The public treats artificial intelligence as if it were a futuristic concept, but automation is already powering many functions of our lives in plain view, said David-Michel Davies, CEO of The Webby Awards.
In its annual trends talks tour, the Webby organization has been looking at the use of automation, and has found while people speak about it as the future, “it’s already here,” Davies told Velocitize Talks. “It’s already playing a huge role in every person’s life today, and not just high-tech people who are working on the Internet, but our mothers and brothers and sisters who are working in all sorts of non-tech jobs.”
AI is bound to have a big effect on websites, especially as voice search expands, said Davies. Rather than a destination, a website becomes an interface for acquiring information, he said: “You basically have two machines talking to each other.” Web content can already be made machine-readable, so this application is available now, not something in the future, said Davies.
The existing opportunity for brands is in developing experiences that take advantage of the voice interfaces to create a different personality for the brand. “In a world where 99% of the experiences are essentially the same right now, that’s going to be a big deal,” he said.
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