By Joaquim Campos, Vice President of Automation, Data and AI at IBM Latin America
The partnership between humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to strengthen. Even though this technology has existed for several decades, nowadays there are more and more companies that use AI to transform their operations, becoming more efficient and productive. One of the keys for this development to continue to evolve positively is that people can trust predictive results and recommendations through accessible and transparent AI systems.
In this context of rapid expansion, important questions arise about the potential of this powerful technology. People who want to know if AI can harm their chances of finding a job or funding, if it is driving the proliferation of illegal content and misinformation, if it can exacerbate systemic inequalities, among other relevant points. Focusing on ethical issues that are so critical for the development of a technology does not mean stopping innovation, but rather that we must know how this technology works. AI cannot serve to benefit just a few.
Currently, only 41% of organizations in Brazil actively implement artificial intelligence in their operations, according to the IBM Global AI Adoption Index 2022.
The most well-known use case is that of virtual assistants, created to support human agents in customer service, to reduce calls and free up time for professionals to focus on higher value tasks. By being trained for specific applications within the company, virtual assistants generate economic benefits and improve the experience of external and internal customers. In fact, the average contribution to satisfaction for human agents attributed to this tool is 20% and for external customers 99%, according to a study by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics.
A new trend that is gaining momentum among the use of virtual assistants is the adoption of “digital personas”. These hyper-realistic, autonomous, animated agents understand natural language and interact with people while performing gestures such as lip syncing, gazes, facial muscle movements, head movements and more. This way, interactions feel more intuitive and natural, resulting in significantly positive customer experiences.
However, AI can be used in many other areas. Some use cases that we have already implemented with customers in Latin America are focused on:
- Cybersecurity: As cyberattacks grow in volume and complexity, AI is helping security operations analysts stay ahead of threats. Technologies like machine learning and natural language processing make it easy to analyze millions of sources and provide insights for professionals who can reduce the noise of daily alerts, evaluate recommendations and dramatically reduce response times. Additionally, AI can augment the skills of security analysts, allowing them to do their jobs faster, more accurately, and more efficiently.
- Redes 5G: To create value around 5G, telcos are thinking about providing infrastructure for future applications and value-added services close to data generation, which optimizes real-time decision-making, a critical factor for service continuity- key like energy and power, for example. In this case, AI is critical to extracting value from data, unlocking more capital for network growth, accelerating innovation, improving the customer experience and managing technology operations, ensuring business continuity.
- Sustainability: As companies increasingly prioritize sustainability initiatives to build more efficient and resilient operations in the face of climate change, they are applying AI to go beyond data capture and reporting to turn it into insights they use to make decisions smarter. From this approach, sustainability – understood as much more than just reducing emissions – requires a broad approach, which includes all operations, as well as asset management, infrastructure, supply chain, climate, meteorological information, ESG reports, between others.
- Smart Automation: this type of implementation allows for improvements in the way humans and machines interact, in terms of data analysis, decision making and task execution. According to IDC, 80% of organizations estimate that they have up to 1,000 applications in their portfolio, which leads to increasingly complex technology management. Applying AI in IT operations is commonly known as AIOps and enables teams to proactively manage complex work environments, become more efficient and ensure business continuity.
In working with AI for several years, IBM has shared its principles of trust and transparency to build and strengthen the technology. First, by establishing that AI’s purpose is to augment and not replace people’s experience, judgment, and decision-making. Second, the data and knowledge generated belongs to its creator, not its IT partner. And third, new technologies with as much potential as AI need to be transparent, accessible, and free of harmful and inappropriate bias.
IBM’s approach to artificial intelligence is people-centric, embracing ethical principles as the key driver of its data technology and regulated AI, while fostering an open and diverse ecosystem to ensure it benefits all people. No company or organization should wait for a new law or regulation to take effect to be assertive. The stakes for society are very high.
IBM press office
Weber Shandwick
E-mail: [email protected]