Companies will ‘get serious’ about AI technology in 2017- Valutrics

What’s the problem?

Before businesses get swept up in the AI hype, CIOs should start at a sensible — and, likely, familiar — place: What business problem are they trying to solve?

“That’s what your C-suite executive-level folks will be interested in: Can you solve the entire business problem?” Mahidhar said.

Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term that includes everything from speech recognition software to robotics, and the maturity of each technology varies. Because AI is so broad, “you really have to disaggregate it,” Davenport said.

Something like deep learning, software that can learn without being programmed, is sexy, but the commercial applications aren’t mature. On the other hand, robotic process automation, software that can perform highly repeatable tasks, sounds a bit dull, but the technology is mature and delivers a quick return on investment, Davenport said.

“You look at [robotic process automation] versus deep learning, and it’s a whole different set of categories. You have to use different criteria to evaluate them,” he said.