Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart devices capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.
From the realm of science fiction, AI has evolved to, in some applications, to match human performance, with the latest facial-recognition software having a 99% accuracy rate.Strategy Analytics, a company that shares insights and analytics, states that 41% of consumers believe AI will improve their lives in some way and South Africa isn’t lagging behind the rest of the world in its development and application of this cutting-edge technology, either.
“We’re seeing even more companies using AI in more daring ways through innovative products or services that disrupt the status quo,’ says Dries Cronje, CEO at Deep Learning Café, which specialises in AI to transform businesses to work at their optimum.AI is no longer a terminology in Sci-Fi or belonging to the realm of top science and technology.
Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx, South Africa’s leading independent technology market research organisation, notes that smartphones are increasingly using AI.
The ability of AI to continually optimise the apps on smartphones, enabling much longer battery life, is a real plus in our country, which looks set to contend with regular loadshedding for years to come.Location World, that provides analytics to countries around the world, notes that 40% of people use the voice search function, which is AI enabled, at least once every day, giving people on the go the ease of having to spend less time typing.
“AI has made this tool an easy and simple application just by the push of a button,” says Stephen Ha, General Manager of TECNO Mobile.