As part of my ongoing blog in Forbes.com. I recently addressed the benefits of being an early adopter of Artificial Intelligence, as well as the reasons why many companies have been slow to embrace it.
Some of the industries at the forefront of AI adoption are insurance, financial services, healthcare and retail, and the benefits they are already realizing are huge. Insurers are automating manual underwriting processes, providing faster and better customer service and predicting risk. Retailers are seeing how AI can help them better understand shopper preferences and consumer behavior. And, health systems are able to predict the likelihood of patient readmissions or how to augment diagnoses and treatment plans.
While I cite various reasons why AI is taking off in some markets, the biggest one is the proliferation of data being produced, stored and shared from IoT-based sensors, web pages, databases, social media sites and other tools.
Yet, despite the benefits of Artificial Intelligence and the abundance of data, there’s still skepticism, especially among smaller firms. In the article I attribute this to confusion about the specific business benefits that can be gained, a wait and see attitude that wants others to do the blocking and tackling first, cost concerns and of course fear of the unknown.
There are, however, distinct advantages to being a trend setter of AI. Since AI is a process that takes time, the early players will realize benefits that much faster. Also, being an early adopter is a serious competitive differentiator that sticks. Once everyone is using Artificial Intelligence, that will no longer be the case.
As I state in the article, being an early adopter doesn’t mean jumping into something quickly or blindly, since AI requires a strategic approach. But for those willing to invest the time and effort being an early AI adopter just may be well worth the risk.
Check out the article and I’d love to hear your thoughts about other reasons why early adoption is a good thing.