AI
How SMEs Can Take Advantage of Intelligent Automation and Why They Should
Image sourced from CXOToday. In the past, most business experts believed that there were simply too many situations, variables, and possibilities for companies to manage to effectively be able to automate their front-office processes and procedures. This was especially true for those processes and procedures that relied on human workers making decisions. Even when technology started to catch up, many still considered it the domain of large companies, which could afford both the technology and development resources. This is no longer the case. What is Intelligent Automation? We have now seen the introduction of Intelligent Automation (IA), which combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, and process automation. Companies can use IA to create smart business processes that can think,...
Amnesty: Nigerian government highly sensitive to criticism
The country director of Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, says the federal government is “highly sensitive to criticism” and only focuses on appearances. Ojigho stated this on Thursday while addressing the topic “Is Freedom of Speech in Danger in Nigeria?” during a virtual conversation, tagged ‘Thursday Talks’. The virtual conversation, which is a monthly programme focused on engaging thought leaders, was moderated by Adeboye Adegoke, senior programme manager at Paradigm Initiative. The AI country director described the government’s ban on Twitter and its proposed amendment to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code as attempts to gag criticism. “What we are seeing is a government that is highly sensitive to criticism and, as such, seeks to work more on the public re...
Broken Endpoints in Your Organisation’s Cybersecurity: The Role of Superior Endpoint Detection
Stefan van de Giessen, General Manager: Cybersecurity at Networks Unlimited. Networks Unlimited is applying a ‘broken window, broken business’ principle when looking at an organisation’s internal cybersecurity posture, in order to have a positive effect on its business processes. The moral of the ‘broken window’ story, which has been studied by psychologists, is that once a window in a building is broken, people then feel that they are able to damage the property even further, and ultimately loot and steal from it, with impunity. “When we put this into a cybersecurity context,” says Stefan van de Giessen, General Manager: Cybersecurity at Networks Unlimited, “this means, in essence, making sure that you have no ‘broken windows’ or gaps in your security through which uninvited elements coul...
Investing in STEM Crucial for African Countries to Benefit from 4IR
Image sourced from STEMpedia. To ensure African economies benefit fully from the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), and the data economy it will bring, there are several trends that industries on the continent need to fully embrace. These include artificial intelligence, cloud, machine learning and the Internet of Things. Enabling the utilisation of these, however, requires two pivotal focuses. The first is an investment in infrastructure. The second is Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills development, so that African economies have the core competencies needed to participate in the data economy, says Adesh Nathalal, Education Manager at SAS in South Africa. The clock is ticking. By 2030, the above needs to be accomplished to ensure African economies can leapfrog devel...
Wits University Robotics Team to Compete in AI-Powered “Robot Soccer World Cup”
Image sourced from the Mail & Guardian. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } For the first time, a Wits University team will compete in the international RoboCup tournament. RoboCup, the world cup for soccer robots, is a major annual event on the artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics calendar with a goal to advance the state of the art of intelligent robots. It sees teams from across the globe competing in different soccer leagues to show their mastery in AI and machine learning. The soccer robots can either be working physical robots or simulation robots. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Wits will be participating in the 3D simul...
Ghana Sees Huge Surge in Digital Communications with COVID Pushing Customer Experience
Image sourced from Goobjoob Education. To a large extent, enhancing the customer experience (CX) has been a game of catch-up for most organisations in Ghana, until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly accelerated the uptake of digital channels by enterprises last year. As the pandemic drove consumers to avoid traditional physical interaction with brands, so many corporates were forced to move their services and products online. For example, many insurance companies that used third-party agents before the pandemic are now adopting digital channels at a significant rate. This is to allow customers to buy policies online, via Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) or through a mobile app or website. Not only was the adoption of digital channels significantly accel...
Take Control of Your Company’s Digital Transformation – Register for #DTF2021
Join the DTF 2021 as an attendee – https://itnewsafrica.com/events/event/digital-transformation-congress-webinar/ Change is Inevitable Digital transformation is as inevitable as the passage of time. The new will replace the old, as the axiom goes. Business leaders and company executives must evolve their organisations, or risk extinction in the future when attempting to transform too late proves too little. One doesn’t need to go far for practical examples of this. In 2020, companies either adapted to the new normal or contemplated filing bankruptcy. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented and entirely unexpected event. Remember when “Remote Work” was just a novel idea? Time will continue to present these events – these unexpected drastic changes, and forward-minded l...
Using AI Will Always Require a Human Touch
Image sourced from Software One. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_096.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_096.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Decision-makers are concerned about how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology can negatively impact their brand and result in a loss of stakeholder and customer trust. In fact, research has shown that 56% of executives globally have slowed down their AI adoptions because of such fears. These concerns have given rise to the concept of Responsible AI (RAI). It refers to the way organisations use AI technologies, and the adherence to certain principles that relate to the greater good, the protection of individuals and their fundamental rights, and generally the trustworthiness of the AI application. While everybody has a role to play in ...
How Emotion AI Can Make the World a Better Place
Most of us take it for granted that we can read another person’s emotions through subtleties such as body language, yet this is a real struggle for many others. Enter emotion AI. Researchers at Stanford University modified Google’s augmented reality glasses to read emotions in others and notify the wearer. The glasses detect someone’s mood through their eye contact, facial expressions and body language, and then tell the wearer what emotions it’s picking up. “Emotion AI taps into the individual,” explains Zabeth Venter, CEO and co-founder of Averly. “If you think about facial recognition, which is a kind of emotion AI, I can pick up if you like what I’m saying by whether your smile is a smirk or a real genuine smile.” Such nuances go deeper. Another example is polling: what is your favouri...
Embracing Legal Technology to Stay Ahead
While the Covid-19 pandemic has enforced new ways of working, the challenge for law firms now is to embrace technology to stay ahead and meet the growing needs of a rapidly changing world and its associated legal challenges. Technology has affected the global economy deeply. Its usage has been linked to marketplace transformation, improved living standards and more robust international trade. The impact of the technology economy on the market is very significant. Consider the high value placed on tech stocks like Apple, Google and Amazon. Technology is also changing the face of law practice. Gartner predicts by the end of 2021, 85% of customer interactions will be managed without humans. Bots are revolutionising client service while voice search is transforming internet researc...
AI Software Creates “New” Nirvana Song “Drowned in the Sun”
The recently launched Lost Tapes of the 27 Club project uses AI software to create songs in the style of musicians who died at the age of 27. One of the featured tracks is called “Drowned in the Sun”, and it comes pretty close to replicating a Nirvana song written by Kurt Cobain himself. Stream it below. With opening guitars starting out restrained before reaching a crescendo on the chorus, the track is reminiscent of Nirvana’s signature hit, “Come as You Are”. Its chorus sounds like something Cobain might have written, too, with lyrics like, “I don’t care/ I feel as one, drowned in the sun.” As explained in a Rolling Stone feature, Google’s AI program Magenta was used to analyze the pioneering grunge band’s music and create the instrumental track. An artificial neural network was then use...
How AI Puts the ‘Smart’ in Smartphones
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart devices capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. From the realm of science fiction, AI has evolved to, in some applications, match human performance, with the latest facial-recognition software having a 99% accuracy rate. Strategy Analytics, a company that shares insights and analytics, states that 41% of consumers believe AI will improve their lives in some way and South Africa isn’t lagging behind the rest of the world in its development and application of this cutting-edge technology either. “We’re seeing even more companies using AI in more daring ways through innovative products or services that disrupt the status quo,’ says Dries Cronje, CEO at Deep Le...
