Top 10 Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been ruling the world and gaining massive popularity since the last decade due to its ability to make human lives more manageable than ever before. From mobile phones and digital assistants to self-driving cars and robots, there has been a tremendous increase in the usage of artificial intelligence.

AI is a branch of computer science that focuses on creating machines that simulate human capabilities, like problem-solving and decision-making. In short, we can define artificial intelligence as the human-like intelligence demonstrated by machines. Today, AI has a wide range of applications in almost every type of industry.

This article aims to shed light on various real-world applications of AI. But before discussing the top AI applications, let us first try to understand artificial intelligence better.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the ability of machines or computer systems to mimic human intelligence. It involves building machines and systems to perform tasks that require human cognitive characteristics, such as problem-solving and decision-making.

AI-enabled machines analyze and learn from data. Also, they use algorithms to recognize patterns and make human-like decisions or perform a specific task. In a nutshell, AI enables machines to learn from experiences, think, and work on their own.

In general, artificial intelligence is associated with the following four terms:

• Thinking humanly
• Thinking rationally
• Acting humanly
• Acting rationally

Artificial intelligence is a broad term and encompasses various sub-fields, such as machine learning , neural networks, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, deep learning, and cognitive computing.

Top 10 Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is used in every sector, from education and business to social media platforms and marketing. Let us now take a look at the top applications of AI across different sectors and industries.

1. AI in e-Commerce

Artificial intelligence is transforming the e-commerce industry by making it easy to determine customers’ shopping patterns or behavior depending upon their previous purchases or frequent searches. For example, if a particular set of customers buys a specific brand of wheat every week, the online retailer could use an AI-enabled system to send personalized offers to those customers regarding that particular brand of wheat.

Also, the AI-enabled system would provide shoppers with recommendations for other products that go well with wheat. The following are two popular applications of AI in e-Commerce:

• Product Recommendation and Personalized Shopping

One of the most common applications of AI in e-commerce is personalized product recommendations. Recommendation engines use artificial intelligence to analyze a customer’s past purchases, online browsing habits, and search history or products viewed to recommend products accordingly.

After analyzing the data, product recommendation engines find the product that closely matches a customer’s preference. When a matching product is found, product recommendation engines present it to a customer directly on the shopping website or via emails.

• AI-enabled Assistants

Another significant application of AI in E-commerce is AI-enabled assistants or chatbots. Retailers use chatbots or digital assistants to provide 24*7 support to their customers. Besides assisting customers, chatbots also help retailers to address customers’ needs and provide personalized offers to customers on various products.

2. AI in Robotics

The role of artificial intelligence in robotics is remarkable and commendable. Robots automate several tedious and risky tasks in various industries. The following are two major applications of AI in robotics:

• Cobots or Collaborative Robots

One of the best examples of AI in Robotics is Cobots or collaborative robots. Cobots are physical robots designed to perform certain tasks and assist human beings. They learn tasks from demonstration and reinforcement learning. Cobots and humans work in close proximity. In addition, they are used in various industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, and supply chain management.

• Autonomous Robots

An autonomous robot or traditional robot is a type of robot that is designed to automate repetitive tasks and work independently, i.e., without human intervention. Autonomous robots are transforming manufacturing and supply chain industries by improving the speed and accuracy of their routine operations.

Robots also take on many dangerous jobs and prevent the loss of human life. We can use them in diffusing bombs, inspecting bridges, furnace tapping, handling radioactive materials, working in a contaminated, dusty environment, etc.

3. AI in Human Resource

Artificial intelligence plays a vital role in human resource management (HRM) for recruiting purposes. When we think of AI in HRM, we only think of screening candidates. However, several aspects of recruiting make use of AI, from advertising job positions to selecting a candidate. With the help of AI, it has become easier to find suitable candidates for a job role by matching the job description with candidates’ job preferences.

Also, AI has made the screening process easier than ever before. When hundreds and thousands of applicants apply for a job, sorting out the best ones becomes challenging. Artificial intelligence scans the resumes of all candidates and shortlists the best matches for a particular job role.

4. AI in Healthcare

There are several applications of AI in healthcare. Robots play a vital role in healthcare by performing mundane tasks accurately, such as analyzing X-rays, CT scans, lab test reports, etc. The following are some significant applications of AI in healthcare:

• Digital Consultation

AI has made it possible for people to have digital consultations. Applications like Babylon employ AI to provide digital consultation to patients based on their health history and common medical knowledge. This application enables patients to register their symptoms, compare them against a database of illnesses, and provide consultations accordingly.

• Virtual Nursing Assistants

AI-powered virtual nursing assistants can perform a wide range of tasks, from talking with patients to offering them the best and effective care. They are available all the time, respond to patient queries, examine patients’ health, and provide effective health solutions.

• Accurate Diagnosis

AI-powered systems for diagnosis have surpassed human doctors as they help to detect and diagnose diseases more accurately and quickly.

5. AI in Agriculture

The agriculture industry is leveraging computer vision technology to perform various agricultural activities, such as soil and crop monitoring, plant and crop disease detection, intelligent spraying, and automatic weeding. Here are some popular applications of AI in agriculture:

• Soil and Crop Monitoring

For soil and crop monitoring, the use of drones has increased extensively. These drones capture aerial image data and train computer vision models to leverage this data for intelligent monitoring of crops and soil. Also, visual sensing AIs can use the same data to make accurate yield predictions and track crop health faster than humans.

