The machines are coming for your crops--at least in a few fields in America. This autumn John Deere, a tractor-maker, shipped its first fleet of fully self-driving machines to farmers. The tilling tractors are equipped with six cameras which use artificial intelligence (ai) to recognise obstacles and manoeuvre out of the way. Julian Sanchez, who runs the firm's emerging-technology unit, estimates that about half the vehicles John Deere sells have some AI capabilities. That includes systems which use onboard cameras to detect weeds among the crops and then spray pesticides, and combine harvesters which automatically alter their own setting to waste as little grain as possible.

AI and Business Decision In the past, executives relied on inconsistent and incomplete data before the revival of AI and its commercial application. With AI, we now have the option to look up to data-driven models and simulations. A modern AI system feeds on big data business diets instead of starting from scratch. Augmented intelligence is put to work in businesses. It eventually offers executive decision-makers revolutionary models to use as a basis for making decisions.

Leaders from McKinsey Technology Council, academia and industry, highlight AI, metaverse, crypto, and quantum computing as some of the key business priorities in 2022, according to a recent report. Predicting the trends that will headline business agendas this year as well as the ones that fly under business' radars, but need more attention, the leaders claim that investments in digital are expected to continue as the world manages continued impacts of the Covid disruption. Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Businesses are expected to continue to invest in AI and ML through a process known machine learning operations (MLOps), whereby they can create an operating system that streamlines the production and maintenance of machine learning models. According to Rodney Zemmel, senior partner at McKinsey & Company, "MLOps provides the opportunity to create an operating system of people and technology that can make the process of creating each new application dramatically easier, helping to enable the whole business." Michael Chui, partner at McKinsey Global Institute believes that MLOps will allow businesses to deploy AI more cost effectively and at scale, as a point of competitive advantage.

In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute's Forward Thinking podcast, host Michael Chui speaks with Jeffrey Ding, researcher and founder of the ChinAI Newsletter, about information asymmetry in artificial intelligence between China and the West. They cover why data may not be like oil, the Chinese industry adage on products, platforms, and standards, "unsexy AI," and more. An edited transcript of this episode follows. Subscribe to the series on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Anna Bernasek, co-host: Michael, there's a lot of talk right now about artificial intelligence, or AI, and what it means for global competition. I'm really glad we've got a guest today that can talk to us about what's really going on, particularly when it comes to the US and China. It definitely is a fascinating topic--at least, I find it personally. I'm a former AI practitioner and more recently, at the McKinsey Global Institute, have been able to study the impact of AI on business and more broadly. And one of the reasons I'm so excited about today's conversation is because it's with somebody you probably don't know yet but probably should. He's famous in certain corners of the internet but his work, it turns out, is relevant everywhere.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of those terms which always manage to be one of the trending topics. A majority of us think of AI as rocket science or robots ruling the world, which is shown in sci-fi movies. However, in real world it is a different story i.e., AI and humans go hand in hand. Everyone has a fear that AI will steal jobs but it can create more employment than it eliminates. Artificial Intelligence is capable of creating more life simplifying tools which will in turn increase the employment rate and these simplifying tools aren't only helpful for people associated with tech, but such inventions are helpful for people in all genres.

Artificial Intelligence is frequently in the headlines these days, sometimes portrayed in apocalyptic terms as the technology that will take over our jobs or even our lives. But what if it could also become a valuable tool in the worldwide efforts to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals? Already, AI capabilities are being used in various ways to further societal goals. After the passage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, many streets in downtown Houston were flooded and impassible--but others weren't. An AI application that combined satellite imagery with object detection software enabled rescue workers to identify safe escape routes for those trapped by the rising waters. AI-powered object detection is also at the core of a new application that could bring relief to the estimated 250 million people worldwide who are visually impaired, most of whom live in developing countries. The free Microsoft app, which works through a smartphone, uses AI to recognize friends and describe people and specific objects such as currency bills.

Healthcare is one of the major success stories of our times. Medical science has improved rapidly, raising life expectancy around the world, but as longevity increases, healthcare systems face growing demand for their services, rising costs and a workforce that is struggling to meet the needs of its patients. Demand is driven by a combination of unstoppable forces: population aging, changing patient expectations, a shift in lifestyle choices, and the never-ending cycle of innovation being but a few. By 2050, one in four people in Europe and North America will be over the age of 65--this means the health systems will have to deal with more patients with complex needs. Managing such patients is expensive and requires systems to shift from an episodic care-based philosophy to one that is much more proactive and focused on long-term care management.

Every day, global trends are reshaping society and the business landscape. Today's infographic from McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) presents a snapshot of 10 insights into how the world is changing, based on its research work from 2019. How did we get here, and where are we going? Globalization is making the world "shrink" every day, as humans and trade become increasingly connected. However, there are signs that point to a new phase of globalization that is leading to different outcomes than prior years.

Their results reflect the strong demand for marketing technology (martech) solutions globally. BDO found that marketing automation budgets increased 25% last year, and the martech industry in North America and the UK is $65.9B, with the global market estimated to be $121B. While the total number of martech apps in the world continues to grow, leading marketing platforms -- such as Adobe, HubSpot, Oracle, and Salesforce -- are increasingly orienting around ecosystems of these apps. The platform provides coherence in marketing data and workflow, while the app ecosystem provides a long tail of specialized capabilities and vertical market solutions. Consolidated platforms with diversified ecosystems have the potential to give the market the best of both worlds and help marketers harness the tremendous energy of the SaaS app explosion."

Researchers, entrepreneurs, and policy-makers are increasingly using AI to tackle development challenges. In other words, using AI for a greater good is a real thing. However, it is becoming clear that AI poses as many threats as benefits, although the former ones are usually neglected. I do not want to get into trust, accountability, or safety issues in this short piece (if you want, here there is more), but avoiding the negative effects of AI is why incorporating a set of ethical principles into our technology development process is so paramount. Ethics plays a key role by ensuring that regulations of AI harness its potential while mitigating its risks (Taddeo and Floridi, 2018) and it would help us understand how to use responsibly the power coming from this technology.