I've never been a gambler. Outcomes are determined more on luck than skill and that just makes me queasy. Sometimes, I feel like companies view #AI the same way, like they are hedging their bets and maybe even expecting defeat. Today I want you to weigh in. Why do you think that, according to a study by @BCG (Boston Consulting Group), only one in 10 companies have found success with AI? Seems like we should have better odds than that.

Companies struggle to use AI to improve the way their businesses operate, a challenge that can be mitigated by following five rules. There are two faces to the machine-learning component of artificial intelligence algorithms. There are the gee-whiz competitions in which data grand masters, given fixed rules, design algorithms that set in motion a race to solve aspects of complex problems like HIV or traffic forecasting. Open-source libraries have been created to house the winning solutions, allowing parts of them to be used again in future contests. Because speed is crucial, automated data manipulation and pattern identification are frequently employed. The other face of machine learning involves the more real-world challenge of how to fix an obsolescent business process or address a business challenge using algorithms and programs.

As much of a buzz that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has created this decade, the algorithmic models in this ecosystem have undoubtedly manifested its way into every facet of our daily lives. Whether they are used to solve pressing societal issues or to recommend a new song playlist for your commute, these models are commonplace. As research and technology progress to make way for more advanced systems becoming the norm, unintended consequences of bias and prejudice have to be seriously considered. Will humanity truly be able to create an Artificial Super Intelligence that supersedes our own cognitive abilities if the system is built upon our own biases towards ethnicity, gender and cultural diversity? I'm not the first person to write about this, and I won't be the last.