5 Top Trends in AI for 2021

With its potential to become the defining technology of the 21st century, artificial intelligence (AI) is appearing in a swathe of applications in healthcare, agriculture, energy, traffic, art and commerce. AI’s far-reaching potential and successful deployment will transform business, skills and employment in the future.    

Rather than robots that rob jobs, AI is all about enabling businesses and activities to become safer, smarter and quicker.

At Orbital Media, we teamed up with telecommunications giant BT to host the recent, leading virtual AI Festival to uncover the latest and most up to date insights on the ever-advancing technology. Exploring the possibilities of AI, we’re taking a glimpse at 5 top trends in AI in 2021.

AI Technology: Defining a Century?

Filter Bubbles

We are using a lot of data. As a globe of technology enthusiasts, we send 306.4 billion emails and create 500 million tweets every day. And in the past two years, we’ve generated 90% of the world’s data.

Deep learning, a more sophisticated version of machine learning, has emerged to process the colossal amount of behavioural data available.

However, filter bubbles have now arrived. The term refers to the rising prevalence of people receiving stories that mirror their particular perspective, leading to bias. Social media giants are starting to see how AI can combat this communication by identifying or removing deliberate stories from entering our feeds. And instead, encourage genuine discovery.

Augmented Intelligence

Natural language processing and machine learning are now commonplace. These technologies are used in text classification, information extraction and summarisation to understand text or voice data. Daily interactions like answering straightforward questions or managing small tasks can be made smarter, safer, and faster using augmented intelligence such as virtual agents like chatbots.

Although it’s a way off yet to expect these bots to fully comprehend and respond to conversation, augmented intelligence and the ethics of AI are areas researchers, businesses and governments are exploring further. Check out how we are disrupting the digital assistant market in healthcare with our VirtTuri product.

AI in the Driving Seat

We’ve seen flying cars in sci-fi movies, heard about self-driving cars, and perhaps thought of these as fictional, futuristic innovations.

But, machine learning advancements such as more accurate sensors, cameras and positioning tracking are here to enable vehicles to spot each other and obstacles. The technology means traffic can not only move and make decisions with high-precision, but it can also predict and prevent traffic accidents — increasing the safety of our roads.

Automotive manufacturers are working hard to overcome autonomous cars’ technological difficulties. But, as networked smart cities that generate vast amounts of data in real-time grow, AI can ease traffic flow, pollution levels and improve safety.

Ever-intelligent and capable AI is now the focus as the industry puts network security and resilience at the top of the agenda.

Explainable AI

As well as biometric facial recognition, we also see more innovative technologies such as AI resumé-screening appear.

The ethics of said technology, particularly relating to privacy and surveillance, has naturally been called into question. Regulators, governments and academics are answering these consumer concerns.

Implementing mechanisms into AI systems to conquer these ethical issues and remove bias or unethical trends is known as explainable AI — and it is now taking off.

AI and Cybersecurity

In recent years, cybersecurity and its ongoing enhancement have been at the forefront of digital environments. First used by the financial services industry, AI technology is now a regular part of businesses’ security operations.

Advancing cybersecurity methods enables organisations to detect when hackers and state-sponsored cyberterrorism techniques use adversarial AI to infiltrate AI technologies. State of the art detection innovations and proactive deployment methods can prevent these malicious activities.

Learn More

If you’d like to find out more information on the leading AI insights and the top talking points from our recent AI Festival or hear how you can use AI, contact us today. Or for further insights on these leading trends, head on over to the latest trends report from BT.