AI for the Masses: How CIOs Can Prepare for Machine Learning's Wide-Ranging Business Impact

Whether we're ready for it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is infiltrating the enterprise. From natural language processing systems that manage customer service inquiries to automated manufacturing plants staffed by robots, AI technologies, driven by machine learning, are having an impact. And with the accelerated rate of innovation--brought on by exponential increases in computer processing power and the sheer volume of data creation--AI clearly has the potential to transform just about every industry, from aerospace to retail. In a Harvard Business Review article, MIT researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee labeled AI "the most important general-purpose technology of our era." The effects of AI will be magnified in the coming decade, they say, as organizations "transform their core processes and business models to take advantage of machine learning."