The 'Artificial Intelligence' Horde

Hot Terms have always been around the corner, at any given point of time in our lives. Some have worked, catapulted to great heights, stayed with us for long, while many have had quick deaths. Somehow, Tarot cards of Technology do not always tell the absolute truths of the Future. And currently, every Tarot reader of technology seem to have fixated (rightly so, we guess) on two Hot Terms of Today – Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Suddenly, we have hoards of companies attempting to brand or rebrand themselves around the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, their websites scream their lungs out on how they have finally cracked the next Big thing in the Industry. Only if you look closer, you would see their Content Teams managing to infuse the “Hot Terms” wherever possible and the Design Team placing various Brain images containing electric beams of light in different shades.

The hype for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is more than ever, and it will only get bigger in the days to come. In the rat-race to win Investors, Talent and Business opportunities, Companies seem to have become desperate on getting their name out there, in any way possible, however unethical or dishonest they are. The Intelligence is laid on marketing strategies, short-cuts on how to make-believe.

The only thing these false-promising 'AI companies' have rightly understood is that Artificial Intelligence does matter, and it is an inevitable Business tool, but here’s what they have missed- Artificial Intelligence is not a plug-and-play business tool and a basic understanding of Data science does not mean the company has mastered Artificial Intelligence, nor can you claim that your product uses the 'Power of Artificial Intelligence' when all its doing is simply displaying records from a database by executing a simple set queries.

Not so long ago, we have heard fake AI companies claim to automate and customize Apps using Artificial Intelligence Technology, but in reality it turned out that the company was just using Humans at the back-end to toil day in and out, to get the desired results. Also, when companies only automate processes, i.e., only streamline repetitive and instructive tasks, they claim “Machine Learning” which is altogether and fundamentally different from a simple automation process.

How to cut through the hype?

If you are a Business looking for a genuine Artificial Intelligence partner, or if you are a Talent looking to join a real AI company, here’s what you need to be aware to cut through the hype.

• Find out about their existing Talent, the projects they have worked on and the results they have achieved. It does not necessarily have to be the top-notch technology, but if they have worked on simple AI tools, with a good understanding of Data Science, the company is worth watching out for.
• Look for case studies, and specifically where their inputs for the AI piece comes from and also the intended results and the way they went about achieving them.
• Above all, look for honesty. Yep, sounds difficult. But it is quite easy to find out from a company’s website if they sound too desperate with repetitive pastels of terms such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning or if they only claim what is rightfully theirs. Are they using a lot of buzzwords and vague statements to just keep you on hold? Or their case studies, though minimal, sound true enough for you to give them a try?

To cut through the hype of Artificial Intelligence, we just need to understand that Marketing and Technology are two different things. And from that lens, everything would make sense.