ai is omnipresent and we all know it when reading about some new product or app that appears in our feed. At the center of ai algorithms is data, in the form of numbers. So, let's talk about the impact of ai on our lives through numbers, also known as statistics. Around 77% of devices leverage ai. One of the main uses of ai, specifically the emergence of generative ai to converse in human-like language, has allowed 85% of ai users to use it to create content.
Extending it to the industry-wide impact, the retail industry is a leader: 72% of retailers employ ai and 63% of the IT and telecom sector use it. It certainly brings remarkable benefits. Take, for example, Netflix, which saves $1 billion by using machine learning techniques. But there is another side to such automation and advancements: the replacement of the human workforce. Reportedly, intelligent robots may affect 30% of the global workforce by 2030, impacting 375 million careers.
While figures may vary between different sources, one thing is clear: ai is rapidly changing the way businesses are run and has its advantages and disadvantages. So, let's look at the impact of ai on the technology sector.
Code Assistants
ai algorithms analyze large amounts of data to generate actionable business insights, helping organizations achieve efficiencies through automation and much more.
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If we talk about efficiencies, let's think about how ai-based code assistants can help developers in software development by suggesting autocomplete, writing boilerplate code, detecting syntax errors, security vulnerabilities, etc. However, as with many other uses of ai, it is recommended to take advantage of them to increase developer productivity; You should avoid overreliance on code wizards to write production-grade code.
Cyber Security
Cybersecurity presents numerous challenges, including the presence of a large number of vulnerable systems or devices per organization, diverse attack vectors, a shortage of cyber professionals, and an overwhelming amount of data. An ai-based, self-learning cybersecurity system could address these challenges by continuously collecting and analyzing data from enterprise systems, providing intelligence in areas such as IT asset inventory, threat exposure, control effectiveness, breach risk prediction, rapid incident response, and model explainability.
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The advantage of this technology is that it provides scale and speed, overcoming the limitations of human capacity. Tasks such as threat detection and incident management require the analysis of real-time data from multiple sources, which can be proactively monitored using artificial intelligence algorithms.
ai-powered chatbots
Whether it's coding assistants or using ai techniques for cybersecurity, these aspects are closer to businesses and are not usually obvious to their customers. So let's focus on one of the most widespread uses of ai: enriching the customer experience through intelligent assistants powered by generative ai.
<img decoding="async" alt="ai-powered chatbots” width=”100%” src=”https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_396_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png”/><img decoding="async" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_396_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png" alt="ai-powered chatbots” width=”100%”/>
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Customers need a forum to engage and seek answers to their queries and concerns, and virtual assistants are a great way to address this need. It provides them with information at their fingertips, anytime, anywhere.
Traditional Assistants vs. Gen-ai Assistants
However, these traditional virtual assistants have been around for some time. So where do generative ai-based smart assistants improve the entire experience?
<img decoding="async" alt="Generative ai” width=”100%” src=”https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_619_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png”/><img decoding="async" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_619_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png" alt="Generative ai” width=”100%”/>
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Well, their ability to converse in human language allows them to understand the context very well. This contextual learning involves a nuanced understanding of the language, selecting a well-formed response that improves the customer experience, and reducing the time to resolve the query. Gen-ai assistants can engage in more natural and fluid conversations leading to a more personalized response.
World of customization and opportunities
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And yes, the future is all about personalization. This allows users to save cognitive overhead so they can apply their own personalized layer that can meet their needs. That is a big driver of using ai as it speaks directly to the specific user and adapts to their characteristics. While the benefits are many, from predicting customer behavior, recommendations, content creation, and reporting to incorporating ai into existing technology products to optimize user workflows and processes, there is another side to this brilliant story of ai advancements.
The other side: workforce disruption
The rapid integration of ai into business processes has raised concerns about job displacement. The use of ai to automate repetitive and routine tasks traditionally performed by humans has led to job displacement in sectors such as manufacturing, retail, customer service and administrative positions. Not all sectors and occupations are affected uniformly; in fact, new jobs are also being created. Profiles such as fast engineers, ai ethicists, ai and compliance officers and ai auditors are rapidly emerging in the ai-driven economy.
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However, the socio-economic implications for the workforce with routine, low-skilled jobs face greater challenges in adapting to technological changes. Policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders must come together to address these challenges and mitigate the negative impacts on workers and society as a whole. This includes organizing training programs, incorporating lifelong learning initiatives and promoting the creation of new jobs in emerging industries.
Ethical considerations
Not only workers are concerned, but also consumers of ai-generated answers and predictions. The goodness of ai algorithms largely depends on the underlying data they are trained on. Such data may include user information or sensitive details such as PII (Personally Identifiable Information). Recently, news has emerged that companies are using user data to train their models without asking for any explicit consent. This unauthorized use of personal data violates users' privacy rights and is a major concern when it comes to using artificial intelligence systems.
<img decoding="async" alt="ai ethics” width=”100%” src=”https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_536_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png”/><img decoding="async" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1719699105_536_The-impact-of-AI-on-the-technology-industry.png" alt="ai Ethics” width=”100%”/>
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Furthermore, the black-box nature of the algorithms makes it difficult not only for users but also for developers to understand the reasoning behind the model's response. Therefore, organizations must make concerted efforts to create responsible ai that respects data privacy and promotes model transparency. While ai offers promising benefits, such as increased efficiency and the ability to innovate novel solutions, it is crucial to address user and workforce concerns responsibly to fully realize its potential.
Vidhi Chugh is an ai strategist and digital transformation leader working at the intersection of product, science, and engineering to build scalable machine learning systems. She is an award-winning innovation leader, author, and international speaker. Her mission is to democratize machine learning and break the jargon so everyone can be a part of this transformation.
