Five Industries AI Will Change in 2021

Artificial Intelligence has long changed the course of various industries throughout the world. Despite the common fear that it attracts, we can’t deny the way it has transformed businesses. Fei-Fei Li, the renowned Computer Science professor at Stanford University, once claimed,

“If our era is the next Industrial Revolution, as many claims, AI is surely one of its driving forces.”

And we couldn’t agree any further, from the time of its inception, the gains it has brought to the human race have been manifold.

In past years, it has transformed major industries, from education and healthcare to fashion and tourism. This article lists five such industries that are expected to witness a dynamic change through artificial Intelligence in 2021.

1. Education

AI has successfully developed a variety of applications for the education industry, which has personalized the academic domain. It’s been a while since smart devices have taken over the place of traditional books and notebooks. In many institutions, students have already started doing most of their work online, from conducting research to submitting assignments, and even attending class.

Through features like automated grading and structured online courses, AI has made it possible for students to learn on their own. For instance, platforms like KNEWTON help in identifying gaps in students’ knowledge, and designs specific coursework with customized lessons to get them back on track.

While the value of a human teacher cannot be denied, it is a fact that there are those who cannot afford to attend an educational institution on a daily basis.

Professionals at Stanford believe that if proper steps for implementation are taken, AI can greatly strengthen the academic world, especially at the personalized level. Although some institutes have been slow to adopt this shift, due to the belief that technology can be more of a distraction from the real world.

Others like Oren Etzioni, the CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence points out

 “AI is neither good nor evil. It's a tool. It's a technology for us to use.”

It can thus be safely predicted that AI will greatly increase literacy rates of the world in the following years, by allowing students to earn college and university degrees online. Likewise, educational systems are expected to become more personalized, allowing for greater customization of lessons and courses to take place.

2. Healthcare

AI has been and can further continue to be of tremendous importance to the healthcare industry. 
It can provide a life-changing experience for patients, both physically and metaphorically. The use of AI has been limited to categorizing patients’ data, thereby aiding and improving diagnostic outcomes.

However, John Forwnfelter, a Chief Medical Information Officer at Jvion remarks that AI in healthcare has

“evolved to much more sophisticated use of deep machine learning, and leveraging the power of big data.”

Today, not only is AI increasing the system of healthcare in America by leaps and bounds through virtual nursing and administrative workflow assistance, but it has also introduced the method of robot-assisted surgery. This has not only allowed surgeons to make more precise incisions, but also saves time during surgery.

Applications like IBM Watson have already proved their ability to diagnose rare diseases quicker than doctors. AI has also proven to be successful in curing common health problems. DreaMed, for instance, overcomes issues with finding treatment for diabetics based on their individual differences like age, gender, and diet plan by designing a customized treatment plan for each one of its patients.

As Kaveh Safavi, head of Accenture’s global health practice points out, AI has the ability to solve the dilemma of the “iron triangle” in healthcare, which consists of the three interlocking yet counteracting factors of access, affordability, and effectiveness.

Accenture even goes as far as to predict that in the upcoming years, robot-assisted surgery will be able to save the U.S. healthcare industry by $40 million every year. Now that’s something we’d all like to see.

3. Agriculture

Gayle Shepherd, the Vice President at Intel AI, has remarked that

“the agriculture industry will soon be completely transformed by AI because farmers will have the tools to get the most from every acre”.

It is a known fact that the population is increasing at a rapid rate while natural resources are slowly deteriorating, and we need to produce more with fewer resources. AI has not only improved the quantity but also the quality of produce in recent years through various applications.

From robots that control weeds by spraying an exact amount of herbicides to harvesting robots which can do the work of 30 laborers in a single day, AI has already brought about a major change in the agriculture industry.

John Deere, for example, has recently introduced their See and Spray model which allows farmers to single out weeds through computer vision and destroy them, instead of spraying and infecting the entire crop.

Research is now being conducted to produce machine learning models that can not only track, but also accurately predict various impacts of sudden environmental changes on crop yields. Crops and soil monitoring applications are also being improved to supervise their health. 

Special drones are being developed for this purpose to further enhance the quality of the yield. There is no doubt that this field represents massive opportunities for AI-enabled transformations to take place, and if all works out well, then the world might experience a massive increase in annual yields.

4. Manufacturing

The incredible impact that AI will soon have on the manufacturing industry is not hard to predict; the industry has already witnessed major changes that have proved highly beneficial in its various domains.

From robots that are more than capable of replacing the human labor force through their efficiency and productivity to machines that can build better parts and perfectly join them together without even programming, the advantages of AI cannot be doubted for this industry.

According to Andrew Ng, a computer science professor at Stanford University and the creator of the deep-learning Google Brain project, AI will soon

“shorten design time, and reduce materials waste, improve production reuse, perform predictive maintenance, and more.”

As it evolves, AI will further continue to prove its indispensability by producing higher quality materials in lesser time, while being cost and energy-efficient as well. For example, a Chicago-based company Uptake designs AI software that suggests how to performance and enhance product reliability by combining material and equipment data.

With companies like Microsoft and AtBot constantly researching and coming up with ways to make manufacturing industries more efficient, we should be able to see this prediction coming true by the end of next year.

5. Fashion

Fashion retailers throughout the globe are beginning to understand the paramount significance of adopting and utilizing AI applications to forge a name for themselves. Machine learning algorithms are now being used by various retailers to predict demand based on historical data, thereby reducing human forecasting errors by up to 50%.

Certain AI apps also analyze clients’ purchase data to handpick products that they will be likely to buy in the future. Apps like Finery, for example, provide clothing recommendations and even suggests new looks for users by going through past email receipts of purchases to determine what is in their wardrobe.

The technology also allows retailers to connect directly with customers through apps like virtual stylists or smart assistants, which helps the shoppers in finding the perfect fit for themselves. Not only does this make shopping experiences more interactive and personalized, but it also leaves no room for errors or unhappy customers returning products they bought online.

Research is currently ongoing in the field to improve customers’ online shopping experiences through AI, and Juniper Research has even predicted that retailers are expected to spend four times the amount being spent today on AI.

Conclusion

AI has been taking over the business landscape, in one way or another, and although it isn’t quite perfect just yet, continuous research and improvements have been going on to maximize its potential and application.

Although some fear the loss of their jobs as AI takes over the world; the fact is, AI will require a lot of human supervision and is likely to create a greater number of new jobs in the future. To be specific, according to Gartner, AI will create 2.3 million jobs in 2020, while eliminating only 1.8 million.

All said and done, the advantages of AI cannot be emphasized enough in the evolution of global businesses and quality of life.  As advanced tech like this continues to thrive and transform industries, we can’t help but be excited about the difference it will make in the lives of future generations.