What Mainstream AI is (Not) Doing

After dabbling in machine learning during my undergrad, I scored a job as a Business Analyst catering to the Public Sector and Education business of one of the leading AI service providers in India. Having landed the job in the pandemic -- which I must say, I consider myself fortunate to -- and onboarded onto the role fully online, I have been at the forefront of the transition of organizations from real-world to digital world. And I say this not only for the company I work for, but for the numerous governmental agencies and educational institutions that have approached us seeking to undergo a digital transformation in order to enhance their processes in the current situation as well as for the future. I genuinely believe that these past one-and-a-half years have been a blessing for the entire IT industry and in association to the AI industry -- since AI is now nearly ubiquitous when it comes to IT -- as evidenced by the incredulous growth the Big Tech has achieved by a two-prong strategy of undergoing digital transformation themselves (thereby cutting expenditures) and providing the same services to other industries (and generating immense revenue). As previously mentioned, Big Tech companies, while initially apprehensive of the impact of the'new normal', soon realized its potential and took full advantage of it. Everything increased -- from ad revenues due to digital ads becoming the major avenue to reach consumers, online shopping, sales of laptops and mobiles as everything went online, social media engagement to increased cloud consumption as businesses went digital.