Shamayita Acharya

“If technology can’t help its people achieve happiness, then there is no reason for technology to exist”, said Theo Veltman, the innovation manager for the City of Amsterdam, on April 2018 at a summit in London. And when it comes to the Internet of Things, it has become a trending topic in the world of technology throughout the media and social networks. With smart devices, the Internet of Things has a great impact on our everyday lives. And according to a report, the impact of Iot in devices will immensely grow in near future. For 2020, the installed base of IoT devices is forecast to grow to around 31 billion globally. So, how exactly does the Internet of Things influence our daily life? Here are five examples: 1. Making a Smart Home Internet of Things has made the concept of home automation reality. Be it a smartphone, computer, lights, windows, thermostats, oven, or water system - now be it home or business, everything will be connected to the intern...

We are constantly surrounded by data. It greets us on social media, in team presentation or a flashy infographic or in form of a boring economic news feed. Data is increasing rapidly and becoming a central source of information. Companies are trying to build on data visualization capabilities to easily represent those complex and large data sets.  Data visualizations aids in decision making as it reduces the pain of analyzing complex data. Simple yet informative data visuals help decision makers with a generous opportunity to reap benefits from multiple data assets. Improvement in visualization technologies and new ways of thinking has raised the importance of data visualization to tell more stories.   Creating a strategy using data visualization It is important to build a strategy for effectively using data for preparing data visuals. First, collect relevant data and eliminate the information which is not appropriate by cleansing that data.  This will identify...

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider A contagion is usually considered a virus that spreads from person to person. Contagion can also generally be used to mean that some kind of practice or idea is spread, usually one of a harmful nature. At a recent presentation that I gave about AI self-driving cars, I was asked whether there is a kind of “accidents contagion” occurring with the current crop of driverless self-driving cars. The question seemed to be based on the aspect that there appears to have been a recent spate of self-driving car related accidents. Is this perhaps a trend? Does it portend that the self-driving cars are an evil that is being unwisely spread? Should society try to take some kind of action to prevent further spread? In a previous article I discussed the notion that AI self-driving cars could be perceived as an invading species: https://aitrends.com/selfdrivingcars/invasive-curve-and-ai-self-driving-cars/ Let’s now take a look at what’s happening with these s...

By Thomas C. Linn, a U.S. Naval War College professor, a U.S. Army War College instructor “In two years, China will be ahead of the United States in AI (artificial intelligence),” states Denis Barrier, CEO of global venture firm Cathay Innovation. Others say the same. If so, China will largely determine how this technology transforms the world. Today’s contest is more than a race for dominance in a new technology — it’s one between authoritarianism and democracy. “AI is the world’s next big inflection point,” says Ajeet Singh, CEO of ThoughtSpot in Palo Alto. Artificial intelligence is machine learning, which self-learns programmed tasks, using data, and the more it gets, the more learned it becomes. It drives cars, recognizes individuals, diagnoses diseases and more. Like past transformational technologies, artificial intelligence will convey advantages to the nation that leads its use — accelerating research, increasing productivity and enabling dominant military capabilities....

Recently, many organizations experienced severe downtimel due to an undetected malware, Deeplocker, which secretly evaded even the most stringent cyber security measures. Deeplocker leverages the AI model to attack the target host by using indicators such as facial recognition, geolocation and voice recognition. This incident speaks volumes about the big role AI plays in the cybersecurity domain. In fact, some may even go so far as to say that AI for cybersecurity is no longer a nice to have technology, but rather a necessity. Large and small organizations and even startups are investing heavily in building AI systems to analyze huge data troves and in turn, help their cybersecurity professionals to identify possible threats and take precautions or immediate actions to mediate them. If AI can be used to protect systems, it can also be used to harm them. How? The hackers and intruders can launch smarter smarter attacks that would be difficult to combat. Phishi...

This past November, Sony announced that it was reviving its robot dog Aibo. The iconic robotic pet, introduced in 1999, won a lot of fans all over the world but had been discontinued for over a decade. The company said the new Aibo, with more advanced mechatronics and AI, would be available for purchase early this year, but only in Japan. Now Sony is announcing that, after selling 20,000 new Aibos to Japanese consumers, it is making the robot canine available also in the United States. At an event at its U.S. headquarters in New York City, the company said it will be offering a “limited first litter edition” bundle starting next month, with expected delivery before the holidays. This is the sixth generation of Sony’s robot dog. The biggest difference from previous models is a new cloud-based AI engine, which relies on a powerful on-board computer and advanced image sensors to make Aibo smarter and more lifelike....

