From self-driving cars to the mind-blowing possibilities of quantum computing, there are potentially limitless applications for Artificial Intelligence, and as the technology evolves, so too will the way we use it, whether that’s in our day-to-day lives, or how governments and companies incorporate A.I. into their operations.
But it’s not just the big fish utilising A.I. As is often the case, it’s smaller, innovative organisations who by ‘thinking outside the box’, are dreaming up and creating fantastically varied uses for the technology.
Let’s take a look at some Southeast Asian A.I. startups who have been shaking things up and doing things differently.
Making ‘predictions’ mainstream | Scry
Any company that has a name which sounds like the word “scary” might seem sinister, and science fiction is replete with tales of robots and computers gaining consciousness and enslaving humanity (and with the way we are glued to our smartphones, whose to say they haven’t already?!) but actually Scry aims to take the stress out of management.
Read what the Scry co-founders had to share about their journey so far
How does it do this? Through A.I., Scry has created a system that allows it to make predictions for the future, based on information that it gathers and uses this to aid company owners and managers to make decisions -big or small- on the best course of action for their business.
Scry promises to provide a “probabilistic estimate of the outcomes of future events”, and the startup is confident that in doing so, it can ensure any business leader can make the most informed decision possible.
So what about other decisions that we make? Sometimes, these are based on the influence others hold over us. How does A.I. play its part?
Who Influences the Influencers? | Kobe Global Technologies
Still seen as a relatively new form of marketing, the use of “influencers” on social media as a marketing tool has proven quite effective for businesses looking to make sales outside traditional advertising techniques, and if they are seen as experts then this also lends credence to a product.
Read Kobe Global Technologies’ CEO, Evangeline’s story
But how can advertisers find the right influencer? Well, like many of the startups we’ll be discussing, Kobe Global Technologies had a vision of how A.I. can be used to simplify an existing process.
By doing things differently compared to their competitors in creating a unique A.I. system, Kobe was able to cut out a lot of the usual finder’s fees, making the company incredibly competitive from the outset.
With thousands of influencers signed up to Kobe, the potential reach for customers is in the tens of millions, and all made possible through the innovative use of A.I.
Sometimes these innovations can take place over a relatively short space of time. In other cases, it can take a decade or more…
Taking the ‘Argh!’ Out of HR | JobTech
After ten years of research and development, Singapore-based A.I. startup JobTech launched a service that streamlined hiring productivity, by using technology to pick apart and study millions of job postings, creating an ever-evolving system that analysis employment trends and candidate profiles, and uses this to learn from and then match the right person with each opening.
Find out the JobTech co-founder’s story here.
One of the most important elements of running a business is knowing who the best people are for any given job, and by crafting a formidable artificial intelligence programme that is so efficient it is even called upon to help guide government policy, JobTech has shown what A.I. is capable of in this field.
Their Clients Couldn’t Be ‘Appier’! | Appier
A.I. can not only analyse how we behave online, but also how we behave online according to the size of the screen of the device we are using!
Launching in Taiwan, Appier’s artificial intelligence software studies consumer’s behaviour and by analysing how they use their various devices, are able to help companies cater the manner in which they deliver their content and sell to these users appropriately.
In making the decision to do something different with A.I., Appier demonstrated to clients that they could deliver on the promise of boosting their business and were rewarded early last year with over $33M USD in investment!
Cream of the Crop | Sero
Sero is an excellent example of how A.I. is able to seamlessly blend with traditional businesses, and what could be more traditional than farming?
Operating in Vietnam, Sero found a way to maximise crop yields by working closely with farmers to analyse their harvests and provide those same farmers with all the information they would need to manage their workers, ensure the quality of their produce meets import standards and even monitor the impact of pests.
In a short space of time, this startup has expanded their network across Vietnam and have plans to spread across Southeast Asia in the future, creating harmony between their A.I. systems and farmers so that their lands can be productive like never before.
What Would You Do Differently?
We’ve seen here just a few examples of startups using A.I. differently, and the range of businesses and practices that they are involved with, so if you’re looking at launching your own startup but had not considered the possibilities that artificial intelligence can offer, perhaps it’s time you began thinking differently too.