Two of the biggest names in tech these days are big data and artificial intelligence. But what exactly are they? And what can we expect in the future as the tech sector continues to evolve? In this article, we’ll tackle your burning questions so that you’re well-equipped with the necessary knowledge to remain a force in today’s ever-changing tech market.
What is Big Data?
Big data seems like quite the generalized term, right? Well, it is, but it means the following: data that’s diversified, large in quantity, and arriving faster–also known as the three v’s: variety, volume, and velocity. With more data sets, you have more information and can therefore make more informed decisions. Let’s dive deeper into each:
Volume: the pure size of big data is one of its most distinguishing factors and with good reason: facing large amounts of data is one of the biggest challenges that companies face; working with large amounts of data is nearly impossible unless you have the necessary tools to process and analyze it. In addition, large amounts of data typically bring new challenges, such as unstructured information or low-density data sets.
Velocity: you know that the best decisions are backed by data and this means that you need to use data to guide your decision-making process. And big data can help you analyze your data faster, meaning you can see results in less time.
Variety: while it’s certainly easier to evaluate structured and organized data, there are also lots of valuable findings from other forms of data sets and with big data to help you, you’ll draw better and more accurate conclusions.
We’re not done there though: two more v’s have come to light as big data has grown in popularity, showing us exactly what the power of data is:
Value: data is valuable and there’s no argument there. But as big data collects increasingly large quantities of data, we are faced with another question: how valuable are the results that we’re seeing?
Veracity: large data sets are great for extracting insights, but how truthful is the data that we’re using? Are there contradictions or problems within the data sets? The question of veracity is definitely important when considering the use of big data.
Applications of big data
Not sure how big data is actually applied in real life situations? Let’s explore a few real life uses of big data and gain a deeper understanding of how it plays a role in today’s world:
Product development: how do companies know what products to create next and what users actually want? Through data, of course. With past data and predictive analysis, companies have a better idea of what users want and can therefore predict what will work–and what won’t.
Customer experience: with so many options there, it’s never been more important for companies to understand what customers want–and experience–when interacting with their brand. And with clear data about the customer funnel, companies can improve processes.
Overall efficiency: there’s no limit to the data you can collect as you switch to a big data-forward mindset and this can help you improve efficiency and productivity in all departments and processes across the company.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
We’re sure you have a solid understanding already of what AI is, but just in case you need a refresher: artificial intelligence is the science of creating machines that can mimic human intelligence and the human decision making process. While the field of AI has exploded in recent years, we’ll focus on a few specific branches of the field:
General intelligence AI: this field of AI seeks to empower AI tools and systems to mimic the human decision making process and independently make human-like decisions.
Limited memory AI: one of the newer developments in AI is that of limited memory, which allows AI tools to remember previous data and information to provide more accurate outputs over time.
Reactive AI: instead of remembering previous data and information like limited memory AI, reactive AI can use information from an entire conversation, instead of specific inputs, to provide the best possible output.
When the term artificial intelligence was coined, scientists imagined that it would refer just to machines working on their own. It has grown so much, however, that now AI is capable of creating its own responses, evolving, and interpreting speech, text, images, video, and much more.
Applications of AI
We’d be here all day to explain all the applications of AI in today’s world; instead, we’ll highlight a few that truly prove how transformative AI has become:
Education: gone are the days of students needing to fit one mold so that the entire class is on the same page; with AI, teachers can create personalized learning plans for each student that automatically advance or provide more examples as needed.
Transportation: map applications use AI technology to suggest the best route, look at current data for traffic or accident updates, and analyze historical patterns of the area.
Recommendations: with past user data on what they’ve searched for or purchased, online retailers can make suggestions for users so that they’re more likely to make a purchase.
Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Now that you have a solid understanding of what big data and artificial intelligence are, let’s dive into how they work together and how they’re transforming our world. The most important connection to consider is this: separately, both big data and AI have tremendous potential, but in order for AI tools to be the most accurate, it needs to be trained on large amounts of data. And without the capacity of big data to analyze large amounts of data quickly and efficiently, artificial intelligence systems would be much less effective.
Together, we can use big data and artificial intelligence to reach new potential in business and this is exactly why this combination is so powerful. And as more and more AI tools are trained on more data, we will enjoy even more accurate and relevant outcomes.
As you can see, the partnership between AI and big data has the potential to completely revolutionize our world and those who want to be on the forefront of the tech industry’s evolution should consider diving deeper into AI and data to better understand this potential.
Interested? Consider one of Ironhack’s bootcamps in AI or data or even an AI-centered short course at AI School by Ironhack. With Ironhack, you’ll be well on your way to success.
