When Should You Use AI to Solve Problems?

This article was written for a technology magazine. Please note all mentions of and links to their website have been removed.

Artificial intelligence is becoming mainstream. In fact, in 2021, 86% of CEOs stated that AI is considered a mainstream technology in their office. This widespread adoption of AI is due to the number of ways in which it can benefit a business. 

But what exactly can AI innovations do for you? Read on to discover situations where AI is helpful. You’ll also discover the advantages it presents in problem-solving. 

How Can AI Solve Problems? 

Though many people have heard of artificial intelligence, many do not really understand what it is. In fact, the very concept sounds like science fiction. So, before exploring the type of problems that can be solved by AI, it is important to understand a little bit about AI and how it provides input to the problem solving process. 

Artificial intelligence is a type of computer program that learns and improves as it receives more information. It may start out a little inaccurate but as it does the job more and more, it will get better. Once it does so, it has the potential to complete the job without much human interference. 

For example, you can create an AI that takes pictures of a city’s streets and circles any people it sees. At first, the AI will not be that good at the job. However, after you continue to correct it and show it where the people are, it can eventually do the job on its own. 

However, there are limits to what AI is able to accomplish, with most of these limits coming from their programming. Programming a chatbot with a full range of human speech doesn’t make sense if all it is doing is responding to retail questions. So, most AI are limited in their function.

AI for Automation

Since AI, once trained, doesn’t require much interaction from humans, one of the biggest reasons to use AI is automation. With automation becoming a bigger part of business, many companies are desperate to use AI for this purpose. 

AI is particularly good at handling automation because it can complete jobs that, previously, were only possible by humans. This includes jobs that require basic levels of critical thinking or problem-solving skills. In these regards, an AI can perform nearly as well as a real person. 

For example, AI chatbots are becoming increasingly popular. Since most people interacting with a chatbot only need help with a few specific things, the AI can be programmed to respond to those things. 

This is why many companies are looking at more ways to incorporate automated AI systems into their business. Any case in which they can do this means that they can reduce the number of employees they hire. This then reduces their business costs. 

AI for Reducing Human Error

People make mistakes. This is a pretty undeniable fact of life and one that individuals and businesses have had to deal with since the dawn of civilization. However, one of the benefits of AI is that it can reduce the number of mistakes being made. 

AI reduces human error by taking humans out of the equation. An AI simply uses the raw data it was previously provided in order to make a decision. This decision then has the consistency and reliability of a machine.

For example, a human tagging pictures for specific elements may get tired after a while. They may start to miss the elements they are looking for, especially if their eyes start to get wary. However, artificial intelligence does not experience fatigue and, thus, will not make the same mistakes. 

In this way, an AI could even be used as a way to double-check an employee’s work. This provides a company with a more accurate final product. 

AI for Creative Solutions

While most artificial intelligence systems are still quite limited when it comes to problem solving, there are some specific advantages it has. One of these is the ability to disregard conventional thoughts and seriously think outside the box. 

Humans are limited by their access to information and their personal biases. A real person may be looking at the solution to a problem but still not be able to recognize its worth. This is due to limitations in our ability to fully grasp certain situations. 

However, AI-assisted problem-solving is not limited in these regards. It will use hard numbers, direct data, and any other relevant information in order to make the most logical and sound judgment it can. 

For example, a human may look at a transit system and determine that to improve it, upgrades must be made to the busiest route. However, an AI may look at the same system and determine that upgrading secondary routes will take the pressure off the main route and, thus, improve the entire system. This decision is then backed up by the information the AI is working with. 

In this way, problem-solving with AI can be a huge benefit to a variety of different individuals. It can come up with solutions that humans wouldn’t even think of or determine which solution would make the most sense. These decisions can then be implemented by humans. 

You simply need to identify if your problem has the potential to work with an AI. Then, you can work with one in order to get started. 

Using AI innovations 

AI innovations have given individuals and companies a new way to solve problems. With AI, increased avenues for automation, reduced human error, and new solutions to problems are all possible. These are all direct advantages of AI with the potential to help many. If you liked this article, make sure to check out the productivity articles from [redacted].