• Plant and Crop Disease Detection

These days, the agriculture industry utilizes image recognition technology based on deep learning to automate the detection of plant and crop diseases. This technology helps to build AI models using classification, detection, and image segmentation methods to track the health of plants and crops.

• Spraying Pesticides

Another major revolution in the agriculture industry is the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone for spraying pesticides or fertilizers. UAVs are built using computer vision AI, and they automate the task of spraying pesticides evenly across a field.

• Automatic Weeding

For automatic weeding, there is an agricultural robot called BoniRob that leverages image recognition technology to distinguish weeds from crops and removes them by driving a bolt into the ground.

6. AI in Gaming

Artificial intelligence in the gaming sector is leveraged to create non-player characters (NPCs) that can behave intelligently and responsibly. With the help of 3D visualization techniques, virtual reality, and augmented reality, it becomes possible for game developers to build intelligent and visually appealing games.

Today's gamers want more than just pretty graphics; they want photorealistic games. AI makes it possible to develop games that can comprehend and respond to in-game events, making them more realistic. Artificial intelligence in gaming is all about enhancing a player’s experience.

Gaming is no longer a choice between a desktop computer or a console. Instead, AI has made it possible to provide a gaming experience on a wide variety of mobile and wearable devices, ranging from smartphones to VR headsets. AI has made it possible for developers to deliver console-like experiences across various types of devices.

7. AI in Automobiles

One of the most remarkable applications of AI in the automotive industry is self-driving cars. Besides self-driving cars, many AI-enabled applications are available that can assist drivers.

• Self-Driving Cars

A self-driving car is also referred to as an autonomous vehicle, driverless car, or robotic car. It utilizes a combination of sensors, such as radar, sonar, GPS, lidar, odometry, and inertial measurement units, to perceive the surroundings and move safely with little to no human intervention.

• Driver Behavior Analytics

AI with deep learning has introduced automotive applications that provide in-car analytics. These applications use cameras and IR sensors to detect a driver’s behavior and provide driving signals accordingly to avoid accidents.

• Analyzing Road Conditions

AI-enabled applications have made it possible for drivers to know about road conditions before starting their journey. These applications analyze road conditions in real-time and update a driver about the road construction work, road closures, speed limits, and the rate of accidents on a specific road.

8. AI in Social Media

AI has become a vital component of almost all social platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.

• Facebook

Facebook uses AI and advanced machine learning to do everything from serving content to targeting users with advertisements. It has a dedicated team to analyze and build AI systems that possess human-like intelligence.

Moreover, Facebook leverages an AI-powered application, called Deep Text, to monitor posts, comments, and other content, and understand how people use different slang, languages, and abbreviations to learn their context.

Facebook’s Applied Machine Learning team has developed an AI-enabled translator to translate a post written in one language into another. It has made it possible for people to read posts in their languages.

• Instagram

Instagram uses AI and big data to boost user experience, enhance the results of target advertising, and filter spam. With the help of machine learning algorithms, Instagram enables users to find photos of a specific place, activity, events, restaurants, food, etc.

• Snapchat

Snapchat leverages computer vision to detect a face, track features, and overlay filters that move with a user’s face in real-time.

9. AI in Marketing

AI has also revolutionized the marketing domain. Some common applications of AI in marketing include:

• Voice Search

We are well aware of digital assistants, such as Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana, and Alexa. These digital assistants leverage speech recognition technology and enable users to search for anything with their voice. Voice search is an AI-based technology that significantly assists marketers in enhancing SEO strategies and generating more traffic.

• Ad Targeting

AI and machine learning work together to analyze massive amounts of customers’ historical data and determine which ad suits a specific set of customers. AI and ML analyze data, uncover customer trends and patterns, and target ads to suitable audiences.

• Chatbots

Chatbots are voice-based or text-based AI-driven conversational interfaces that simulate human intelligence and offer support to customers all the time. They can be used for various purposes, such as providing customer service, interpreting customer queries, generating leads, and completing customer orders.

10. AI in Banking

Artificial intelligence in the banking sector is transforming the way banks carry out their operations. Most banks have adopted artificial intelligence to provide a better customer experience, automate various manual tasks, and detect anomalies. The following are some applications of AI in banking:

• Task Automation

AI-powered applications help banks automate and streamline various tasks, such as bill accounting and financing, cash management operations, etc. Automating tedious tasks reduces the workload of bankers and also ensures better work accuracy.

• Seamless Loan Process

Activities involved in the loan process are document verification, checking financial status, and releasing loans. AI-powered applications can carry out such tasks intelligently with greater accuracy than humans.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence is transforming every sector, ranging from healthcare to marketing. It has evolved into a key technology of today’s digital era. It is making human lives easier by automating repetitive tasks. Also, AI is replacing humans with robots to accomplish dangerous tasks, such as industrial welding, underwater exploration, and disaster response.

We hope that through this article we have made you aware of several important applications of AI that can eventually help you to understand this technology better.

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