4 min read
The developing technology is acting as a boon to the human civilization for good. You might not know much about the term “machine learning” you might imagine a computer playing chess and calculating the next moves and the possible countermoves. However, when you hear the term “AI” or “artificial intelligence”, you are more likely to think about the movie “Terminator” and the role of Skynet and the rise of our inevitable robot overlords.
But, in real life, AI and specifically machine learning are far less sinister and it is not something of a far-off future. It is shaping and simplifying the way things work today, the way we travel, work and communicate. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are the most significant technological developments in recent history. It has the potential to change more than you might think at first thought.
Today the importance of machine learning in business cannot be overemphasized, it is revolutionizing the operations related to business and is constantly providing lots of new opportunities. Although machine learning has been with us since 1950, it is presently subjected to large scale applications than it has ever been. And being an entrepreneur, it is our job to constantly adapt to the evolving and changing market environment.
Machine learning comes in handy as it goes further to unveil the hidden potential of your business data by producing and implementing solutions to complex business problems. Machine learning allows computers to figure out things for themselves. Instead of every task being explicitly coded, the computer uses pre-configured data sets and rules to execute complex calculations. This technology maximizes the speed and makes the business cost effective.
What is Machine Learning
Machine learning is a component of AI, in which the computer is programmed in such a manner that it gains the ability to teach itself and improve its performance of a specific task. It is all about the analysis of big data, the automatic extraction of information for future use in making predictions then the results are decoded and the computer learns from this to make alliteration to future predictions and making them more accurate.
Many big online companies like Google, Netflix and Amazon are using this method to deliver semantic results based on the algorithms that are generated by analysis of user’s search, purchase and viewing history to predict what their customers are more likely to search for.
Every second, there are approximately 40,000 searches processed which is equal to 3.5 billion a day or 1.2 trillion searches per year. Each year, humanity spends the equivalent of 1 billion years online. It would be impossible to handle this straggling amount of data without the help of machine learning technology. However, the implications of machine learning go far beyond just stating our greedy thirst for knowledge. It is being increasingly integrated into all industries and every aspect of our workday and leisure time.
Machine learning has all the potential required to automate a large portion of skilled labour, but the extent to which this affects a workforce depends on the level of effort involved in the job. Machine learning at present allows the automation of singular tasks, whereas many jobs implicate numerous tasks and even multitasking at a level machine learning isn't skillful of so far.
The most obvious impact of machine learning is on the automation of industries. Earlier, the tasks and functions that were performed by trained workers are increasingly being mechanized, specifically the jobs that involve some kind of danger or potential harm, like work in mining and factories. The concept of driverless cars has already been a success in the form of Tesla and driverless trucks are operating in mining pits of Australia which are operated remotely from a distant control centre.
Machine learning helps in facilitating customer segmentation, it is not uncommon to find distinct groups of individuals sharing a wide range of similarities and within a business’s customer base. In fact, the identification of such groups is a very important step that every business must take. Luckily, machine learning clustering algorithms are perfect for attaining this kind of a subdivision. Many such algorithms are unsupervised in that they don't require distinctive direction by a human to be operated. Rather, an unsupervised clustering algorithm needs only data for investigation, so as to discover resemblances and variances (where they exist), and come up with separate clusters based on a number of features.
Your business can also use the power of machine learning and big data to achieve this segmentation. however, first, you need to discover whether segmentation is actually beneficial for your organization. If you believe it does, then it will become essential to invest seriously in data analytics, make your business machine learning ready, and then employ a machine learning team. You will soon be able to see that machine learning will not only help to precisely and efficiently make sense of the data at your disposal, but also help you to implement core business strategies.
Machine learning will help you in fostering predictive analysis after you will be able to gain insights of the behaviour of your customer from the big data, you can now use machine learning to develop generalisations and thus make accurate and precise predictions regarding the various business issues.
In easy words, machine learning algorithms can learn the behaviour patterns from data to determine the likelihood of a person or a group of people to take certain steps, such as subscribing for a service. To make accurate predictions, you must employ machine learning expertise to help tackle the data extracted from the business.
Machine learning can also be used to provide foundations for risk analysis and regulation, machine learning models can extensively analyse and regulate the risk factors associated with it. In fact, the machine learning system is well-thought-out to differ from the formerly present fraud detection systems which included only manually shaped rules and is better off because it's likely to improve as more and more data is registered. You can also make use of machine learning to generate financial stability. In fact, more organisations are developing systems to make the process easier.
Machine learning can also make targeting effective and feasible. Sometimes it is necessary to view one's customer base as consisting of different individuals with several preferences rather than a conglomeration of different groups. This perspective will make it more practical to modify products to each individual based on his or her specific behaviour and alleged preferences.
The Generation of actionable business insights with machine learning is becoming much easier, thanks to cloud-based platforms that can make use of the prevailing data to predict future consumer trends. And consumers are happy to fork over personal information in return for a personalized shopping experience that forecasts their needs and wants.
The involvement of machine learning in business is very exciting as it allows the business to provide a more customized experience. It helps the company to predict future needs and allows them to meet them more efficiently than the competition. If used properly, machine learning can take your business to a whole different league.
Need help with ML solutions in your startup or automating tasks in your organization? Get in touch.