How is Artificial Intelligence Transforming Online Businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines to display human skills such as reasoning, learning, planning, and creativity.

Covid-19 has created a demand for contactless payment methods and experiences that do not require contact with customer service. Amazon One uses “custom-built algorithms” to turn your hand into a contactless form of payment, identification, and access. Hudson and ALDI stores recently launched retail sales that allow customers to "just go out" with their purchases. Facebook recently introduced "smart glasses" with artificial intelligence that allow users to be online constantly and effortlessly.

The above examples show the direction in which the interests and needs of customers are moving. This is a great opportunity for the development of artificial intelligence in online marketing and overall business strategy because the number of Internet users and the data generated by them would be impossible to process by a person, while maintaining a smooth customer journey and quality, personalized service.

Table of contents:

• What are the benefits of using AI for an online business?
• Top 5 AI tools that online businesses can benefit from?
• Challenges of using artificial intelligence

What are the benefits of using AI for an online business?

Data collection in real-time

Many internet products and services include recommendation algorithms. They assist consumers in locating products that are the most relevant to their needs from an endless list of options. It is challenging to build an appropriate system, which continuously produces personalized content, as customer preferences change over time.

Delivering the right product to the right users at the right time requires automated recommendation systems that react to the changing environment, and shifting customer behavior on a regular basis. AI systems are excellent at finding trends and correlations from a set of data that is seemingly irrelevant. A great example is Netflix, which recommends TV shows to users, based on their preferences across different genres that have nothing in common, e.g. documentaries and comedy shows.

Cost reduction

According to Business Insider, as of 2020, 85% of customer interactions occur without human intervention. Thanks to AI, any business that has an online platform, can create personalized marketing campaigns faster than ever, which means lower costs and less time spent on manual marketing content.

This gives businesses more time to focus on other aspects such as improving customer service and lead generation activities. Successful marketing campaigns require a lot of time and resources. Artificial intelligence can significantly reduce this time and improve overall efficiency.

Price optimization

Pricing is one of the most difficult aspects of launching a new product or service. When settling on pricing, you must consider a number of factors, including manufacturing costs, market competitiveness, and brand image, all of which can change over time.

Using artificial intelligence, you can predict how much your customers would pay for something new based on previous product and competition data, and then adjust the price as needed.

Top 5 AI tools that online businesses can benefit from

1. Chatbots

Conversational artificial intelligence (chatbots) no longer only responds to customer inquiries, structurally following programmed conversations.

Thanks to advances in Machine Learning and Deep Learning, chatbots can now conduct multi-faceted discussions and respond to users by increasingly adapting to the context of the conversation.

This is one of the ways businesses are triggering hyper-growth today by combining the power of e-commerce with conversational AI. AI chatbots are much more sophisticated and can make personalized offers because they have real-time access to customer data.

According to Deloitte, the global conversational artificial intelligence industry, which includes chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants, is set to grow at a rate of 22% between 2020-2025, reaching $14 billion by 2025.

2. Image detection

One of the most impressive and highly significant advancements in artificial intelligence is image recognition. If robots are to 'think like humans' and mimic our ability to adapt to the environment, as in self-driving cars, they must also be able to 'see like us.' Basic things and settings may now be detected and identified by computers.

While these abilities are minor in comparison to human vision and perception, they have enabled and continue to allow tremendous technological achievements. Marketers may use image recognition to find unsigned photographs on social media.

3. Task Automation

Automation of tasks and assistance in system integration is also one of the most important business tools that are programmed with the use of AI. One of the examples of companies that leveraged this technology is Zapier.

It is a platform that can be used to create connections and automate marketing between hundreds of different systems, saving time, increasing efficiency, and lowering costs.

You create customized workflows to link tasks on one system with automated operations on another or more. The right data is pulled from the right location, whenever you need it.

4. Content personalization in real-time

In addition to answering queries via chatbots, AI can be used to collect data about leads and consumers in real time, which can then be used to predict future behaviors and preferences and create more targeted online marketing campaigns.

This data can be delivered via chatbots, user activity in the app or website, social media, or email. Artificial intelligence can help deliver the right content at the right time by using data and selecting it based on previous user behavior.

5. Filtering messages

There is a purpose behind every message you send, whether it's to ask a question, clarify a mistake in your order, or connect to an employee. As a first step towards improving the current communication experience, AI has developed recognition of "intentions".

However, this is quite a challenging endeavor, as it is impossible to detect the entire set of intentions that may appear among millions of messages.

Airbnb is a great example of a company that has developed a machine learning platform for classifying and tagging message intent that is used to automatically answer guests’ questions without the involvement of the host.

Challenges of using artificial intelligence

Contextual thinking

One of the significant limitations when it comes to AI technology is the fact that machine learning has not yet completely developed contextual thinking.

According to a book by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Francis de Véricourt, “Framers: human advantage in an age of technology and turmoil” contextual thinking is the main advantage of the human brain over AI technology.

Despite their speed and ability to analyze data, AI systems have difficulty adapting to specific situations and can only understand particular commands. Contextual thinking and mental models are important. Despite rapid development, AI systems may misinterpret the user's request or take it too literally.

Legal aspects of AI creation

As artificial intelligence is a rapidly evolving topic, there aren't many laws on the limits of the use and creation of AI. The European Commission is proposing the first-ever legal framework for artificial intelligence (AI).

It aims to provide AI developers and users with clear requirements and responsibilities for specific AI applications. At the same time, the proposal aims to reduce the administrative and financial burden on businesses.

Some Artificial Intelligence systems pose risks that must be considered by law in order to avoid undesirable consequences. For example, it is often not entirely clear why the AI ​​system made a decision, prediction or took a certain action.

When running an online business, the risk related to artificial intelligence arises when it comes to the disclosure of personal data, or in the event that the content created on the basis of an algorithm accidentally reaches the wrong target audience.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that AI is here to stay, the benefits cannot be refuted, but the legal and maybe even ethical application is something that we need to watch closely to see how this plays out. Customer data is something that can bring an enormous amount of insight and help with developing the business strategy. However, at the same time, it needs to be used with caution and boundaries.

If you currently have an excellent business idea, but are not an expert in tech, contact one of our specialists and let them guide you through the next steps.