Artificial Intelligence in 2019

By Bryan Kittman | January 29, 2019

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly become the technological buzzword of the decade, permeating all aspects of our lives. However, this is not without merit. AI is shaping the world of our present and future, bringing with it some incredibly exciting advances that will have a profound impact on our lives.  Here are some exciting possibilities with AI that experts expect to take place in the near future.

AI assistants will become exponentially better

In Spike Jonze’s Her, he envisions a world where a personal AI assistant are a driving force in our lives. While we may not be falling in love with our AI assistants anytime soon, they are likely to become increasingly useful. AI is already woven so tightly into our digital lives, with our smartphones harboring AI assistants like Siri, Bixby, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Previously a gimmicky feature, AI assistants will become much more robust and versatile in their ability help us in our daily lives. It will become very common to rely on AI to help plan our schedules, call an Uber, or order delivery from your favorite restaurant. Not only will they become more skilled, AI will get more sophisticated in being able to anticipate our behaviors and understand our habits. This also means AI will improve in natural language, and be able to better understand human users.

AI will create more jobs than it displaces

A valid concern many have regarding the advancement of AI is that it will displace thousands of jobs due to automation. Manual labor jobs in warehouses, retail cashiers, and a variety of other professions could be at risk of being replaced by AI-powered robots. However, a report by Gartner predicts that by the end of 2019, AI could create a total 2.3 millions jobs – 500,000 more jobs that what is predicted to be lost.

Industries that are positioned to benefit from AI will see a surge in job creation on the technical sides. Jobs will be required to help deploy the new technology, train an incoming workforce, all the while retaining the professionals required to carry out the work. Some industries poised to be enhance by the deployment of AI include the education, healthcare, and public sector.

Healthcare will be transformed by AI

AI and the healthcare industry are a match made in heaven for the consumer. AI is slated to bring powerful predictive analytics and chronic disease management to patients, along with a sharp increase in radiology, administrative, and financial use. In 2019, expect to see AI coupled with video to bring a much more personal approach to healthcare.

AI powered by virtual and augmented reality will allow on-demand healthcare to patients in the comfort of their own homes. This includes mental health and substance abuse patients who require consistent treatment from healthcare professionals. Doctors will be able to utilize AI to provide better assistance to patients even when they are unable to see them.

Personal finance powered by AI

Money management has increasingly become a more personal aspect of our everyday lives, especially when it comes to investing. Gone are the days having to deal with shady financial advisors. AI is now empowering the consumer to help them make better decisions when it comes to their investments.

Companies like Betterment and Wealthfront are utilizing AI to help its clients build wealth sustainably and safely. Deep-learning algorithms are being used to help investors maximize reward by mitigating risks, all automatically without any human intervention. Already, these companies have hundreds of millions of dollars in assets being managed by AI. In 2019, expect AI to have a much greater impact on the financial lives of consumers.