In an interview, Annette Zimmermann, research vice president at Gartner, has shared her thoughts on what she expects for the AI sector from the ongoing IFA 2017 event.
While the market is being inundated with new AI-powered devices or services coming every month, Zimmermann advises to investigate beyond the AI label to understand the underlying machine learning methods because the type of data used for training machines has a direct impact on the quality of AI products.
Zimmermann believes virtual personal assistants (VPAs) are to evolve quickly over the next two-three years. These systems use machine-learning algorithms to enable a highly personalized user experience. But a drawback with most of these is their architectural dependence on smartphone.
Speaking on the future of AI-powered devices, Zimmermann says that the amount of information to be shared with the device for it to deliver a truly customised experience should be monitored. She said, “Ultimately, it will be about connecting all the dots — the different data points such as emotional state, preferences, location data and behaviour — and then training machines using this wealth of data to enhance the services that a device can deliver.”
Zimmermann expects a fleet of announcements. She said: “Those related to AI will be centred on the integration of VPAs into new products and the enhancement of VPAs. Some connected-home products are expected to integrate Amazon Alexa, and Huawei is said to be working on an AI-enhanced service for its upcoming flagship product. Currently the market for VPA service on smartphones is dominated by Google Now/Assistant and Apple’s Siri, while Samsung has taken a different approach with Bixby.”
Elsewhere, AI marketing start-up Amplero has raised $17.5 million to build AI system for AI marketers. Amplero says its software “leverages automated machine learning and multi-armed bandit experimentation to deliver highly contextual, cross-channel customer experiences across the entire customer lifecycle.”
You can read the full Gartner article here.
To learn more about Bot & Virtual Assistant Development attend the AI Conference in Silicon Valley this fall (29-30th November 2017).
Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located AI & Big Data Expo events with upcoming shows in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more. Co-located with the IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo so you can explore the future of enterprise technology in one place.
