The purpose of this article is to help Project Professionals better understand the meaning of Cognitive Computing and how it’s disrupting business today.
CC describes technology platforms that, broadly speaking, are based on the scientific disciplines of artificial intelligence and signal processing. These platforms encompass machine learning , reasoning , natural language processing , speech recognition and vision (object recognition), human–computer interaction , dialog and narrative generation, among others
Wikipedia definition of Cognitive Computing (CC)
Cognitive computing makes it possible to process data much faster than humans according to research done by Ohio University. If you allow cognitive computing to transform your business, there are certain principles to adhere to, factors to consider for adoption and ways to integrate it into business.
Principles
Humans and computers are now interacting. In business, robots could help professionals as follows:
- identify and avoid bias,
- make well-informed decisions,
- increase the speed and consistency of decision-making.
According to IBM, Artificial Intelligence (AI) should serve a distinct purpose. This purpose, whether it’s used in systems, products, or services, must always be under human control as AI exists to assist humans, not replace them.
A layer of transparency is required. For AI to work, business leaders need to trust the results. This means there must always be clear answers to AI usage, the data the AI handles, and AI is protecting the data and its insights.
Worker skills need to be enhanced. AI doesn’t work without humans, so business leaders need to support them by ensuring workers have proper training to work with AI in a safe, secure, and efficient manner.
Businesses using cognitive computing will likely have to create or be subject to various policies. This can be viewed as an extension of policies around data and privacy, which are continually evolving. In this case, proactively preparing policies could help combat fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Adoption
IBM offers some ideas for adopting Cognitive Computing.
- Develop a cognitive strategy to determine where AI should fit among products, services, processes, and operations.
- Construct a foundation of useable and reliable data and analysis.
- Another key strategical component is the use and proper configuration of cloud services.
- Businesses must fine-tune their IT systems for cognitive workloads.
- Finally, business must make sure the cognitive computing system is secure.
Steps to Integration
An integration approach needs to consider a few things.
- Businesses must firstly determine what opportunities exist to create more engaging and personalized customer experiences.
- They must also pinpoint specific data that can help them meet objectives but isn’t being leveraged.
- Then calculate the cost of their organization relating to non-evidence-based decisions.
- They also need to determine the benefits gained by detecting hidden data patterns.
- Finally, they need to figure out their organizational expertise skill gap.
Below you will find an Infographic that provides a good summary of Cognitive Computing.
