We call it an epidemic since the AI disruption will be widespread in 2018.

In 2016, only 38% companies were using Artificial Intelligence. The percentage will increase to 62% next year. There was a study from Forrester Research that predicted an increase of 300% in AI investments in 2017. The increase will skyrocket next year.

There are other experts who also feel the same and add that in 2018, AI will be used for personalized and specialized decision-making and admin kind of support. For example, monitoring to-do lists, scheduling meetings are some examples of how value can be derived from AI-powered tools. These can learn from preferences and behaviors and create from specialized experience for the users. IDC also predicted a growth in the AI market will grow to $47 billion in 2020 from a $ 8 billion in 2016.

We’re talking big numbers here as if AI will grow by leaps and bounds. Well, the reality is – it will!

Google developed AI program that has already been successful at beating the top human player at the game of Go. The program uses general machine learning techniques to win the game. That’s not all. We have already seen Google, Facebook and Microsoft using deep learning to understand natural language, identify images and detect spoken words. There was a video shared on Inc that revealed true but scary details about what AI can do.

Some of the major advancements that are predicted in 2018 are speech recognition, new machine learning platforms, enhanced role of AI in decision management, AI-optimized hardware, an increase in deep learning platforms, and increased use of AI in biometrics.

As per Bernard Marr, business author and keynote speaker and consultant in strategy, enterprise performance and technology, the year 2018 will be the year when Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will continue to grab attention (like it did in 2017), but there will be more dramatized headlines related to robots replacing human jobs.

The battle between AI hardware manufacturers can turn intense in 2018. The chipmakers (the hardware that AI lives on) will start a battle next year that’s been longstanding for a while. However, author Chris Wiltz feels that there will be no single company that will dominate the AI hardware landscape. The hardware requirements will vary as per the application need.

Mark Michalski who’s an Executive Director at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Center for Clinical Data Science predicted that the healthcare industry is expected to adopt AI in a big way in 2018. It seems like diagnostic medical specialties will be the first to completely adopt AI. It is expected that there will be solution for population health, hospital operations and a wide range of specialties. On a global scale, there will be a change in the way patients experience healthcare and the way healthcare providers work.

Adds Christian Boucher who’s a Healthcare Evangelist at Citrix that analytics will be big in healthcare in 2018. Patient population tools are expected to help optimize workflows for in-patient and out-patient scenarios.

There will be an interesting AI development in 2018 that will include smartphone applications with neural networks to enable AI. You won’t believe but you will also start seeing friendly and affordable robots at home. The AI challenges of vision, language and speech will be addressed next year as well. AI will also be helpful in cyber security tools. It will help to detect vulnerabilities and security gaps in the cyber world. Bots will use machine learning algorithms to plug security challenges instantly.

To summarize, we’d like to share some facts that are turning real soon.

• Experts say that more than 70% developers will start using AI in business applications and services by next year
• All IoT initiatives will be backed up by Artificial Intelligence
• More than 30% companies will use AI in their sales process by 2020
• In 2020, algorithms will alter the behavior of majority of the workforce worldwide
• In 2025, more than 95% of customer interactions will be AI-driven

We may sit back thinking that AI is meant for the biggies (for example Amazon has been investing in AI for the last 20 years). Google has more than 1300 researchers for Google brain and Facebook already has over 80 AI researchers and engineers. But all the experts are pointing towards only one conclusion – AI is coming for you. Get ready.