How Will Artificial Intelligence be Used in 2021?

The world has witnessed many breakthroughs throughout its history like the printing press, steam engine, personal computers, and, of course, the internet. In 2021, it’s time for artificial intelligence (AI) to bring innovations and new ways of doing things into human life.

How will artificial intelligence be used in 2021? In what areas? How will it transform the businesses? Is it costly?

You will get answers to these and some other questions while reading this article. Get prepared to change your views if you are really scared about your data security or personal information breach. AI is much nicer than you believe it is. After all, anything new is a bit scary at the first glance.

Look Ahead to What is on the Horizon

The worth of AI and Machine Learning (ML) is 58.30 US billion as of today. This number is expected to reach 309.6 US billion dollars by 2026. Where does this money come from? In fact, many companies have turned to these technologies for a better competitive edge.

Have you ever been recommended to buy the shoes of your favorite brand by your computer? If not, expect to see lots of personalized recommendations soon based on your online behavior. It’s the AI that processes the information based on your previous searches and purchases.

You will soon end up in smart cities where traffic will be regulated by AI or thermostats will guide your behavior to save energy!

AI is penetrating everywhere – machine translations, smart homes, cities and infrastructure, cars, digital personal assistants, and whatnot!

The new future of the world is closer than may seem at first glance. And AI has a role to play in what is called the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Just like the First Industrial Revolution that was one step forward in the human world using steam power and water to mechanize production, so is AI. It digitalizes data and finds patterns and dictates a certain behavior. Just like throughout our history, we are on the brink of innovations that will once again change our way of being. Like anything new, AI provokes controversies and myths around it.

How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Businesses in 2021?

New horizons have opened for businesses and it concerns everything from robotics and medicine to marketing and entertainment.
It has gone so far that AI-powered drones are used in agriculture, search and rescue, military and defense, and eCommerce.
AI-powered scan devices are used to detect cancer.

So, what possibilities are opened for the business community with the power of AI? These are the areas where businesses will benefit:

• Decision-making
• Risk management
• Forecasting
• Logistics optimization
• Marketing personalization, etc.

E.g., drones can be used for planting and maintaining crops. They can scatter seeds, pollen or determine the exact treatment that crops need.

Another example is the digitization of homes and making everyday appliances smarter. AI-powered devices sense, connect, and transmit data to automate various operations at home, which were previously performed manually.

What to Expect?

Now let's look one step ahead. What to expect from AI? What will artificial intelligence be used in the future?

Yes, robots, sensors, drones, smart appliances –good and fine. But will it impact the future of humankind in any negative way? Should we welcome this or fear it? The media is full of science fiction stories of robots ruling the world. On the other hand, some people fear that their jobs will become obsolete. After all, many of the tasks are automated and replace human involvement.

However, as Ashley Stahl from Forbes puts it, there is no reason to be so fatalistic. She refers to a recent study by the MIT Task Force entitled ''Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work'', which concluded that there is no need to fear the loss of jobs. On the contrary, AI can foster many industries and create new possibilities for growth resulting in the creation of more jobs.

On the other hand, the media is full of fearful stories of human beings losing control of AI and AI leading to an intelligence explosion. In many cases, these are just myths that experience will vanish over time. But even if they are myths, they give a reason for human beings to be cautious and not let technology rule.

What is the Use of AI Apps?

Now let's have a look at AI apps. AI apps are developed in many different industries like agriculture, marketing, finance, space exploration, gaming, and more.

Why do you think Netflix is growing so fast? It examines millions of records to suggest films and videos based on previous customer choices. Netflix is getting smarter and smarter every day.

Consider the case of chatbots in banking. An example is EVA (Electronic Virtual Assistant) which is an AI-powered chatbot developed by HDFC bank. The number of customer queries handled by EVA so far exceeds 3 million. This AI technology has held over a million conversations.

Similarly, many companies like MasterCard and RBS WorldPay apply AI technology for the detection of fraudulent transactions.
An AI app is developed by Japan's brokerage house, Nomura Securities. The data of experienced stock traders are analyzed to provide insights for future transactions. It can predict how share prices will change in similar market conditions.

Another example is Clue River Technology which is developed to help prevent herbicide resistance. It sprays weedicide on cotton plants.

How Much Does it Cost to Develop AI?

After all, how much does it cost to develop AI? Well, it truly depends on a number of factors.

Do you want to build a voice assistant? Security cameras? Medical scans? All of these have different costs depending on the type of software you are going to build.

Another determining factor is AI algorithms and the level of intelligence you are aiming at. Whether you want to recognize text in PDF files or build super-human robots are two different tasks. They require a different level of intelligence and scope of data and analysis.

The level of accuracy is also a cost factor. So far, there are very few AI devices that have a 100% accuracy level. A customer support chatbot, for example, is only expected to handle up to 60% of routine user queries.

This is a shortlist of factors that you may need to consider.

• Types of functionalities and their number
• Human labor rate
• IT infrastructure cost
• Admin cost
• Tool cost.

Given all these factors, let’s talk in numbers. Since it’s very hard to come up with exact guidelines, let’s have a look at some examples.

• A video/speech analysis AI platform with basic functionalities may cost $36-56 thousand.
• An MVP for an AI app may cost you anything between $20 thousand and $35 thousand.
• An AI app with basic features can cost around $40,000. An app for medium-level complexity can cost around $50,000- $100,000
• And a high-complexity app may cost up to $150,000.

Conclusion

Whatever people think today about AI, the future is here. You will see new products and services around at a faster speed than you think. AI is here to build a smarter life. Does it have downfalls? Well, the power is in human hands to use the new technology wisely.

Whether AI will be used to the benefit of humankind or whether it will be used to create autonomous weapons programmed to kill – it all depends on whose hands this technology appears.

Will we build robots that will kill humans or smarter traffic lights that will control traffic jams – it’s up to us.

And as you can also see, it’s a misconception that AI costs a fortune. You can go small scale with no complex functionalities and build an AI app at quite a reasonable price.

It’s your turn to catch the future ahead. Smarter ideas build a smarter world. In any case, AI should be the servant and not the master of human beings so as not to lose control. The benefits are here. So are the risks.