Intelligent machines are getting smarter and faster, and they’re already at work among us
At one time or another, we’ve all been in a situation where someone’s smartphone – maybe even our own – is left on the conference room table. As we pack up to leave, the phone’s owner snatches up the device and says something like, “Oops, almost forgot my brain.” On cue, everyone chuckles.
This little bon mot may be closer to the truth than we realize. In a 1985 article, Byte magazine puts the concepts of artificial intelligence in this context: “You awake one morning to find your brain has another lobe functioning. Invisible, this auxiliary lobe answers your questions with information beyond the realm of your own memory, suggests plausible courses of action, and asks questions that help bring out relevant facts. You quickly come to rely on the new lobe so much that you stop wondering how it works. You just use it.”
That pretty much describes today’s smartphone-dependent culture. The Byte article concludes, “This is the dream of artificial intelligence.” Of course, there are those who predict the dream may turn into a nightmare, as machines take over more and more complex tasks, displacing workers in the process.
However, the reality may be more mundane. The fact is, we’re already using many attributes of artificial intelligence on tasks ranging from reading restaurant receipts to getting help from chat bots. Siri is a manifestation of artificial intelligence; so is facial recognition software in use at airport boarding gates.
Even with these marvels at our fingertips, the AI revolution has only begun, as companies are adopting strategies to evolve from a traditional office environment to a digital workplace. According to a survey of 800 organizations worldwide by Dimension Data, a global information and communications technology provider, the digital workplace is no longer just made up employees interacting with customers and colleagues. It's increasingly populated by 'virtual employees'—not physical workers, but virtual assistants, and, in certain industries such as banking, virtual tellers and virtual advisors, leveraging technology to increase productivity.
The presence of these AI assistants are only likely to mushroom in the near future, as the research found 62 percent of participants expect to have technology such as virtual advisors in their organizations within the next two years.
The report found nearly 30 percent of organizations say their digital transformation initiatives are far enough along that they are already seeing benefits. Beyond improving business processes, 45 percent of the enterprises surveyed are also reporting improved customer satisfaction as a result of their use of digital workplace technology.AI
Friend or Foe? As companies and individuals alike grapple with the rise of artificial intelligence in the workplace and practically everywhere else, it might be well to define what it is – and what it isn’t. Broadly speaking, the term can be applied to any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. However as devices become more adept at their tasks, they tend not to be thought of as AI anymore. For example, opticalcharacter recognition or autonomous vehicles.
When IBM’s Deep Blue beat chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, the machine exhibited every sign of intelligence – at least from an AI academic’s perspective. However, to the layperson it wasn’t "real" intelligence because it didn’t operate under the same definition of what it means to be intelligent as Kasparov did. It could win a chess match, but could it carry on a witty conversation at the same time?
Much of the progress in the field of AI that has taken place since the watershed Kasparov/Deep Blue matchup is attributable to massive advances in computer science and storage capacity. The availability of huge mountains of data and the machinery to access and analyze it all has sent the AI star soaring in such diverse fields as finance, medicine, logistics and travel, with more on the way.
But as researchers are finding, there’s more to intelligence – artificial or otherwise – than just raw computing power. The field has been broken down into a set of sub-disciplines that include reasoning and problem solving, learning, planning and, yes, even more warm-fuzzy characteristics like commonsense knowledge, creativity and social intelligence. Apparently these are all things that humans can do intuitively with varying degrees of success, but machines are challenged to come up with behaviors that mimic these traits.
Some of the deep-seated distrust of artificial intelligence can no doubt be traced to the way the subject has been treated in science fiction. While R2D2 and Commander Data may have been benevolent, even cute, for the most part machines on the cusp of attaining the status of sentient beings – everything from Rossum’s Universal Robots (which first coined the word ‘robot’) to the sociopath HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Arnold Schwartzenegger’s inexhaustible T-800 in Terminator – have been portrayed as downright malevolent, or at least insensitive.
Fortunately some recent studies in the real world find that today’s workers are much less concerned about the invasion of intelligent machines in the workplace, and many are looking at the advent of AI as an opportunity. A poll of over 5,300 people by global HR service provider Randstad Group found only 14 percent of US employees worry that automation will take their jobs away. Furthermore, according to the 2017 Randstad Employer Brand Research, over half (51 percent) said they would be happy to retrain to get up to speed on automation to better leverage its capabilities. "These sentiments should be welcome news for companies as they seek greater adoption of automation to drive productivity and innovation,” says Linda Galipeau, CEO Randstad North America. “As we have known for quite some time, the success of organizations in the future will depend greatly on their ability to strike a balance between valuable human insight and interaction with technolo-gy.”
