08.15.17

Companies Should Make More Use of Cognitive Engines

Despite massive investments in artificial intelligence in the tech market, few companies in other industries have engaged in large-scale implementation of AI, according to McKinsey & Co. Only a small percentage of non-tech companies have adopted AI cognitive engine technology, with an even smaller portion employing multiple cognitive engines.

This finding reveals a massive opportunity for AI providers to expand their sales by educating the market about the benefits of using multiple cognitive engines to enhance their businesses.

“In general, few companies have incorporated AI into their value chains at scale; a majority of companies that had some awareness of AI technologies are still in experimental or pilot phases,” McKinsey stated in a recent discussion paper, entitled, “Artificial Intelligence: The Next Digital Frontier.”

“In fact, out of the 3,073 respondents, only 20 percent said they had adopted one or more AI-related technology at scale or in a core part of their business,” McKinsey added. “Ten percent reported adopting more than two technologies, and only 9 percent reported adopting machine learning.”

McKinsey’s definition of AI technology encompasses eight separate segments: natural language processing, natural language generation, speech recognition, machine learning, decision management, virtual agents, robotics process automation and computer vision.

The limited adoption of AI by tech users contrasts sharply with activity among tech providers. Digital titans like Google and Baidu spent from $20 billion to $30 billion on AI in 2016, McKinsey estimates. The vast majority of this capital was devoted to research and development, with the remainder going to acquisitions.

While AI hasn’t attained wide-scale deployment yet, this situation may be changing.

“Machines powered by AI can today perform many tasks—such as recognizing complex patterns, synthesizing information, drawing conclusions, and forecasting—that not long ago were assumed to require human cognition, McKinsey said. “And as AI’s capabilities have dramatically expanded, so has its utility in a growing number of fields.”

McKinsey noted that nascent markets like AI often undergo booms and busts. However, the consulting firm cast doubt on the notion that the market for AI is inevitably headed for a downturn.

“AI is finally starting to deliver real-life business benefits,” the company’s report stated. “The ingredients for a breakthrough are in place. Computer power is growing significantly, algorithms are becoming more sophisticated, and, perhaps most important of all, the world is generating vast quantities of the fuel that powers AI—data. Billions of gigabytes of it every day.”

Tyler Schulze is vice president, strategy & development at Veritone.  He serves as general manager for developer partnerships, cognitive engine ecosystem, and media ingestion for the Veritone platform. Learn more about our platform and join the Veritone developer ecosystem today.