In business, progress is not just about getting more. Adding resources to a process or to a business is how you scale that business up. True progress is getting more with less, and we call those levers as force multipliers.

The wheel is a prime example of a technological improvement that allowed us to get more output with less input. So, we were able to improve our mobility with less energy, and that’s why it was such groundbreaking technology, that we still use today.

Now, fast forward that thinking to today and you’ll see how tech companies like Apple use the same force multipliers. They replaced the password for a smartphone, which constituted of keystrokes, with the phone camera taking a picture of the user, running a Machine Learning model, and unlocking the phone. It reduced the time of the task from several seconds to sub-seconds and put in place a more secure protocol.

5 ways AI/ML are transforming businesses

The probability that a random person in the world population could look at your iPhone or iPad Pro and unlock it using Face ID is approximately 1 in 1,000,000 with a single enrolled appearance. The use of such technological force multipliers put a more efficient process in place which is several times faster.

The tech companies pass on the time saved by force multipliers to the end-user, thereby creating a more compelling product. We’re in the midst of the next big technological transition.

Automating routine tasks

Data is the new currency. We are entering the age of Artificial Intelligence. AI is going to be a profound game-changer. “AI is the new electricity” – famously said by Andrew Ng, who is the co-founder of Coursera, and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University.

So, instead of thinking of it as a product, think of it more as a power source. Appliances will be built on top of it. It is akin to the Internet in itself, as opposed to an application. This means every business is going to incorporate AI and ML in some capacity.

Some businesses have already incorporated these technologies into their core product. So, if you think about products like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple iPhone, all these products are leveraging AI and ML technology and using it to create a more compelling product.

Enhancing decision-making

Additionally, artificial Intelligence, bundled with Machine Learning, is the single answer to a variety of problems faced by businesses big and small. Businesses are learning to leverage AI and ML to boost sales as well as to detect revenue leakage and fraud.

An improved customer experience and automated work processes are brought about by these emerging technologies. A major use of them is in Big Data Analytics, crunching humongous customer and event data pools to identify patterns that result in predictive analysis.

The expensive overhead of a human workforce is slowly being replaced by chatbots and virtual assistants, which are just applications, built on top of artificial intelligence.

The longer you wait to incorporate these technologies, the more you are positioning yourself behind the cutting edge. One business that is leveraging ML to improve its processes is AirBnB.

Above all, they have enhanced customer satisfaction by using an API-based translation tool to help facilitate communication between users living in two different countries.

It has been a game-changer in the hospitality business. Businesses need to board the AI and ML train. If you miss it today, the competition will be far ahead of you tomorrow.