Since the dawn of the computing age, scientists have obsessed over the idea of thinking machines. For decades, researchers have worked to develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of learning new things and mimicking the human brain.
In the past, AI seemed more like science fiction than an actual possibility. It looked like humans would always be better than machines at certain tasks like understanding speech, identifying faces, understanding emotions, controlling a vehicle, or creating art.
In the last few years, AI has come of age. Artificial intelligence can now do all sorts of things that once seemed impossible. Here are 19 things AI can do now:
8. Drive a car
18. Compose music
19. Create art
If a machine can do all those things, could it also be used to do things like:
- Knowing which customers are defecting to the competition?
- Knowing which customers could be buying more from you?
- Knowing what a customer was willing to pay?
- Knowing which prospects are most likely to buy?
In fact, forward-thinking companies firms are already using analytics and sales technology AI and deep learning capabilities to do a better job of maximizing sales and profits. However, a lot of them are keeping these activities quiet. It’s far more beneficial to gain a competitive advantage if they’re not communicating how they’re doing these things.
So does this new wave of artificial intelligence mean that you’re about to be replaced by a robot?
Maybe, but maybe not.
While some experts predict that as many as half of current knowledge worker jobs will one day be performed by computers, others envision a future where humans and machines work together to accomplish more than they could alone. And many note that, at least in the short term, AI is creating more jobs than it is replacing because the economy needs people to design, run, and maintain those systems.
In other words, the rise of AI means that some people will lose their jobs and some people won’t.
The key to being one of the pricing professionals who gets to keep their jobs is understanding how AI and price optimization technologies work. To help you get started, we have a couple of resources: a webinar called Making Sense of Sales Technology and another webinar called Predictive Sales Analytics. And these are just a few of the dozens of resources we have that cover how to leverage sales technology and analysis to boost sales and your career.
Making Sense of Sales Technology
It's hard to make sense of the various sales technologies that are available today. How are they different? Do the differences actually matter? What do we need? How do we choose?