SHORT SUBJECTSBuster Online Pro Planner Manages Group Transportation Group transportation solution provider Buster has launched Pro Planner, a dedicated online platform where corporate and independent event professionals can manage their group transportation needs (coach buses, mini buses, Sprinter vans, limos, SUVs, luxury and school buses) on one page.
The platform allows planners to map out and save any number of events, shop competitive vehicle charter fees, book transportation and pay online. On-call account service specialists are also available for one-on-one help. There is no charge to use Pro Planner, but event planners must contact Buster for a log-in to use the personalized platform.
Short’s Travel Adds QPX to Flight InventoryShort’s Travel Management, a full-service travel management company, has announced the addition of the QPX pricing, shopping and availability system to its existing Travelport flight inventory. ITA Software/QPX is now providing its airline shopping technology to Short’s Travel Online (STO), the TMC’s online corporate booking tool.
Global Cybercrime Levels Reach All Time High Cybercrime attacks reached record high levels in the past quarter, with 144 million attacks detected over the 90 days ending in August. According to the Q2 Cybercrime Report from ThreatMetrix, a provider of risk-based authentication solutions, global cybercrime has risen nearly 100 percent since 2015.
As attack levels rise globally, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting emerging digital business models, such as ridesharing apps and media streaming organizations. The data reveals the Asia Pacific region has seen a 45 percent growth in cybercrime year over year with Japan joining the list of top five attack destinations for the first time this year.
New account origination fraud has risen 30 percent since last quarter. Highly organized criminal gangs are using stolen data harvested from security breaches to apply for new loans or create banking and eCommerce accounts. The information is also being used to perform large-scale identity credential testing and attacks on less traditional industries, especially media companies.
Uber for Business Platform Gets a Major MakeoverUber has introduced a major revamp of its Uber for Business platform which aims to ensure that travel policy is followed. With the new platform, according to Uber, companies using Uber for Business can set rules of usage ahead of time to streamline the process of expensing rides and ensuring greater compliance.
The changes allow managers to create programs that limit criteria like the type of car used, the total amount riders can expense, what time of day Uber can be used and geographic limits on where it can be expensed. These rules can all be combined in customized programs, including for commuters, recruiting and client travel programs and employee perks.
IATA and A4A Launch Lost Baggage CampaignThe International Air Transport Association and Airlines for America have launched a year-long global campaign to reduce the number of mishandled bags as well as increasing the efficiency of baggage operations. By June 2018, airlines have committed to being able to track a bag when it is accepted at the airport, loaded onto the aircraft, transferred to the arrival system or put into the transfer system for carriage by another airline. Airlines should also be able to share this tracking information with interline carriers as needed.
Annually, more than four billion bags are carried by airlines globally. Less than 0.43 percent do not arrive with their owners. “Implementation of baggage tracking is a collaborative effort between airlines and airports,” said managing director of passenger services at A4A Patty Edwards. “Airlines and airports are working together to ensure the infrastructure is available to provide this enhanced service to our customers.”
Ten Most Charged Up Cities in the USEVgo which operates the nation's largest network of public electric vehicle fast charging stations, has revealed the top 10 cities in the US with the highest usage of DC Fast Chargers. Topping the list is San Diego with more than 6,000 sessions on an average month, followed by Fremont, San Francisco and five other California cities; Atlanta and Arlington, VA, also charged into the list of top 10 cities.
DC Fast is one of the fastest charging methods available providing approximately 150 miles of range per hour at a charging rate of 50kW. EVgo now operates 950 fast chargers in over 600 locations nationwide, powering electric vehicles an average of 3,084,708 miles nationwide each month.
JetBlue and Gladly Announce PartnershipJetBlue and Gladly, a customer service platform, have formed a partnership that enables travelers to have one continuous conversation with JetBlue’s customer support team across multiple communication channels. Gladly gives customer support representatives a single view of all conversations with customer no matter whether the customer is communicating via phone, text, chat, e-mail, Tweet or Facebook message.
The feature allows customers to have continuous, real-time conversations through whichever channel they prefer at the moment. It also gives them the ability to switch channels mid-conversation and pick up where they left off, accessing the full history of conversations with the customer.
iJet Acquires Prescient Traveler TechnologyiJet International, the risk management company, has acquired the Prescient Traveler technology and intelligence solution from Prescient, a compliance and risk mitigation company. The acquisition, according to iJET, enables the company to offer real-time incident reports and analysis, along with global, location-based risk data.
The technology includes early warnings with the ability to avoid or mitigate a threat and rapid incident notification to the proper parties. According to Bruce McIndoe, president of iJET International, with the Prescient Traveler technology integrated into iJET’s Worldcue intelligence and alert platform, “our customers will have enhanced location-aware technology coupled with detailed incident reports and threat intelligence tied to the precise location of the mobile app user or any location registered into the platform.”