AI Is Here in Ways You May Not Comprehend

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving well beyond the chatbots and voice assistants that most people recognize.

Companies across industries have been integrating AI into their operations in ways that consumers might not comprehend, yet these applications are proving to be increasingly valuable for analysis and decision-making.

The financial sector has been particularly active in integrating AI into their practices. Banks use machine learning to detect fraudulent transactions as they happen. Investment firms apply AI to process alternative data sources, from satellite imagery to social media sentiment, to analyze company performance and determine market trends.

One new application involves analyzing corporate communications at scale. Traditional research methods require human analysts to manually review regulatory filings, earnings transcripts and corporate disclosures. This is a time-intensive process that limits how extensively information can be analyzed. AI can now process thousands of documents to identify patterns, sentiment shifts and forward-looking indicators that would be impractical to detect conventionally.

A recent example demonstrates this capability in action. Within the investment landscape, the use of AI to analyze decades of Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory filings from different sectors enables the creation of “management optimism indexes.” AI evaluates language used by executives and the tone of forward-looking statements. It then generates quantifiable sentiment scores. The indexes AI creates correlate to economic cycles throughout recent history, including pessimism during times like the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Beyond financial analysis, businesses are deploying AI in numerous ways:

Retailers use AI to help optimize inventory management and predict demand patterns. This reduces waste and improves stock availability.

Manufacturers apply AI in quality-control systems that can detect product defects with accuracy akin to human inspectors or better.

Healthcare organizations wield AI to analyze medical imaging. It helps radiologists in finding abnormalities more quickly.

Customer service reliance on AI is evolving beyond simple scripted responses. Modern systems can handle more complex questions and even predict customer needs based on past interactions.

Insurance companies deploy AI to assess claims and to detect fraud patterns.

Legal firms bring AI to bear in reviewing contracts.