The excitement created by this movement is predicted to continue across industries and countries: $58 billion Global AI Investment by 2021(Forbes, 18 February 2018), 76 percent of banking CxOs agree that adopting AI will be critical to their organization’s ability to differentiate in the market (Accenture, 4 April 2018).

At the same time, significant uncertainty and even fear still surround a technology that is proclaimed to be capable of doing intelligent tasks better than a human. The main reason for this might be that it is a complex and challenging topic to understand, and we have difficulties entrusting decision-making to non-transparent rules. 

While many definitions of Artificial Intelligence are circulating, and it seems complicated to agree on what exactly AI is. We will base our understanding on the following broad statement from Grid by Deloitte, April 2017 that “AI technologies employ technology and algorithms to extract concepts and relationships from data automatically, understand their meaning, and learn independently from data patterns and prior experience.” 

The key to resolving complex tasks is “learning”, and there is a multitude of ways a machine can be trained to classify and process data efficiently and accurately. These are not new and were developed decades ago, and humans have been beaten by computers in various challenges (from IBM’s Deep Blue beating chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997 to Carnegie Mellon’s Liberatus winning at Texas Hold 'em against the world’s best poker players in 2017). The factors accelerating the use of AI today are the availability of data and computing power. The technical development of computing technology and the democratization of hardware and algorithms created the perfect environment for AI solutions. Furthermore, the global economy, the change in consumer behavior, and the constant search for a competitive advantage create an increasing need for data-driven strategies, business models, products and services.

At Deloitte, we believe that the real power of technological advancement can be unleashed by focusing on business needs and understanding how technology can help companies and organizations overcome their most complex challenges.

To achieve this goal, we have created an ecosystem of services and solutions to help our clients do just that:

The Deloitte Garage combines Deloitte’s innovation services to bring fresh thinking, new approaches, and innovative technologies to solve our clients’ most complex business challenges with breakthrough solutions.

With a particular focus on AI, The Garage recently launched the AI Village: a lab to learn about AI technologies, experience AI-based solutions in action, learn what AI can do for your business, to accelerate growth and upgrade your operations, and create rapid prototypes for your organization.

To learn more and understand what it takes to embrace AI and become an insight-driven company, book your exclusive session at the AI Village today by contacting us at [email protected].