The Tip of the AI iceberg
In the last three days alone, I’ve noticed a dozen companies (or more!) leveraging AI to do everything from manage Diabetes 2 to buying a home. Applications are wide ranging including self-driving cars, automated financial investing, synthesizing customer feedback, business analytics of all types. PR for these companies demands the same laser focus on news and thought leadership as anything else, but many of these AI-driven products and services are pretty remarkable intrinsically, and therefore, are oh so promotable!
Whether it takes natural language processing (NLP), computer vision and image recognition, machine learning, or a composite, AI’s overarching mission is the same: use computers to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, and by doing that, accomplish these tasks more quickly, less expensively, and more efficiently. Petabytes of data can be crunched in a nanosecond.
According to Gartner, “AI has already added a level of intelligence to previously static business applications, devices and productivity tools, which is revolutionizing business as usual.” And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Because of its potential, AI is one area that’s bucking economic headwinds with top VCs optimistic about the future.
A Few Great AI Examples
Let’s look at a few of the companies that are rising to the top using AI in transformative ways:
Insure-tech
Tractable.ai is an insure-tech breaking new ground using AI/computer vision to assess auto or home damage and expedite claims. What has been 100% human-driven has evolved into a completely touchless process using existing databases in combination with Tractable’s tech. Another fast-growing insure-tech (and a Rally Point client) is Koffie Labs, which uses AI-driven predictive models to modernize underwriting for trucking fleets – an industry ripe for innovation. Their machine-learning algorithms instantly predict risk for any truck or fleet on the road based on 100+ real-time underwriting factors from their database.
Retail tech
In retail, take a look at Constructor.io, a product discovery platform that “learns” from the actions of shoppers and improves their discovery experience as they shop. And they do that without collecting any PII. And Netail, another client of ours, that helps retailers understand who their competitors are in this new world of search-driven shopping and how to price accordingly in order to win customers. Because of search, retailers can no longer afford to look only at the brick and mortar stores in their own neighborhoods – they need to look at thousands of competitors across the globe!
Media
Another area of interest for me has always been audio. (I’m a radio junky from way back.) Wellsaid is a text to speech utility enabling the creation of a realistic AI voiceover for digital content. As we’re all creating more of our own content these days, a platform like Wellsaid can make digital experiences more engaging. Also in audio, but quite different, is Whisper, a juggernaut capitalizing on the fact that hearing aids can now be sold over -the-counter. According to a recent article in Fortune, “Whisper’s hearing aids deploy A.I. in a sound-separation engine that processes all detected sounds to filter out background noise in public places like restaurants and open offices.” Basically, if you’ve been around any nanogenarians lately, you know how important that is!
Prop Tech and Construction
While Streeteasy may be the incumbent when it comes to finding a new place to live, certainly in NYC, the AI-powered Localize.city is commanding respect. Using a combination of artificial and human intelligence, the Localize tech platform supports engages with customers instantly providing accurate insights about the most relevant properties. Built Robotics is another company in this category using robots to dig trenches while freeing skilled workers to focus on higher level tasks, and, finally, another Rally Point client, GlobalFair, which uses predictive modeling to anticipate construction needs. Says TechCrunch, GlobalFair aims “to become the largest technology-first global supplier of building materials, providing an easy, cost-efficient and seamless cross-border procurement experience for construction contractors.”
PR for AI
Basically, it’s crowded out there with new AI-driven products and services emerging everyday solving problems we never knew were fixable. Here’s a list of promising AI’s to keep handy for reference. So if you’re interested in telling your remarkable AI story to the world – to investors, users and partners, give us a call. We can help!