Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen by corporations as one of the main drivers of digital disruption, which is why even companies that have been established for decades see the need to prepare for this transformation. Research conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute (2017) indicates that, globally, leading companies in the information technology (IT) sector, led by Baidu and Google, invested between 20 and 30 billion dollars in 2016, with 90% of the amount going to research and development (R&D) activities and approximately 10% in acquisitions of other companies in the sector. Startups in the segment, in turn, invested between 6 and 9 billion dollars in the same period. Within the technologies in the artificial intelligence framework, the one that received the largest investment was machine learning (ML), that is, the ability of machines to improve their performance without necessarily requiring humans to explain how the activities should be carried out.
In 2017, Accenture Research and Frontier Economics conducted a study across 16 different industries to assess the potential impact of AI adoption by companies. All industries studied showed benefits from AI adoption, but the sectors that experienced the greatest growth were information and communications, manufacturing, and financial colombia whatsapp data services. In all industries, AI can be considered a potential agent of change in their respective investment, human capital development, and innovation strategies. Johnson & Johnson and Tesla, for example, improved the flow of their respective supply chains with the solution from an AI startup , Elementum. This solution monitors incidents, tracks transportation, and provides real-time visibility across the entire chain, analyzing more than 10 million incidents daily, involving a material cost of USD 25 trillion.
A survey conducted with CEOs ( Chief Executive Officers ) by KPMG in 2017 found that 60% of the leaders interviewed indicated that their organizations did not have innovative processes that could respond quickly to disruptions. Although innovation is a focus for business leaders, companies have difficulty positioning themselves when they identify signs of transformation, especially companies that have been established for years and have a history of success.
Business models based on artificial intelligence are considered to be companies that use AI in at least one of the 08 different application areas: natural language processing, natural language generation, speech recognition, machine learning, decision management, virtual agents, RPA ( robotic process automation ) and computer vision; and/or using at least one of the 05 technological systems: robotics and autonomous vehicles, computer vision, language, virtual agents and machine learning (McKinsey Global Institute, 2017).
Large corporations are investing in artificial intelligence as research and development (R&D). Amazon is developing robots and voice recognition solutions. BMW, Toyota and Tesla are developing solutions based on machine learning and robots to enable autonomous vehicles. Toyota invested more than USD 1 billion to create a new research institute focused on AI for robots and autonomous vehicles. In the industrial sector, companies such as Siemens, GE, ABB and Bosch are making large investments in robotics and machine learning , seeking to develop technologies aimed at their respective businesses. In turn, IBM invested more than USD 3 billion in Watson, a cognitive services platform, as well as in IoT (internet of things ) solutions for businesses. Baidu invested US$ 1.5 billion between 2013 and 2016, in addition to putting US$ 200 million in a venture capital fund called Baidu Venture. Big techs (large technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba) have bought several AI startups in order to acquire technology, expand their client portfolio, and acquire skilled labor. Corporations use M&A (merge & acquisition) strategies as a way to acquire specialists, which the market has come to call “ aqui-hiring ” due to the amount paid per professional (up to 10 million per professional).
The term artificial intelligence was coined in 1955 and described the first academic conference on the subject, held at Dartmouth College. That same year, researchers at the Carnegie Institute of Technology developed the first AI program, called Logic Theorist. Also in the 1950s, Marvin Lee Minsky founded the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, and other researchers, also at Cambridge, developed semantic networks, as well as self-developed IBM software. John McCarthy, in 1956, developed the concept of Artificial Intelligence and organized a research group. The inspiration for the development of AI was the creation of an autonomous machine capable of thinking like a human being. This research group started from the premise that all perspectives of learning can be described precisely, which is why it can be simulated by a machine. AI applications determine how these machines use language, concepts, and model abstractions that can solve complex problems.