Artificial intelligence opens up multiple investment opportunities

These new technologies, capable of replacing humans, are set to transform multiple sectors of activity and offer incomparable scope for innovation.

Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence (AI). While it seems the term is not always used correctly, as certain applications do not necessarily fall within the precise definition of AI, it is one that chimes perfectly well with what is happening today. Originally conceived in the mid-1950s as the science of getting machines to perform tasks requiring intelligence that were previously done by humans, I would argue that the power of AI is only now starting to make its mark.

Nowadays algorithm-based applications can already beat humans at chess, translate documents and detect technical failures. In the future, certain jobs, including positions requiring a high level of qualification, are surely destined to be totally replaced by machines. Whole sections of the economy are set to undergo a transformation, or even disappear altogether. With the development of AI, the very way we think about banking, insurance, healthcare and customer relationship management is set to undergo a rapid transformation. As Eric Schmidt, CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is fond of saying, a driver rarely learns from the mistakes made by other drivers! But a self-driving car can in fact – thanks to AI – react to millions of different experiences and therefore learn to drive more and more safely.

Thanks to the analytical prowess of big data technologies, the computing prowess of servers, the networking of computer systems and machine learning systems, applications can now be developed that are capable of recoginising and analysing signs that humans are unable to detect. Better still, they function on a proactive rather than a reactive basis. Using insights provided by AI, a bank or a telecoms operator can, for example, detect and predict a desire for change among their clients. AI would, therefore, be an extremely useful tool for reducing churn, with an immediately positive impact on a company’s P&L.

Even though the changes are still only in their infancy, they appear to be irreversible. Idinvest has already established a solid presence in this technology by investing in Clustree, an application that can help make HR decisions in a business as objective as possible by harnessing smart data analysis techniques.

In this way, AI and the innovative services that it looks set to bring in will help shape our investment strategy for the next decade.