Transcript 0:00 [gentle piano music] We all know about the more obvious ways the coronavirus, COVID-19, has impacted businesses. Many of us have had to scale back our efforts. 0:12 I can talk firsthand how it has impacted our business, and I know that some of you have been furloughed or maybe you are the ones at your firms making the tough staffing decisions in a really uncertain economic time. 0:26 Many of your businesses have lost clients, funding, or momentum on certain projects. Maybe you've even had to delay or cancel a big product launch that your team has worked really hard on. Let's face it, this all sucks. 0:41 And I'm gonna say it again, this all really sucks. 0:44 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation with your host, Peggy Smedley. 1:07 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. I hope you've been having a wonderful week. 1:15 We all know about the more obvious ways the coronavirus, COVID-19, has impacted businesses. Many of us have had to scale back our efforts. 1:24 I can talk firsthand how it has impacted our business, and I know that some of you have been furloughed or maybe you are the ones at your firms making the tough staffing decisions in a really uncertain economic time. 1:38 Many of your businesses have lost clients, funding, or momentum on certain projects. Maybe you've even had to delay or cancel a big product launch that your team has worked really hard on. Let's face it, this all sucks. 1:53 And I'm gonna say it again, this all really sucks. We can all kind of commiserate together because most businesses have felt some sort of negative impact from the terrible situation we're all facing. 2:08 But one impact that may not be so obvious, how specific IoT technologies, the Internet of Things, are being impacted or are going to be impacted by COVID-19. 2:20 McKinsey theorized that because of the pandemic, society had vaulted five years forward in terms of business digital adoption in about eight weeks. Now, did you hear that? Five years in just eight weeks. 2:34 And from what many of you are reporting to me, they're probably right, and I agree with them. Necessity is the mother of all invention, or in this case, adoption. 2:46 So today in this f- first segment, I'd like to examine AI, artificial intelligence, technologies in particular. How will COVID-19 affect or not affect AI adoption in various vertical markets? 3:02 I'll also be including education as one of the key verticals I'll examine since we're talking so much about STEM this month, this whole month, and if we don't do something to get our kids learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, we're all going to be trailing other countries in the bottom of the pack. 3:28 I can't say it enough, but we will not only be trailing them, we will be left behind, and I'm gonna say it again, unemployable. Did you hear that? 3:39 If we think your kids are living at home now and they've been home too long, well, guess what? It's only gonna get worse. 3:48 But let me tell you about my guests today, 'cause I've got some really great interviews, a couple of them lined up. 3:53 First, Deb DiJulio, uh, Chief Customer Officer at American Water is gonna be on the show, so that's gonna be a great discussion. Then I'm gonna wrap up with Martin Kuring, Head of The Economist Group's World 4:05 W- Ocean Initiative, so I hope you'll stick around. We really need to talk about, uh, k- taking care of our environment. 4:11 So a new report from FICO and, uh, Corinium examines the impact of COVID-19 and technology disruption. 4:19 These firms talked to more than 100 C-level executives about the pandemic's influence and its impact on demand for AI. 4:29 65% say demand for digital products and services has risen within their organization as a result of the pandemic, and more than half of the respondents report COVID-19 has had a positive effect on demand for AI products and tools. 4:46 However, it's definitely a mixed bag, and now here's why. 4:51 One in three respondents said the pandemic has had a negative impact on their budget and/or headcount, which in turn will affect the company's ability to invest in AI projects. 5:03 This is especially true for AI projects that aren't backed up by a really strong business case. 5:09 Anything experimental will be an easy cut from the budget, and the companies will want to go with tech investments that are what? Considered safe, a sure thing. Now, in society, is anything considered a sure thing? 5:23 As society emerges from this pandemic, it's possible that the business case for AI will grow stronger. But let's think about it. 5:31 For instance, it might grow because it helps companies deliver better customer experiences that create value and drive loyalty, or it may grow because businesses are more dedicated than ever to mitigating risks, optimizing processes, and generating new revenue. 5:50 Think of it this way. For companies that have had to cut their headcounts, AI will be a way that they are going to make processes more efficient to pick up the slack and do more with less. 6:03 'Cause guess what?That's what's happening. So let's consider some vertical markets, 'cause this is really where I think we need to drill down a little bit. 6:11 The COVID-19 pandemic has made it really clear that healthcare systems need to be more flexible and dynamic. AI and machine learning can help us get there. 6:23 These technologies can also go a long way in analyzing data quickly and efficiently and get us kinda generating actionable insights that can be used to improve healthcare systems. 6:38 Now, we've talked a lot about that many, many times on this show. AI is also being more directly applied to solving the health crisis. 6:48 For instance, research published in the medical journal Radiology detailed a deep learning model capable of detecting the COVID-19 virus in patients by analyzing chest CT scans. 