A decentralised web was how the web was originally envisioned, but somehow in the past 25 years, it ended up in the hands of a few very powerful companies. As Sir Tim Berners-Lee said during the Decentralised Web Summit in 2016: “The web was designed to be decentralised so that everybody could participate by having their own domain and having their own webserver and this hasn’t worked out. Instead, we’ve got the situation where individual personal data has been locked up in these silos.” Over the years, the objective of a distributed network of nodes where everyone would be able to participate for the betterment of humanity has been lost with many centralised companies - such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and WeChat – offering centralised services while removing fundamental freedoms such as consumer data ownership rights, privacy and security. Too often, consumers become the victim of malpractices of large organisations, not taking care of the customers’ data, leaving their custo...

Technology is evolving day by day and every field and domain is massively influenced by the new discoveries and their applications. The same goes for the film industry that evolved considerably thanks to the new technology involved in 4K cameras, CGI and even Augmented Reality. It’s time for another future technology to leave its mark on the film industry: blockchain. What is Blockchain? A blockchain is basically a digital database of transactions that get duplicated through a peer-to-peer network of several computers. The revolutionary aspect of the blockchain comes from the fact that it is a decentralized system, meaning that no single entity can control or manipulate it. For each operation or transaction that happens on the blockchain, a copy is instantly made and transmitted to the other computers in the network so that everything is transparent. Also, each transaction needs to be validated by the entire network in order for it to be valid and approved, leaving no room for frau...

In the age of big data, information is power. Enterprises are analysing tremendous amounts of data in order to achieve significant competitive advantage, increase revenue or reduce risks. For example, the success of the Human Genome Project has demonstrated how a global community of scientists can collectively produce and use data to benefit scientific progress […] The post Painless Disaster Recovery using Hortonworks Data Lifecycle Manager appeared first on Hortonworks .

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is unquestionably set to revolutionize business as we know it. There are seemingly countless ways that AI can support companies and help them become smarter, more profitable, and more prepared for the future.   AI is becoming far more mainstream, especially as people are starting to understand that Big Data and AI are not as scary as the sci-fi movies make it seem (or at least not yet). In fact, AI adoption in businesses is expected to reach 75% this year, as demand for this technology is growing across the board. Customers are beginning to expect more from brands in terms of optimized and personalized brand experiences. Since customers now use an average of four to five devices to interact with brands online, e-commerce sites must offer a truly continuous experience that picks up right where they left off.  To do this, AI must be a part of each step during the buyer’s journey from start to finish. Here’s how you can make this happen. ...

Enterprises love messaging. There is no evidence in this world that can deny the obviousness of the fact that enterprises just love reaching out to their customers. Be it regarding new deals, a new promotion, or just to remind people about them, enterprises cannot stop themselves from reaching out to who they serve. These messages are expertly crafted for the end audience in mind, and they have a high rate of reaction. Gone are the days when email marketing would get you the laurels. Organizations have recognized enterprise marketing as a good source of reaching out to customers, and they don’t seem to be moving back to the traditional methods. Here, we list some facts related to enterprise messaging, show some of the challenges that telecoms currently face in providing a platform for enterprises to manage, and describe how these roadblocks can be averted. In short, by the end of this article, not only would we know why enterprise messaging is so popular, but also, we’ll know of poss...

Data is an asset. Data is the digital currency. Data is the core of your business, many say the foundation, some say both. The list goes on and the market doesn’t seem to run out of terms to describe how invaluable data is to modern organizations. However, nothing is worthwhile for discussion if not put […] The post Be First. Done Right. AIM for Success with Hortonworks Professional Services appeared first on Hortonworks .

In today’s fast-paced society, time management is of huge importance to everyone in the developed world, from individuals, to small businesses and big organizations. With the latest developments in big data analytics, and its more widespread availability and usage, there is a growing number of businesses and enterprises which are choosing to implement big data analytics in some, or in all of their business processes. One of the processes where big data can have a beneficial impact on a business, or an organization, is time management. In this article, we will discuss: Why time management is important for business How big data can be helpful in managing time Things to consider before data mining implementation Steps for implementing big data for time management Why is effective time management important for business? Time is money. Sure, it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. As a matter of fact, money and time are quintessentially scarce resources. Most people are alway...

