AI in 2023: top trends expected to hit the world of artificial intelligence in the year ahead

Over the past year, artificial intelligence has become more prominent. We have seen both public and private sector organisations continuing their investment in data and AI.

But as 2022 comes to a close and we move into 2023, the cost of living crisis, climate change and public sector spending cuts will be the main concerns for organisations and consumers alike. The many ways in which data and analytics can help organisations achieve efficiency savings, become more sustainable and deliver growth will be a huge focus, paving the way for AI’s growth in the year ahead.

With that, here’s what we predict for the AI space in 2023…

Data and AI becoming more significant in end users’ everyday lives

While most consumers are already well versed with AI technologies such as virtual assistants that live in our home speakers in the form of Alexa, or the algorithms that power our streaming services’ recommendation engines, we believe we are going to see a shift in 2023 with the function and subsequent importance AI has in our homes.

Through the proliferation of data being shared between consumers and organisations, AI will, generally, play a more important role in users’ day-to-day lives. For instance, over the coming year, we could see data & AI helping people to make financial and/or sustainable lifestyle decisions, such as adapting their energy use through the monitoring of their smart meters or choosing more sustainable products based on the data shared about products and their supply chains.

This additional focus placed on data and AI for household decision making will mean that 2023 will likely see more emphasis on ensuring that consumers trust the data feeding such solutions. Whilst previously poor data or a sub-optimal model might have resulted in a bad Netflix recommendation or an erroneous Alexa command, the year ahead could be when we see deficiencies in data and solutions having a detrimental impact on consumers’ wallets and lifestyle choices which would quickly erode trust or result in them avoiding the solution altogether.

A greater demand for explainability and transparency in AI

Continuing from the prediction above, in order to build and maintain trust, we will see both consumers and organisations demanding to understand where data has come from, how it has been treated and how AI & Analytics solutions have come to the conclusions and recommendations that are being modelled.

Only if, and when, end users (be those consumers or employees) understand and trust that the recommendation made by the technology solutions have been derived from relevant data sources and that models follow similar logical processes to themselves, will they truly adopt and embed them in their decision making. Therefore, for organisations to achieve the true value of these solutions, they must be explainable and transparent.

More businesses utilising AI to question data and answer those “what ifs”

In 2023, we expect organisations to make bigger strides in the visualisation of data. Once businesses know that they have quality data which is being used in the right data models and producing high quality reports, they can stop spending so much time looking at what has happened and focus more on the future view. This is the perfect place for AI to come in and answer any “what if” questions an organisation might have; using data to predict rather than report.

While many businesses still haven’t taken huge leaps and bounds in utilising AI in their everyday decision-making, the more quality data they have access to, the more AI will be utilised and embedded in processes. This is likely to see more businesses starting to question the data they have to increase the quality of their predictions.

A bigger use of data to optimise supply chains

Due to the greater demand we’ve seen in this area over the past few years, we suspect that 2023 will bring a greater focus on how AI can help advance the entire supply chain, from source to logistics and all the way through to the final mile, across both B2B and B2C.

Within this, we’ll see companies shifting to AI models to improve the efficiencies of their supply chains, integrating tools such as demand sensing, using real-time data to create a forecast of demand based on the current realities of the supply chain and what products are available. Supermarkets may use this, for example, to better manage on shelf stock availability. Another method is rule-based autonomous planning, which moves away from manual decision-making to data-based automated decisions.

Sustainability will play a big part in this narrative too, with organisations questioning whether they’re moving products, parts or materials sustainably, and ensuring their partners are also making the most sustainable decisions. Businesses are going to have to weigh up striking a balance between the most cost effective and the most sustainable supply chain decisions – this is again where AI solutions can be effective in giving both carbon and financial accounting view.

Please click the link below to read more from our 2023 prediction series