Top 5 Current Business Trends in Artificial Intelligence

A search of ‘Most Current Trends in AI’ yields videos with humans in front of our planet shot from space, or robots in front of scenes of earth’s natural splendors.  All of the images seem designed to invoke a reminder of the collision course we are on with artificial intelligence.  Mankind, the earth, our future, and the rise of a new robotic species designed to study our actions and do our learning for us.  To me, the images would have you believe that we are still early in the ascent of the first peak of Gartner’s Hype Cycle.  After all, none of the images depict the real picture of AI: network cabling, nondescript black boxes, blinking lights, and intelligent PDUs.

If that last one catches you by surprise, remember that you are reading a blog posted on the website of a manufacturer of power distribution units and Smart PDUs.  In fact, you are reading a blog on a site that believes that everything – even artificial intelligence – needs power.  As such, please don’t turn your nose up at the mention of Smart PDUs in the context of the world of AI.

Actually, the image of a PDU in the picture frame of artificial intelligence is not too far off the mark. What is trending in AI has less to do with what the future promises, and more to do with harnessing the data that is available using the best server, storage, and network technologies on the market today.  The business of AI is just that, and so our perception of the current trends in AI are all about the areas where technology and business meet:

1. AI Marketplaces: for me this is all about creating a market for AI, which is easier said than done. Ultimately, artificial intelligence has to contribute to the efficiency and profitability of the corporation, otherwise it will have no merit.  Today, leading businesses are still working through the use cases of this technology.

2. AI Developer toolkits: the Apple toolkit model was used to turn the never-before-seen iPhone into a ubiquitous presence.  The same approach will be needed to incent developers to do the important foundation-building for tomorrow’s AI applications.

3. Intelligent applications: speaking of developers, marketable applications will need to be created in order for artificial intelligence to continue to work its way through the cycle. This will mean standardizing on solution sets for new business issues that can be solved through AI.  

4. AI Cloud services: following a playbook written for the most recent historical shift in computing, AI applications will evolve into cloud PaaS and SaaS solutions. (one more line)

5. Digital ethics – we are standing at the edge of the next shift in business ethics. As a community, we will have to work through the vagaries of the brave new world mentality that accompanies new technology.  Without an ethical basis for any AI vision, the long-term survivability of the technology is not guaranteed.

It might be fair to say that the place where AI and business meet is in the data.  Wherever that data is collected, stored and distributed along the network touches a device that powers the journey.  Businesses depend on PDUs to manage the power that keeps the data flowing. See? Everything needs power, and intelligent power starts with  Servertech PDUs. 

Interested in learning about artificial intelligence, its relationship with other technologies, and the resources it requires? Make sure to read our new white paper, "Powering the Next Revolution: Artificial Intelligence".