Artificial intelligence is a term now and then that we hear. 'Siri' or 'Alexa' is one of the few things that comes to our minds when we hear artificial intelligence or AI. Although Siri, Alexa or Clever Nelly promote our day-to-day tasks, artificial intelligence is far more than that. Artificial intelligence aims to make computer systems or machines smart enough to mimic or copy the human mind’s actions.
The effect of artificial intelligence (AI) is that by creating approximately 2,3 million work opportunities by 2020, it can change industries and the employment market! The potential impact of AI is projected to reach USD 320 billion in the Middle East by 2030, prompting 20-34 per cent annual GDP growth. Thus, AI offers jobs that promote economic growth in the region and act as a tool to support sustainable development.
Around 90% of the GCC population will be urbanised by 2050, bringing about a dramatic shift in work opportunities. Just a few decades ago, many of the Middle East occupations did not exist, and the chances are that the young people of the future Middle East will work in separate fields that do not exist today. Therefore, the desperate need for artificial intelligence courses has increased, and professionals should undertake such techniques to enhance their abilities and be part of the next technological progress wave.
The problem is not whether AI will radically transform the workplace in the Middle East, but how industries and organisations can actively use AI in the UAE to enable and not replace the human workforce. Let’s have a closer look at how AI has impacted the business in the Middle East.
The Impact of AI on Different Industries
AI's capacity varies widely across distinct industries. The AI capacity is below the average of 29-37 per cent for sectors depending on human activity such as culture, arts and leisure. The sectors based on routine activities such as IT (information technology) have an AI capacity of more than 50 per cent.
Due to AI and automation, it is already going through a significant transformation in transportation. Professional drivers (trucks, taxis, buses, etc.) would see a reduction in their skill requirements for fully autonomous cars that are safer and more effective to drive. In the transport sector, AI has contributed about 15.2 per cent to GDP growth in the Middle East.
The Middle East retail and e-commerce industries are booming, with AI generating almost 19 per cent of GDP in these sectors. AI has primarily affected the laborious jobs that have managed automation and robotics. For example, the cataloguing department will be fully automated, and the robots will traverse the warehouse to collect goods and deliver them to the customers. Moreover, the need for networks and salespeople will decrease, and AI agents will communicate directly with AI agents based on the retailer's various plans, goals, and demands.
AI is influenced by traditional occupations, such as administrative and legal services, established by human relationships. With AI assistants, the legal services that deal with document description, classification, comparison, and management can be carried out more effectively. Similarly, AI would also support the finance and insurance sectors, which require a large amount of content management and data processing. With an estimated $28.3 million investment by 2021, the financial industry will benefit from AI in the Middle East.
The Impact of AI on Job Roles
With AI, repetitive job tasks are easily automated, and AI can eventually make certain positions redundant. For example, with automation and technology, activities and functions related to call centre operations, content moderation, and document classification can easily be carried out. However, AI will also generate new jobs in the long term, related to the preservation and development of AI and other separate employment opportunities. The challenge lies in that nearly 57% of the Middle East population currently employed does not have professional expertise with just a high school or graduate degree.
According to a study conducted on 1,000 global businesses, it was noted that 80 per cent more job opportunities were created by AI implementation. It is projected that actual AI devices will power only one-third of all new jobs generated. The remaining two-thirds will be technical assistance and services provided by individuals. The AI volume is approximately $366.6 billion in employment income in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.
The solution to job displacement due to AI is to improve local workers’ awareness and skills in the Middle East to help them combat the AI and robotic revolution. If the number of AI devices and machines grows exponentially, the demand for jobs around them will also increase. Point being, robots do not communicate with machines the way a human brain can, and to keep them running smoothly, they need human interaction at periodic intervals. It means that there will be a demand for people at every phase of the AI industry. These AI-enabled machines would not function without constant external attention from humans, from construction, creation and experimentation, to maintenance, support and programming.
The Middle East is equipped with a well-educated population that can boost the area’s potential growth scenario. With AI, this workforce’s ability to provide social dynamism and economic development is immense, given its technologically equipped job markets.
Artificial Intelligence Impact on the Business
Machine Learning
Machine learning is the science of developing and implementing various algorithms that can learn information from past situations. By integrating artificial intelligence in the business, the software will not be limited to the computer instructions the programmer wrote. It will be more versatile, and it will require less programming than traditional systems. Based on previous findings or data, artificial intelligence can adjust how the programme acts and proactively function.
