Deploying an AI project in 2022: what are the interests and how to get there?

The American scientist Marvin Lee Minsky, considered the father of artificial intelligence, defined the concept of AI as systems or machines capable of handling tasks that humans perform in a more natural way and that involve mental processes such as learning perception, memory organization or critical thinking.

2022 is a promising year for artificial intelligence. This is evidenced by research from U.S. firm Gartner, which predicts that the global artificial intelligence software market will grow by 21 percent. Another report from the International Data Corporation predicts that the global artificial intelligence market revenue will grow by 18.8% in 2022. Also according to Gartner, knowledge management, virtual agents, autonomous vehicles, digital workspaces and participatory data are the 5 most promising use cases for AI.

With the launch of the second phase of the national strategy for artificial intelligence, France also hopes to take a leading role in 2022. This funding program, initiated last November, will mobilize 2 billion euros and provides for many measures such as massive investment in new generations of embedded AI, software development platforms but also accelerate the development and support of innovative AI start-ups.

Finally, according to a report published by the American tech media O’Reilly, AI users are present in nearly 111 countries and on all continents. AI is global, its potential is unlimited, and it concerns (almost) every industry.

In this article, we will study the business interests of deploying an AI project in 2022 (I) and the methods to follow to achieve it (II).

I) The business interests of deploying an AI project in 2022

With the rise of computers, manual work processes have been dramatically reduced. Computers and software are now used in almost every industry and humans depend on them heavily.

The main goals of artificial intelligence are:

– Create expert systems: Systems must be able to display intelligent behavior, learn, demonstrate, interpret, and best advise users.

– Implement intelligence in machines: aims to develop systems that understand, think, learn and behave like humans.

Therefore, the capabilities of AI are high and due to technological advances, AI is developing strongly and can now perform tasks that were (still) impossible before.

Artificial intelligence has a huge impact on many areas and here is a list of 4 examples where it can now be used:

– Security and surveillance: Artificial intelligence has led to the idea that it could be used for surveillance on a larger scale. Despite the ethical debate, AI is known to be used more and more in the field. Monitoring huge streams from various cameras and other devices is not only tedious, but it also has its limitations.
AI uses technologies such as facial recognition and object and location recognition to monitor and analyze individuals.

– Games: Whether it is chess or video games, AI is able, via complex calculations, to plan game actions according to our own actions.
Here, the AI is our opponent. It replaces a human intelligence and its “natural” goal is to win the game. There are different levels of difficulty such as beginner, intermediate or expert depending on the level of the player. The player chooses the level of difficulty he wants to face.

– Autonomous vehicles: With the development of expert systems capable of analyzing, understanding, interpreting and acting on visual information, autonomous vehicles were born.
This is evidenced by the creation of “autopilot” for cars (e.g. Tesla), airplanes, drones or robotics.

– Financial services: Banks are using AI in many areas, including detecting fraudulent activity, analyzing customer investment patterns, providing customer service, etc.

In short, AI has become ubiquitous. It helps us become more productive and replaces us in some repetitive and constraining tasks.

Towards a higher operational dimension for companies

Companies need to understand and anticipate the changes that AI will bring to their organizations, business areas, and business functions. AI can improve many existing back-office and front-office processes, and can also bring cloud-based AI as a service concepts, providing APIs and enabling rapid prototyping to meet diverse business needs in a flexible and efficient manner. But AI is not just a service, it raises a growing number of strategic questions.

Here’s a list of 5 benefits related to operational deployment of an AI project:

• Highly efficient performance;

AI increases the fluidity of your operations and optimizes resource utilization across the enterprise, resulting in significant cost reductions. It can also automate complex processes and minimize downtime by predicting maintenance needs.

• Improved accuracy and decision making;

With advanced analytical and predictive capabilities, AI can enhance human intelligence and improve the quality, efficiency and creativity of decision making.

• An intelligence different from the human one;

Because machines think differently than humans, they can quickly spot unmet needs and new opportunities in the marketplace, enabling you to launch products, services, distribution channels, and new business models. All at an unprecedented level of speed and quality.

• Intelligence that boosts business productivity;

AI can take over repetitive tasks, so that employees can spend more time on other, more strategic tasks. AI promises to increase employee productivity by changing the way teams work, so they can play a larger role in optimizing company productivity.

• Provide quality customer service;

Companies can leverage AI to analyze information in real time and deliver personalized experiences that drive growth, retention and customer satisfaction.

II) How to concretize an AI deployment method within a company?

Every year, the implementation of AI-based solutions, whether for applications or processes, attracts the interest of companies. Today, most of them are wondering how to integrate artificial intelligence into their organizations.

AI has two main functions for businesses:

– Helping people and machines balance and work together to improve the business.

– Helping to develop business activities.

We’ve compiled a list of 4 elements to make a method of deploying AI in your business a reality:

Establish business priorities

Before concretizing an AI deployment method within your company, a (big) upstream work is necessary. It consists in establishing a list of questions that AI is likely to be able to answer:

– What are the company’s objectives?

– What are the difficulties preventing their success?

– How can AI help the company to overcome them?

– How can AI help the company succeed?

– How do we measure this success?

– What data is currently available and what needs to be added?

Based on the answers to these questions, the needs of the business can be defined and the best options can then be considered.

Estimate the commercial and financial benefits

Once the business needs are identified, we need to determine the potential business and financial benefits of the AI project.

To do this, we need to consider the many ways AI can help us measure these benefits. For example, focusing on short-term goals and best illustrating the financial or business value of the company appear as potential solutions.

It is also recommended to determine whether a specific, time-consuming task (or tasks) can be better handled by a machine rather than a human.

Conduct internal capacity assessments

There is often a gap between expectations and what all employees can achieve in a given time frame. So, after prioritizing your goals, you must choose the method that best meets your needs:

– Build new solutions using internal resources,

– Buy finished products,

– Collaborate with partners to integrate AI into your projects,

– Outsource the entire AI development process.

Whichever method you choose, it is best to research existing solutions before beginning development. When the proposed product fully meets the business needs, the most cost-effective approach may be direct integration.

Calling on experts

AI development is different from traditional software development. Its design is a very specific specialization and difficult to learn. It takes a lot of experience and skill to create algorithms that can teach machines to think, improve and optimize workflows.

Although developers seem to be able to develop AI projects, it is sometimes wise to consult with experts in the field before beginning one’s AI deployment strategy.

The interests of deploying an AI project are multiple. However, its implementation throughout the organization involves organizational difficulties and long and tedious work.

Finally, companies are turning more and more to the implementation of AI and have realized its importance in order to increase their operations and results. AI can therefore add value to the business on the areas where it is really needed. This is why it is sometimes better to call on experts to fully succeed in deploying AI in your company.

Thanks to the AI Pack, you have access to a personalized support and to a team of experts in the field, from the identification of needs to the implementation in 3 months, and you benefit from a 50% subsidy from the Ile de France Region.