Artificial Intelligence (AI) can take on different forms and be of different levels of maturity. It designates machines’ use of cognitive science to improve the performance of a user. AI must be regulated and thought through prior to being rolled out. Gide 255 works with you throughout AI integration stages.

What is artificial intelligence, and how can you use it in your company or activity?

Still quite often clichéd, the term “AI” designates the type of artificial intelligence used in programming an algorithm based on certain data to help formulate decisions or develop services. In France, the Cédric Villani report drafted as part of his assignment tasked by French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe in 2017², indicates that AI could be considered as a desire to understand how human cognition works and how to reproduce it via IT and data.

AI has different nuances and methods: it is known as “weak” when it focuses on one narrow task, and “strong” when it is capable of integrating reasoning and can be used to anticipate future decisions of users based on past uses and algorithms.

Using structured data (i.e. data stored in databases and translate in  IT languages making them automatically and efficiently usable as they are) and non-structured data (i.e. data grouped without pre-defined format or standards), AI is based on an architecture of thoughts and decision trees transcribed into IT, thus rendering human intervention necessary.

AI has multiple applications but it is often used to perfect operators’ knowledge when carrying out their tasks, regardless of their field of activity. All types of economic activity are thus concerned, including in particular the banking, insurance, finance and retail industries. AI is particularly suited to the processing of information, the segmentation of markets and clients. It can also play an essential part in identifying risks and opportunities, and learning through experience the more it is used (aka machine learning). AI can significantly impact procedures and processes by automating and optimising them. In a nutshell, AI strongly increases the analytical capacity of economic players, depending on the data they have access to.

Although AI was initially dreamed up and designed to “think in Man’s stead”, in its most advanced form it can still only increase Man’s ability to analyse data and take decisions in an environment that is now made up of protean data that has become strategic, monetised and exchanged.

AI is thus a tool, not an end. It needs to be correctly designed and requires its programmers to consider, as correctly as possible, the various biases can show in its results.

_______

1) “Cogito, ergo sum” – René Descartes.
2) “Donner un sens à l’intelligence artificielle – Pour une stratégie nationale et européenne” [Giving meaning to artificial intelligence for a domestic and European strategy]”, Cédric Villani, March 2018.