Many different industries around the world are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in a variety of applications. So far, a lot of attention has focused on AI applications that use natural language processing (NLP), most of them in a subsector of NLP known as large language modelling (LLM). These apps are designed to reduce work that can be automated, mostly in service industry jobs with many document requirements like marketing, legal, insurance, insurance technology and financial services.

But in recent years AI has been applied in many different industrial services sectors too. This blog explores how AI is applied in some of these sectors and outlines potential opportunities if you do business in them.

AI for business

The use of AI in business is now mainstream and the technology is often an embedded part of enterprise software systems. Most focus on NLP platforms like ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Many business leaders are using AI apps in areas like data security, process automation and customer care. Some common applications of AI in businesses include:

• Automating routine cognitive work
  Historically, businesses used AI to automate manual tasks like data entry. They are now applying AI to cognitive tasks like summarising reports and drafting routine communication updates, which affects many office jobs.
  
  
• Organising knowledge
  AI can sift through reams of information, including archival files or industry-specific data, to find relevant elements, which it can organise and summarise. This can add to the efficiency and effectiveness of your organisation, but at this stage it still requires human oversight and review.
  
  
• Personalised customer services
  This is possibly the most widespread use of AI at present, which uses AI to respond to customer requests through chatbots and call centre options, and to target customers directly with marketing campaigns.

Beyond LLM

Beyond these NLP and LLM uses of AI, there are a growing number of ways you can use the technology to enhance your business processes and efficiency. Here are some industry-specific examples of AI already in action:

• Healthcare
  Healthcare businesses around the world use AI to analyse massive amounts of patient data to help with diagnoses. AI also enhances diagnostic accuracy by analysing medical imagery and other data sources crucial in accurate diagnosis. AI can help construct patient treatment plans and help hospitals and clinics to administer patient records, scheduling, and accounts more efficiently.
  
  
• Financial services
  The obvious areas in which AI has been deployed to date in financial services include fraud detection, digital and data security, and analysing historical and real-time data to make near-instantaneous decisions about the legitimacy of individual transactions. Financial services firms also use AI for more niche applications like wealth management, loan approvals and trading decisions. Applying AI to trading has widened the investor base and cut intermediary costs. By using AI to automate tasks and streamline processes, financial advisers can free themselves from routine duties and focus more on strategic advisory tasks.
  
  
• Industrial services
  AI has several benefits to offer industrial services providers. Machine maintenance, faults, downtime on assembly lines and product defects are costly and inefficient. The industrial sector has been using AI for predictive machine maintenance for some time to decide when equipment will need servicing and optimise the scheduling of maintenance work. AI is also used in factories to reduce critical errors, improve production times, and boost safety measures. Combining AI with Internet of Things applications brings exponential improvements in these industries, as shown by global industrial companies like IBM, Rockwell and GE using the technology.
  
  
• Agribusinesses
  Agribusinesses have become very innovative in applying AI to many production processes. The sector already has functioning self-driving tractors and combine harvesters, it uses robotic technology for crop inspection and autonomous irrigation, and AI apps can improve access to markets for smaller-scale farmers trying to integrate with larger supply chains. Precision agriculture relies on AI to collect data on crops, rainfall, and soil, and then to help farmers optimise the delivery of water, fertiliser and pesticides to different sections of the soil according to the data.

Understanding how AI can work in your industry, and how to apply it to your business, can be daunting. Nedbank has solutions and finance options available, no matter what industry sector you’re in or the size of your business. Get a callback for advice and support.