Dr Matthew Howard is a director of AI at Deloitte in the UK. In his role, Matthew looks at how AI technology can benefit clients in the professional services space and within Deloitte's own business. In this blog, he outlines the opportunities and challenges facing professional services in implementing AI. Hear him speak at the'The big Alternative AI debate: Will the partnership model kill AI? Or will AI kill the partnership model?" at 4:45pm on 27 November at the Alternative AI event. AI is a broad umbrella that will impact a broad range of processes and industries – everything from language translation to medical advice. In an industry that relies on understanding vast amounts of data every day, AI can offer significant productivity benefits to professional services firms. Being able to correlate that data and make it meaningful – fast – is one of the most attractive advantages of AI. This is especially true as information analysis becomes increasingly commoditised and firms have ...

Booz Allen Hamilton has been at the forefront of strategy and technology for more than 100 years Today, the firm provides management and technology consulting and engineering services to leading Fortune 500 corporations, governments, and not-for-profits across the globe. Booz Allen partners with public and private sector clients to solve their most difficult challenges through a combination of consulting, analytics, mission operations, technology, systems delivery, cybersecurity, engineering and innovation expertise. Work as a key researcher and R&D engineer on a growing team of elite scientists who investigate and solve challenging, data fusion problems. Use R&D experience to develop and implement biometric and data fusion techniques through algorithm and software or script development, and the use of existing data fusion tools. Collaborate with experienced subject-matter experts and technical or project managers to develop cutting edge technology to fill data fusion capability gaps that can withstand rigorous scientific validation.

A study from Redwood Software and Sapio Research released October 4th revealed that IT leaders believe automation could impact 60% of businesses by 2022 and threaten jobs in the process. Now, a new, separate report from PwC, the second biggest professional services firm worldwide, suggests a similar timeline; one in which people may need to practice and learn new skills -- or be left behind as automation takes over. The report, titled Workforce of the Future, surveyed 10,000 people across China, India, Germany, the UK, and the U.S. to "better understand the future of work." Of those, nearly 37% think artificial intelligence and robotics will put their jobs at risk; in 2014, 33% had a similar concern. A startling scenario the report envisions for the future is one in which "typical" jobs -- jobs people can steadily advance in through promotions -- no longer exist, prompting the aforementioned move to develop new skills.

If you're concerned (or super excited) about machine learning (ML) becoming mainstream, a recent survey by Oxford Economics on behalf of human resources (HR) and IT asset management company ServiceNow should pique your interest. The report, which surveyed 500 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in 11 countries and across 25 industries, found that 49 percent of the companies are already using ML to improve traditional business processes. Of the 500 CIOs surveyed, 200 said they're already beyond the pilot stage and have begun deploying ML in some capacity. CIOs are hoping to limit user error and errors in judgement by introducing automation. Almost 70 percent of CIOs said decisions made by machines will be more accurate than those made by humans.

Bias is everywhere, including in your data. A little skew here and there may be fine if the ramifications are minimal, but bias can negatively affect your company and its customers if left unchecked, so you should make an effort to understand how, where and why it happens. "Many [business leaders] trust the technical experts but I would argue that they're ultimately responsible if one of these models has unexpected results or causes harm to people's lives in some way," said Steve Mills, a principal and director of machine intelligence at technology and management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. In the financial industry, for example, biased data may cause results that offend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (fair lending). That law, enacted in 1974, prohibits credit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age or source of income.

The casualties of automation are on the rise, but it's not bad news for everyone. Nearly one third (700,000) of low-skilled workers in India's IT sector could lose their jobs by 2022 due to an uptick in the adoption of robotics and artificial intelligence. But those in medium- and high-skilled jobs stand to gain from the trend, a recent report (paywall) by market analysis firm HfS Research said. In the next five years, the number of medium-skilled IT employees is estimated to rise to 1 million from 900,000 while the number of high-skilled employees will jump to over half a million from 320,000, according to the report. With technological advancements, "the productivity of higher-skill workers, especially those engaged in abstract thinking, or with creative and problem-solving skills, has increased," a January 2017 report by management consultancy McKinsey & Company explained. As a result, they're more likely to be in demand in the coming years.

Accenture sits in a unique meta category of firms that both develops its own AI roadmap and also advises clients on AI strategies. Its fear of losing business through technological disruption is largely mitigated by clients' increasing demand for advisory services in technology adoption. As Daugherty explains, "unless you believe we're near the end of demand for technology and business transformation services, the laws of supply and demand come into play. Using AI to reduce the price of implementing a solution saves money for the client which they can in turn reinvest to meet still more needs." Thus, the advisory business grows as technology becomes more advanced and clients require even more support.

Artificial intelligence software is likely to be the most disruptive force in technology in the coming decade and companies that embrace AI may get a competitive edge while those that don't risk extinction. AI is nascent, but the pace of innovation and disruptive potential of startups will accelerate as computing costs shrink and machine-learning algorithms advance. The ability to self-learn by processing data may spur demand among consumers and enterprises alike. Cloud computing and machine-learning algorithms have fueled the jump in AI, keeping costs in check while helping applications interpret an ever-growing mountain of data. The tools can process an enormous volume of data, run self-learning algorithms and suggest ways that companies can better understand their customers and boost return on investment.

According to a study by Oxford University and Deloitte in 2015, accountants will be among the first professions affected by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Up to 95 percent of accountants will face some threat due to the advanced automation capabilities provided by AI. While this is categorized initially as a "threat," it also opens the door to a new kind of accountant. The modern accountant does much more than crunch numbers. In fact, in the future, AI might do most of the number-crunching.

What comes through strongly from all the analysis we've carried out for this report is just how big a game changer AI is likely to be, and how much value potential is up for grabs. AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion1 to the global economy in 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined. Of this, $6.6 trillion is likely to come from increased productivity and $9.1 trillion is likely to come from consumption-side effects. While some markets, sectors and individual businesses are more advanced than others, AI is still at a very early stage of development overall. From a macroeconomic point of view, there are therefore opportunities for emerging markets to leapfrog more developed counterparts.