Artificial intelligence (AI) was long a term reserved for futuristic predictions and science fiction tales. Currently, however, it is an increasingly important technological resource for organizations in their daily work. The development potential it has is also viable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
In the corporate world, this technological resource opens up a series of possibilities and new products and services. At the same time, it also brings countless ways to facilitate and speed up the work being done. Many tasks in an organization’s daily routine can be optimized with the help of artificial intelligence.
However, SMEs are unaware of the technologies, platforms and facilities that Artificial Intelligence can provide them. In general, artificial intelligence can be understood as the ability of digital systems to make decisions and learn autonomously.
“Currently, using this technology resources it is possible to create platforms capable of analyzing large volumes of complex data and, based on them, make a decision aligned with the organization’s goals,” explains Alfonso López, Manager of Oracle Central America.
There are many techniques that help artificial intelligence acquire these skills: from image recognition to natural language processing to understand and respond to texts and messages. In all cases, however, the most important thing is the ability of these systems to make decisions based on data of various types and learn with each success or error.
For Alfonso López, artificial intelligence is key to data management. He explains that “through this technology it is possible to organize and visualize immense volumes of data much more quickly than before. Furthermore, the same artificial intelligence manages to use this data to feed its learning models and make decisions with a level of foundation that no human would be able to have.”
Data is considered a valuable asset today. Through the conjunction of large amounts of data and the analytical capacity of artificial intelligence, companies can become capable of planning their strategic decisions in the best possible way. And more than that: they have access to many insights that can provide ideas that suggest everything from new products to innovative business models, generating broad possibilities of entry into various industries, consumer segments or business niches.
Here we list four artificial intelligence use cases that are already common in the market:
- Customer service (digital assistants). When customer service is carried out through digital means, it is common for the same doubts to frequently appear in large numbers. This process, however, can be automated with the creation of chatbots or digital assistants. Using natural language processing resources, it is possible to create customer service “robots” that are ideal for these situations. In fact, the creation of chatbots has already become a market, with companies offering just that type of service.
2. Fraud detection, risk management and compliance. Frauds found by an audit can expose company officials, including the CFP and president. Solutions that use artificial intelligence to detect fraud attempts before they have major consequences can prevent major headaches for executives, in addition to avoiding financial losses, damage to brand image, fines and legal proceedings.
3. Cyber security. Hackers can leverage artificial intelligence to create virtual threats that traditional programs cannot detect. However, it is possible to use that same technique to our advantage through solutions that use robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify threats and combat them automatically.
4. Recommendations. Algorithms that suggest new products, services or even content based on the user’s history are the result of the combination of artificial intelligence with large volumes of data. SMEs can recommend other products that customers may like, for example, based on what they have purchased before and the habits of users with similar profiles. The same goes for e-commerce, which can use AI to personalize searches and recommendations for a product.
Drive business growth
Artificial Intelligence is becoming the key to boosting business growth, regardless of its size and, in the specific case of SMEs, they must ensure their place in the innovation process that organizations are experiencing.
