The Top 3 Trends in Artificial Intelligence in 2021

I’ve made no secret of my fascination with artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the massive advances taking place in the field. In fact, the AI industry is projected to reach more than $190 billion by 2025. From facial recognition on your cell phone to autonomous tractors, artificial intelligence has penetrated nearly every industry. However, 2021 will see some interesting trends in artificial intelligence research. I’m actively exploring these trends and evaluating associated investments.

Artificial Intelligence Will Take on Healthcare

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the optimization of healthcare has become more important than ever before. Even though there have been devastating results due to the pandemic, advanced technology has been able to save more lives than past pandemics. The Spanish Flu of 1918, for example, took 50 million lives, and the Black Death in the 1300s claimed up to 200 million lives.

Because of search engine technology and the ability to track data from around the world, the average person has had easy access to pandemic data, news, and information about vaccines. Because of AI, accessing information has become easier and more efficient than ever.

Moreover, because of artificial intelligence and more advanced technology, researchers have developed vaccines in under a year. Additionally, artificial intelligence will continue to develop more accurate vaccines and track the symptoms and success of the vaccines with ease.

Plus, AI has been working to figure out who came in contact with who to further prevent the spread of disease and COVID-19. Because of this technology, people were easily alerted if they came in contact with someone who had tested positive.

Along with tracking data, you can expect to see artificial intelligence used in medical trials to analyze treatment plans, assign test and control groups, and monitor progress. With more advanced medical supplies, better ways to treat illness, diagnose disease, and monitor treatment plans will continue to be developed.

Further, predictive technology for analyzing the potential for future outbreaks is also an area that artificial intelligence can prove exceptionally useful. Because artificial intelligence can predict trends and quickly locate new strains, researchers will not only see a new outbreak well before it happens, but they can predict how a virus will evolve.

AI Will Make it Easier to Analyze Trends of Online Consumer Data

During the pandemic, more people began making their purchases online instead of in a store. This was driven not only by most retail stores being closed for an extended period of time, but those who stayed home to protect themselves or who were quarantined didn’t have many other options to buy goods.

Even those who never shopped online didn’t have much of a choice, and now online shopping has become increasingly convenient and popular. Unsurprisingly, Amazon’s sales increase by up to 40% during the pandemic and are a symbol for the success of online stores.

With AI, businesses can track consumer data and purchasing trends. Not only will AI help businesses optimize the use of social media platforms, but artificial intelligence can also use tools for social listening to target customer needs. Because of AI, businesses can sift through seas of data to gain valuable consumer insights.

This trend may also translate to finance, especially in the trading of stocks. Nearly everyone has heard of the fiasco with the GameStop stock that had significant impacts on hedge funds and the stock market in general, and now companies want better ways to track market data. Artificial intelligence will continue to work on analyzing market data and stock-purchasing trends to predict how the market will perform.

Artificial Intelligence will Strengthen Cybersecurity

Because significantly more people are working from home than previously recorded, artificial intelligence will continue to work towards better cybersecurity and protection against cybercriminals. Because of artificial intelligence, information security teams can track and prevent online issues with the best technology.

With the help of artificial intelligence, users can become increasingly safe online. Even though viruses and cyber-attacks become more threatening, cybersecurity that’s powered by artificial intelligence will be able to detect threats, control threat exposure, respond quickly to incidents, and prevent cyberattacks with ease.

Artificial intelligence can partner with cybersecurity and create systems that track patterns and even adapt as the viruses do. This is known as “machine learning” and can be a powerful statistical tool that will give computers the power to learn. With AI-powered cybersecurity, online threats will be a thing of the past.

Final Thoughts

While these trends will continue to drive the market of AI in 2021, it is in no way an exhaustive list. Because we are continuously moving towards more efficient systems and automation, consumers can expect to see artificial intelligence across nearly all industries.

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