Essay On AI's Business Impact: Benefits And Drawbacks.

AI and Its Definition

Question:

Discuss about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence in Business.

Artificial intelligence refers to the intelligence of machines, rather than the natural intelligence of human or animals. The artificial intelligence allows a machine to think like human and perform tasks without any programming. It helps machines to solve complex takes and learn new things without any previous programming. The activities of artificial intelligence include speech recognition, planning, learning, and problem-solving. Artificial intelligence is a broad term which includes machine learning, deep learning, automation and many more parts. In the modern world, many companies use artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency of performing various takes in the business, which were traditionally performed by humans.

Using artificial intelligence in business can benefit a company, but due to lack of technological advancements, the artificial intelligence has many flaws. This report will discuss various benefits and drawbacks of using artificial intelligence in the business by different companies. Further, the report will analyse these benefits and drawbacks based on the different perspective of organisations, such as Google, eBay, Uber and Microsoft.

The primary objective of this report is to ascertain different advantages and disadvantages of adopting artificial intelligence strategy in a business. This report will discuss the current status of artificial intelligence and its uses in different companies. Further, this report will analyse the risks of adopting artificial intelligence in business and its necessity in organisations of different industries. The secondary objective of this report is to analysing different companies that are using artificial intelligence in their business and ascertain AI’s value in business from their perspective.

The report will focus on the various use of artificial intelligence that could be beneficial or detrimental for an organisation. This report will evaluate the use of AI from the perspective of different organisations. Further, the report will ascertain the current state and latest development in artificial intelligence for business. The experience of using AI in business from the viewpoint of various companies will be discussed in the report.

Artificial intelligence is defined as the intelligence of machinery, which is different from human intelligence. It is a part of computer science that focuses on producing an intellectual machine that performs tasks and reacts like a human. Various activates for which artificial intelligence is designed to include planning, learning, problem-solving, reasoning and speech recognition. According to Rouse (2016), Artificial intelligence can be categorised in different parts such as strong AI, weak AI, narrow AI, and broad AI or other. Apple’s virtual personal assistance called Siri is an example of weak AI.

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Business

According to Reddy (2016), in recent times, artificial intelligence has gained popularity due to growth in size, speed, and variation of data collected by organisations. AI allows companies to perform complex activities such as recognising patterns in information, more efficiently than humans, which help companies in gaining more insight from their data. The companies such as Apple, Google, Accenture and Uber, use AI in analysing a large amount of data from their customers and identifying patterns in them, which help them to recognise their customer's requirements and formulating strategies based on such data.

According to Nusca (2016), the artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on the economies, culture, and businesses of companies in coming years. Currently, AI is moving into the commercial market and use of AI in business has grown substantially, as compared to past few years. Various aspects of AI are used in different commercial takes such as machine learning is used in advertising or marketing products in different markets. Google is using machine learning to enhancing the prediction of web searches which allow the company to gain competitive advantage. 2015 was the year for AI accomplishments with the advancement in different areas such as virtual assistants, web searches, and automation (Figure 2).

As per recent advancements, the introduction of deep learning has changed the form of AI. This system is capable of learning new information itself, for example, it identifies an orange without any programming. In 2015, Microsoft and Google software was able to defeat human at image recognition. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are using modern AI to learn voice recognition on smartphones. But there are also some problems in AI development as well. In recent news, Facebook has to shut off their AI program because it unpredictably generated its own different language (King 2017). This shows that there are several risks in AI development, which companies have to ascertain while developing or implementing AI application in their businesses.

The modern technology allows companies to use artificial intelligence in performing their tasks. The use of AI has increased due to the limitation of human beings for performing certain tasks (Figure 1). The AI can collect a large amount of data from several sources and analyse it with significantly fast speed (Wenger 2014).

Artificial intelligence allows organisations to avoid error and increases the chances of achieving accuracy, with a high degree of precision. In case of humans, while performing certain tasks there are chances of error because of human cause errors from time to time. Computer, if programmed correctly, do not make mistakes like humans, therefore, the company’s data can be managed error-free despite its size. Organisations could use AI in the process, such as space exploration, since they are metal bodies which do not get affected by space atmosphere. This allows them to collect a large amount of data without performing any life threating activities (Glymour, Scheines and Spirtes 2014).

Drawbacks of Artificial Intelligence in Business

According to Ruth (2017), an application such as SAP, Avanade, and DONO allow organisation such as Wal-Mart, eBay, MasterCard, and Accenture, to collect a large amount of customer’s data from Facebook, Google Analytics, Shopify and various other platforms. They analyse it to predict information regarding customers such as shopping pattern, requirements and market demand.

According to the research of Cohen and Feigenbaum (2014), the artificial intelligence can use by companies in performing difficult tasks such as mining, ocean floor exploration, and oil exploration. The AI takes the risks for human advancement because human have various limitations. For example, the Mars rover sends by NASA called Curiosity, allow scientists to explore Mars surface and collect data without actually risking their lives. The rover travels on Mars surface while collecting data and determine its path, which helps him learn to think for itself. The AI inventions like this are beneficial for human knowledge advancement.

The research of Bond and Gasser (2014) has concluded that, the popularity of virtual assistance or digital assistance has raised significantly in past few years. A virtual assistance communicates with humans to perform certain tasks. They lack emotional feelings which help them think logically and find a logical solution to problems. Many organisations use such digital assistance to perform small tasks for their employees such as setting up their calendar, meeting reminders and general web searches.

