost of goods sold and improve ROI for your marketing spend. And that’s just a handful of possibilities.
According to Forbes, “Research reveals that the combination of AI and Big Data technologies can automate almost 80% of all physical work, 70% of data processing, and 64% of data collection tasks.” The implications of this are obvious: more bang for your buck.
Michael Fances, Vice President of Instaboost Media validates this from a marketing perspective, “Having a robust system for data and customer behavior (sic) analysis is one of the most effective ways to reduce costs and increase profits.”
Do you need more “why” than that?
Augmentation from Locstat
The majority of companies have contextual expertise and a deep understanding of their industry and customers. However, this rich vein of intelligence can’t be mined without the appropriate technology to drill down into the wealth of data, surface insights and implement the myriad of possibilities available.
This collaboration emphasises the goal of augmented AI: to empower humans to be better, smarter and happier. At Locstat, we celebrate this approach and firmly believe in AI’s assistive role to advance and enrich human capabilities. We love helping businesses navigate challenges to thrive in a rapidly changing, digital world and believe that everyone should have easy access to new, disruptive and game-changing software.
When we engage with a new client we follow a journey approach because we value your business intelligence. By understanding the intricacies and complexities of your particular environment we can ensure that Locstat LightWeaver®, our graph intelligence platform, responds to your specific business requirements. Then our system works to optimise human expertise and context with the power of AI, ML and complex event processing (CEP) technology.
Locstat LightWeaver® illuminates the dark spaces in your digital environment to provide those valuable insights that take your business to the next level. Our unique approach combines the powerful next generation technologies of graph, event processing, streaming analytics, geospatial processing, AI/ML and NLP/NLR. This is offered as one big data capability to provide impactful customer-driven industry and point solutions that not only fulfil but exceed your requirements.
Locstat LightWeaver®
Human and machine in perfect harmony!
