Intro to New Technology — Deborah Hyatt

Traditionally, computers were programmed to respond to a given set of inputs: If the user selects A, do this; if the user selects B, do that. But many human activities — from playing a piano or drawing a picture to responding to spoken requests and providing excellent customer service — are far too complex to be programmed in that manner. Another challenge is that many types of data, such as ticket prices, product availability, etc., are constantly in flux, thus requiring more speed and flexibility to satisfy the consumer or computer user.

The answer is Artificial Intelligence. Once envisioned with the goal of creating a machine that could learn and think like a person, AI has evolved over time. The original objective, often referred to as “general AI,” is still largely hypothetical — but “narrow AI,” which is focused on performance of narrow, specific functions. is already in use by companies around the globe.

Examples of narrow AI that we have all experienced online or with mobile devices (whether we knew it or not) include:

• Ads that appear across a multitude of sites following a visit to the advertiser’s website, or which are based on the user’s search history.
• AI-based ad blocking applications, designed to prevent unwanted ad pop-up/popover/floating ads.  
• “Best fare” searches conducted by travel-related sites including Expedia and its host of brands (Trivago.com, Hotels.com, and others).  
• Digital assistants like Siri or Cortana that utilize speech recognition and natural language to respond to requests, conduct Web searches, etc.
• Banking bots in use at Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland, and other financial institutions to answer customer inquiries and perform simple banking operations.
• Concierge bots used by event/concert ticket sellers, flower delivery services, hotels, and more.

Companies are also investing in narrow AI for mission-critical purposes that may be invisible to consumers but can impact the customer experience in a significant manner. These include enhanced firewall/data protections, faster warehouse operations, and improved employee training and empowerment.

It’s important to note that narrow AI is not just for profit-oriented organizations. The public/nonprofit sector is also making increased use of AI. Services that already exist, or soon may, include traffic control, autonomous vehicles, mobile monitoring of hospital patients, monitoring of utility infrastructures, and more.