The most popular method of AI is the virtual assistances used in modern smartphones. According to the research conducted by Ramaswamy (2017), various smartphone or software manufacturer install virtual assistance to their smartphones which interact with the user to perform certain tasks. Few examples include Google Now, Siri, Cortana, and Bixby. These digital assistances performs different tasks in smartphones such as searching something on the web, setting reminders or alarms, sending messages, or turning on or off certain feature in the phone. But with the latest development in AI and specifically machine learning, these assistances are able to communicate with users like a human assistance, such as telling a joke, remembering something or continuing a conversation.

Many medical organisations use AI to improve their medical procedures. According to Huhns (2012), the AI allows efficient evaluation of patient condition by doctors and helps them assess their health hazards. AI help doctors to analyse the side effects of different medicines and many professional doctors are taught with an artificial surgery simulator. Use of Robotics helps mental health patients in different medical problems such as depression. Radiosurgery is a good example of modern advancement of AI which helps in operating tumors. This allows doctors to perform surgery without causing any damage to surrounding tissues.

Advantages from Different Organizational Perspectives

Fethi and Pasiouras (2010) concluded that, the artificial intelligence allows companies to deal with their daily boring takes by use of automation that enhances the productivity in takes. Theoretically, by using AI, companies can eliminate “boring” jobs from human and provide them free time to perform creative takes. The automation allows companies to perform repetitive tasks of large volume with high efficiency, fewer errors and high speed, as compared to humans who are slow, cannot process large data quickly and cause errors.

Rich and Waters (2014) provided that, the benefit of AI includes its efficiency to work without any pause or breaks. The AI machine programs which mean they performed a large number of takes for longer hires without getting bored or frustrated. In case of humans, after a certain period, they require breaks or refreshments to continue their work. This gives artificial intelligence an advantage over humans.

According to Palm (2012), with the advancement in artificial intelligence technology, certain risks have raised as well. The use of AI in business tasks has several drawbacks such as high expenses, unemployment in the industry and cyber crimes. Before implementing AI technology in companies business, the management requires evaluating these risks of AI.

According to Quantrille and Liu (2012), the adaptation of Artificial intelligence in business requires the company to spend large capital since they are complex machinery. The maintenance and repairing costs of AI machine are also significantly high. The AI machinery requires constant software up gradation to keep working efficiently and to keep getting smarter each day. In case there is a severe breakdown in the machinery, the recovery cost for lost data and reinstating expenses require a significant amount of time and money. Due to this disadvantage, small and medium organisations cannot apply AI technology in their operations. Therefore, the AI technology is available only for large corporations.

According to the research of Jones (2015), replacing persons with machinery can cause a large scale unemployment stage in the market. The use of AI will displace a lot of low-skilled jobs from the market. Many experts believe that robots have already taken a large number of jobs from peoples on assembly lines. The advancement of AI can cause humans to highly dependent on them for even smaller tasks. They could become lazy and lost their creative abilities. For example, with the introduction of self-driving cars by Tesla, BMW, and other car manufacturers, the job of millions of taxi drivers are in threat.

Current State and Latest Development in Artificial Intelligence for Business

Shoham (2014) concluded that, when it comes to original creativity, AI common is compared to human capabilities. The AI is no match for the creative power of human brain. Human beings are capable of seeing, hearing and feeling emotions, and they are highly emotional intellectuals. The human being decisions are affected by their feeling which lacks in an AI. The power of human brains cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence software.

In case of artificial intelligence, they cannot be improved with experiences like human beings. The AI store a large amount of data but the method of accessing and processing is significantly different from the human brain. The AI is unable to change their responses to different environmental factors. There is no heart, passion, care or concern in an artificially intelligent machine, like a human. The humans have the ability to differentiate wrong from the right which is a huge disadvantage of AI. Many experts or visionaries such as Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk have warned people regarding the danger of AI. The AI’s ability to learn new things could adversely impact on the existence of human beings.

According to the research of Dietterich (2015), just like every other software, the artificial intelligence applications also have the same risk of viruses or hacking. The algorithms of AI are no different from any other software when it comes to their vulnerability to hacking. But since AI is used to make important judgments, such as driving cars or controlling machines, the effect of cyber-attacks could be highly dangerous than previous attacks. The United States government is funding different department and agencies to analysing the risk of AI cyber-attacks and finding solutions for avoiding any damages to life or property.

According to Carey (2017), in the future, use of artificial intelligence could revolutionise different industries such as medical, space, oil exploration, data analysing, virtual assistance and software. Artificial intelligence will allow scientists to collect data or research on different projects without actually risking their lives. Furthermore, many medical scientists believe that artificial intelligence will allow humans to get immunity from viruses. The AI will affect small sections as well such as advance personal assistance, home automation, and smart appliances.

The development of AI has several drawbacks in the future such as an increase in laziness, unemployment, and the threat of cyber crimes. The implementation of AI in everyday takes will reduce the creative, thinking and analysing power of humans. Therefore, implementing the AI in business require thorough prior planning.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Different Industries

Conclusion

From the above report, it can be concluded that use of artificial intelligence has grown substantially in previous few years. Companies are using AI for different activities such as collecting large data from online sources or evaluation of such data. The benefits of AI include faster performance, no breaks, no errors and medical advancements. But there are several problems in using AI for business as well such as huge costs, the risk of cyber-attack and unemployment in industry. The companies should evaluate their conditions before implementing AI applications in their businesses.

AI is not at that stage where every organisation could benefit from it. They are a necessity for advancement in AI technology before its complete implementation. The organisations are requiring analysing its risks and creating proper strategies to avoid such risks in the future. In modern times, the small and medium organisation can use only weak AI application such as virtual assistance, but large organisation such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft have enough resources to implement AI technology in their business. 

References

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