7:04 The deep learning model method successfully distinguished the virus from pneumonia and other lung conditions. 7:12 And another study published in Nature Medicine showed that the AI algorithms in use by researchers at Mount Sinai accurately diagnosed patients with COVID after radiologists had classified them as negative. 7:29 When we're hit with something new and unknown like COVID-19, humans just may not know what they're looking for. That's why we need algorithms. AI algorithms can tell us something that maybe humans can't. 7:45 This is exactly when an AI algorithm can step in and do something really special. Companies are also testing out AI tools for automating tasks like contact tracing and monitoring infection rates. 8:02 But let's turn our attention to manufacturing, 'cause we're seeing a lot of important things in manufacturing. 8:07 Pre-COVID, we were seeing a lot of AI adoption in manufacturing, and there's no reason to expect that this will change for companies that survive the pandemic. 8:19 With social distancing requirements and a reduced workforce, automation is so important to maintaining workflows right now, and we, we've talked about this many times on this show. 8:30 A survey from Bain & Company says three of four companies plan to accelerate automation initiatives due to COVID-19. 59% of manufacturing and industrial firms plan to accelerate, 59%. 8:46 But in other verticals were even higher. Now think about this. 8:51 The financial services sector seems really keen with 93% of Bain & Company's respondents saying they plan to accelerate automation as a result of the pandemic, 93%. 9:06 91% of retail companies plan to do so, and as we've just discussed, 75% of healthcare companies and 77% of education. Now, we've seen that already talking about that. 9:21 So why don't we continue our discussion on education since education is our primary focus this month since we're talking in the importance of STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math. 9:33 Here in the United States, we have some issues in our education system, and COVID-19 has brought a lot of these issues to the forefront by forcing teachers who feel overwhelmed and maybe underprepared to teach remotely, and maybe rightly so, but let's discuss that. 9:52 It's possible that the AI... When we look at AI, it could not only provide valuable assistance now but also help going forward in a post-COVID world. 10:04 Imagine, for instance, AI tutors that provide individualized instruction and attention. It's hugely scalable, and it doesn't add strain to an already strained system. 10:17 Research and Markets expects the AI in education sector to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 44, almost 47, almost 48% between 2018 and 2022, and I wonder how that prediction would shift in light of what's occurred here in 2020. 10:36 So that number was predicted prior to COVID. The idea is that AI, thanks to advanced machine learning and deep learning and natural language processing capabilities, can help empower teachers and students alike. 10:50 We're not saying displace them. Help them, assist them. So I think that's what's important. We need to assist. We need to improve the education system, and that's what we need to do. We are trailing other countries. 11:05 We need to do something to assist, aid, empower, and encourage our next generation to want to be in the STEM programs. And again, this is where we can use AI. 11:19 AI can empower that, and I think that's where we've got to start thinking about this. And I think, again, I'm going to keep barking about this because I don't think we understand it. 11:31 Right now there's a lot of things that suck, again, because of COVID-19, but we need to use the great emerging technologies that have propelled and, and disrupted this, and that's what's important. 11:43 So here's my opinion for today. AI is at the heart of so many digital transformations in so many vertical markets. I think that in the long term, COVID will accelerate AI adoption rather than hinder it. 11:58 That's what we need to be thinking about. Budgets are slashed, and personnel has shrunk because of the pandemic. I get that. And companies don't necessarily want to choose right now to experiment with AI. 12:11 However, I think the business case will strengthen post-COVID in many ways because of what businesses went through during this pandemic. And here's my tip for today. 12:23 As much as you can at your company, try to look ahead and consider how your commitment to AI will not be affected by COVID, and then share your thoughts with me on this because I don't think I'm losing my mind here. 12:39 Maybe on a lot of other things, but when we look at emerging technologies, we really have to think about what we can do. We have to think about how we can help the next generation. 12:50 We have to get our next leaders thinking about this. I know we're, we're focused on who's burning what part of the city. We're focused on the election. 13:00 But we have to focus on keeping our children focused on what's most important and their education. That's what we have to think about, and we have to come together as a country on that. 13:11 I want you to share your thoughts with me on Twitter. Put that out there @ConnectedWMag. Together, we can do something really important continuing to think about STEM. Again, share your thoughts with me, ConnectedWMag. 13:24 Check out our website at connectedworld.com, or most importantly, check out our past segments at thepeggysmedlyshow.com. 13:31 Okay, we're gonna take a break, and we'll be right back after this commercial break, and you can check out everything and tell us what you think. All right. 13:38 This is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. We'll be right back. [upbeat music]