Find Better Candidates, Quickly
Although we rely heavily on machinery at work, humans are still the backbone of any organisation. Artificial intelligence can help classify topics such as how long employees remain in a given position, the cost per hire, which roles are filled quickly, which take longer, and so on. The organisation’s process mining technology can allow businesses to understand how their employees act.
With the assistance of artificial intelligence in the industry, the human resources department can enhance the ability to identify the bottleneck in the hiring process and reduce costs by 30 per cent. Eventually, this would help to attract the correct candidate quickly.
Say No to Errors and Theft
A cyber attack or robbery is one of the greatest fears for a heavily dependent business on the internet, tablets, smartphones, and other such devices. When artificial intelligence learns about the deviations of patterns, formulas, systems and decodes, it may expose process attacks and malfunctions, saving the organisation from a huge loss.
Customer Service
One of the most important aspects of any company is customer service. It's also one of the most time-consuming procedures. Companies will gather more and more data, analyse it, and know their customers and their behaviour patterns better with artificial intelligence services. It will allow their procedures to be revised.
Measuring Big Data
With no data to work on, all of the AI algorithms will be unable to work. In the coming era, the two terms that will be the future of every industry are Big Data and AI. An organisation needs to preserve the vast amount of data produced to lose nothing. Machines capable of conducting evidence-based reasoning and deep-content analysis will speed up and strengthen a company's decision-making in managing people. It is often used to identify patterns, trends, and forecasts.
Lead Generation
The process of identifying and attracting potential customers for the goods or services of a company is lead generation. Any expenses related to customer acquisition through lead generation are essential for any company. Top AI businesses are now using certain AI technologies that can better process data than human beings. These AI-based systems analyse and understand their interest in user data from their social media better. Using this data it analyses human language and compiles a simple image of a buyer persona. Along with lead generation, there are artificial intelligence-based systems that help you convert a lead to sales.
Automating Recruitment
The chances are that you are already using AI to automate repetitive and repetitive tasks in your business, such as sending out email sequences to prospects or generating invoices. AI would make recruiting and hiring more effective, saving a lot of time and using vast volumes of data to fit the candidate’s expertise, knowledge, and skills to the job’s requirements.
Personalising Marketing and Sales
AI promises to revolutionise sales and marketing, and right now, it is doing it. It helps generate hyper-personalized email/chat messages for each customer, generate targeted content, and cross-sell and upsell suggestions. AI works to target, collect and evaluate vast quantities of historical data for advertising to determine which advertisements work better for which individuals. To better target consumers, advertisers may use AI to assess habits and identify unexpected ties between different variables, such as past click trends, location information, and app usage frequency.
Improving Security
With all the sci-fi movies forecasting a dark future where AI robots enslave humanity, AI takes care of our company's welfare. In addition to protecting against hackers, AI has many existing and potential safety applications, such as private security and crime prevention. As security and personal data threats become more common, your company will gain trust as you implement AI into your cybersecurity.
Reducing Operational Costs
AI has the potential to save time, remove mundane tasks from your to-do list, and make your workers more productive and effective. Implementing AI automation in your organisation would also free up time for other activities, decrease human error (which costs cash), and even remove the need for certain roles or at least the need to supervise specific tasks.
AI technologies will make the production process more efficient in manufacturing and allow for predictive and preventive maintenance and improvements, meaning reduced downtime and lower costs.
Other AI applications have varying cost structures, requiring purchases of hardware rather than mere cloud-based software subscriptions. However, AI will become more accessible as time passes, even for smaller businesses.
Streamlined Supply Chain
The supply chain is one of the more significant areas that AI can improve by automating manual processes, allowing improved agility and accuracy. Smart technology makes the supply chain less fallible than ever, from AI-equipped devices like inventory-taking drones to program-guided vehicles such as driverless warehouse carts and enhanced data analytics and anomaly-detection applications.
It will be necessary to incorporate natural language processing (NLP, Amazon Echo's core technology), robotic process automation (RPA) and deep learning technologies soon to make the most of AI in your supply chain.
AI is taking the lead in innovation. Shortly, industries that are beginning to embrace AI technology will start to undergo profound changes. Also, further AI technology growth will continue to affect the business landscape and the environment significantly.
Tech is not yet infallible, and maybe it will never be, but AI can capture and interpret data faster than humans can, and like any productive tool, it can operate alongside people. It can also reduce or substantially decrease mindless and repetitive activities and increase productivity.
Use it to enhance the standard business processes, streamline strategic performance and eliminate guesswork from your decision-making using AI in business. Embrace the future.
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