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider Stick to your knitting. That’s a famous line and the implication is that you should do what you know best to do. It acts also as a warning to be wary of going beyond your knitting. If you step outside your zone, it could be dicey. It could be troubling. It could be disastrous. There’s also another interpretation. If you have a knitting, you ought to know what it is, and thus you can stick with it. In other words, if you don’t even know what your knitting is, you likely have little chance or maybe a random chance of even sticking with it, since you didn’t even know that it existed. Why all this talk about knitting? Because there is a myriad of firms deeply involved in AI self-driving cars and the question arises as to which of them are sticking to their knitting and which of them are not. I’d dare say that we all would likely agree that any major auto maker has to be doing something substantial as it relates to AI self-driving cars. An auto ma...

By Thomas H. Davenport and Janet Foutty, MIT Sloan Management Review Many companies are experimenting with AI on a small scale, and a few have made a commitment that their organizations will be “AI first” or “AI-driven.” But what does this mean? What is AI doing or leading, and, in particular, what is the role of leadership in making organizations AI-driven? We see a lot of confusion around opportunity and action. In the 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey and report of business and HR leaders, 72% indicated that AI, robots, and automation are important — but only 31% felt their organizations were prepared to address strategy to implement these technologies. There aren’t that many AI-driven companies yet, and while we have seen a few examples outside of tech, most of the ones that do exist are technology companies. That makes it a little speculative to define the traits leaders need to help move their organizations to an AI-first future. Still, it’s useful t...

IT budgets are undergoing a significant shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) and big data platforms, according to research from GlobalData. “If the last few years has shown anything it’s that the Internet of Things (IoT) is a clear stepping stone along the path toward what many consider to be the next industrial revolution — call it Industry 4.0, digital transformation or what you will,” said Brad Shimmin, Service Director at GlobalData. “New use cases appear daily, each revealing how the simple act of instrumenting any given business process can open up exciting new opportunities. “But the great myth of IoT, that it alone can miraculously enable factories and cities to run themselves is just that — a myth. Without a view into the business as a whole, IoT is nothing but the instrumentation and reporting of select functions. Real digital transformation requires not just IoT but IoT in context, which is to say alongside big data and analytics, all fuelled by AI. “This idea...

The Truth About Automation in The World of Digital Marketing: Don't Make These Mistakes! Customer engagement has been described as the experience of all of a consumer’s contacts with a business's services, brand and products. While powerful customer engagement has been proved to generate significant outcomes—more sales, more loyalty and more customers—a lot of companies keep struggling to distinguish the approach that would best achieve this. This does not have to be the fact of the matter. Directors can fulfil these goals if they concentrate on something more focused: the digital consumer experience. Interactions; Physical vs. Virtual Digital customer engagement involves just those contacted through a digital interaction such as a tablet, a smartphone or a computer. Investigating a product on the internet, utilizing a mobile application to locate a store’s closest position, seeking for tech support assistance on a cell phone—each one of these is a digital customer encoun...

Employee turnover costs businesses a lot in terms of lost knowledge and productivity. High turnover rates can also lead to excessive training costs. For these reasons and more, companies increasingly say that, for them, controlling employee turnover is either an important or urgent matter. One talent-acquisition professional found that, across the board, one-third of new hires last only about half a year in their new position. Another third of employees will start looking for a better job unless they get a pay raise within their first year. As a matter of fact, among firms that employ more than 100 employees, 33 percent of them, on average, have already returned to the job market. Especially in light of current tight labor markets, companies need to find ways to reduce the volatility of their human resources. Although you can start this process by measuring turnover, such data only help if you can understand the underlying causes of the problem in your company. So, in addition to...

Due to its nearly limitless potential, artificial intelligence is at the forefront of much of this research, and Microsoft has been making headlines with new technologies, major acquisitions, and innovative ideas. The tech giant has long been moving toward a cloud-based future, and investment in AI is helping solidify its path toward becoming the AI leader in a number of fields. Here are a few technologies Microsoft has invested in recently and the potential impact they’ll have on the company’s future and society as a whole. About Project Brainwave Traditional computer hardware can perform complex tasks quickly. However, most hardware is tuned primarily for general-purpose performance, and systems that demand effective real-time performance often rely on specialized hardware, as milliseconds saved can be critical in certain scenarios. Microsoft’s Project Brainwave relies on a type of chips known as a field-programmable gate array. FPGA chips can be modified using software, enabling ...