We’ve had a glimpse into the future – and it looks awesome.
人工智能(AI)将在未来几年蓬勃发展. And it spells great things for your customers.
Thanks to Manchester Digital we heard all about it at the latest Emerging Technology Forum: The Future of AI-powered Solutions.
Nick McCafferty, Bruntwood科技公司的业务创新经理为我们拉开了序幕. He 欢迎约80家企业到全球最大的博彩平台技术中心落户 out ambitions to create a ‘thriving innovation district’.
What is AI?
人工智能使用计算机来做传统上需要人类智能的事情.
简单来说，算法就是分类、分析和预测 from data. AI then acts on patterns in this data to improve outcomes over time.
The exciting thing about AI is that it can be useful in many commercial scenarios. From predicting Covid-19 rates for the NHS, to 破译哪些邮件是垃圾邮件，以帮助承销商评估风险 and make better lending decisions.
Cool, but isn’t AI already a thing?
Yes. 的确，自上个世纪以来，人工智能的概念就存在于神话和传说中. Skynet anyone 😬
美国计算机和认知科学家约翰·麦卡锡 coined the term ‘AI’ in 1955. But, the ability to mimic human behaviour was only achieved in the late 2000s.
Today, it is being harnessed by businesses around the globe to predict and respond to consumer behaviour. For example, the leaps made 在聊天机器人和语音机器人技术，帮助客户连接 businesses 24/7.
In fact, 高德纳预测，在3-4年内，虚拟助理将自动化80%的呼叫中心任务.
Mark Chamberlain, 总部位于麦克尔斯菲尔德的软件开发公司Lokulus的首席技术官说:“这是一个很好的选择 现在，聊天机器人面临的挑战是识别客户何时陷入困境 in an unhappy path. It may be that they have had 20 interactions, which is too high and indicates they are not getting the right answer.
“这是全球最大的博彩平台如何使用人工智能识别这些模式，比如使用 of key negative words to trigger bringing in a human agent.”
Also cool, what else did the experts say?
We heard all about the evolution of Chatbots and VoiceBots from Dr Maria Aretoulaki of GlobalLogic UK&I.
这是一位在过去30年里一直在设计这些“机器人”的技术领袖的深度和扣人心弦的演讲.
Did you know, for example, 这种技术的第一次商业应用是在20世纪60年代，一个名为Eliza的心理治疗聊天机器人?
玛丽亚博士谈到了人工智能技术的民主化，比如市场上的Alexa和Siri等消费产品.
But, she pointed out, there are limitations too. Such as natural speech often being ambiguous and ungrammatical.
此外，AI的设计，在用户体验方面经常被忽视，直到 当一个项目结束时，它应该是前面和中心-与你的 customer in mind.
Her advice? Have training delivered locally, include foreign accents in the data, and ensure it is representative of all users.
Elsewhere, a very enthusiastic Professor Nira Chamberlain 成为讨论人工智能在战略建模中的作用的中心议题.
阿特金斯数学建模技术研究员强调 the need to capture a potential client’s curiosity. And he certainly captured ours.
他的演讲以一首儿歌开始，以一个项目结束 设计了英国皇家海军的旗舰——伊丽莎白女王号 Royal Navy.
Really fascinating stuff!
Next up was James Procter, Head of Consulting Services at Robiquity.
他分享了一个很好的案例研究，说明北区业务帮助了维珍媒体O2.
Using intelligent automation they were able to identify when a 由于丧亲之痛，合同被取消了，可以直接 customer to a specially trained team.
然而，他最大的收获是内部聊天机器人对企业的有用性.
He said: “This is a game-changer for things like directing new 培训手册或将员工与人力资源部门联系起来 personalised way.
“这一点目前在市场上完全被忽视了 data which you gain is really insightful for instigating change.”
Great, how do we get started?
人工智能的高感知成本往往会阻碍企业进一步探索.
还担心创建和发展正确算法所需的技术专长.
But the first step is identifying the right area to focus on.
例如，对你的业务来说，理解是否更重要 消费者行为，比如他们浏览你网站的方式和位置 the purchasing cycle they drop off?
或者，您是否想要识别妨碍销售的客户挫折感?
聊天机器人几乎是公司与客户互动的好方法 instantaneously. They can direct potential purchasers to FAQs, give 产品细节，并更好地指导他们通过整个过程.
Secondly, you need data, lots of it. Data is the lifeblood of AI 这也是任何创业之初的自然考虑.
But the MOST important thing, 如果你不知道从哪里开始，但认为这将有利于你的业务, is to start somewhere.
Explore your options, 比较解决方案或找到一个可以帮助您确定范围的软件合作伙伴, build, and implement AI.
为你的公司想要实现的目标设定一个预算和现实的期望，然后去实现它.
Dan Holgate, Chief Technology Officer at Agile Automations 他说:“现代商业领袖往往知道他们需要拥抱人工智能，但他们感到力不从心.
或者，他们认为这会带来巨大的经济负担或风险. 但事实并非如此，有很多捷径等着你 started.
“It’s important to note that your data doesn’t have to come from 客户互动，如聊天机器人，你也可以处理/分析 各种文档使用现有的技术，如微软的Azure表单 Recogniser.
“Businesses are sitting on a wealth of data and don’t realise it. Historically, they have communicated with their customer base via 书面和数字渠道，现在可以回顾性分析 and processed using said AI.
“在敏捷自动化，我们的团队为客户提供完整的端到端服务 robotic process automation (RPA). We deal with SMEs as well as 国际银行客户，自动化重复的手工任务和 free up employees to better serve their customers.
“Effectively, 我们创建软件“机器人”来帮助企业节省成本，提高效率.
“非常感谢全球最大的博彩平台数字公司带来了思想领袖 in this field together; I know our team had a great time at the event and learnt a lot.”
