APAC is emerging as the Artificial Intelligence hotspot of the world. AI thrives in the region on account of government support, an entrepreneurial class ready to innovate, and availability of talented human resources. Several path-breaking innovations success stories have started to emerge from the region. The growth has been spectacular cutting across sectors.
Transportation Becomes AI-Ready
Many countries in the APAC region have geared up for autonomous vehicles. The priority in most APAC countries is to use AI to assist drivers. Applying AI for driverless vehicles still poses a safety issue.
Success stories have started to emerge. nuTonomy has partnered with Grab to roll out autonomous taxis. Go-Jek is introducing AI-powered taxis in Indonesia. Mobike, the bike-sharing platform, uses AI to forecast supply and demand for bike rentals.
AI is being put to use to solve Kuala Lumpur’s notorious traffic congestion. Malaysia City Brain will harness Alibaba Cloud’s AI capabilities to ease gridlock traffic. The platform links up to urban management systems, traffic lights, video cameras and other resources. The system leverages image and video recognition capabilities, data mining capabilities and machine learning, to analyse real-time data. The system could, for instance, time traffic lights to ensure minimal hold-ups and direct vehicles through less congested routes. The platform offers spin-off benefits such as directing emergency vehicles to the quickest routes, offering insights to facilitate incident detection, and more. City Brain has already made a successful debut in Hangzhou, China.
AI All Set to Power Banking and Finance
The banking and financial industries have been one of the early adopters of AI. AI’s ability to detect fraud has saved millions of dollars for banks worldwide.
Leading banks such as OCBC Bank in Singapore and Al Rajhi Bank in Malaysia deploy AI to identify money laundering transactions. RHB Bank’s chatbot offers conditional loan approvals. The bot processes the application instantly by scouring through customer data.
AI to Revolutionise Retail
Artificial intelligence is influencing retail in a big way. Many big retailers across APAC have deployed AI-enabled chatbots to improve the shopping experience. Leading online retailers such as Asos, Rakuten and Zalora allow the visual search. AI algorithms make smart, relevant recommendations based on colour, pattern and other attributes.
“Maya,” the brainchild of Crayon Data, combines big data and AI to map each customer’s tastes and create personalised experiences.
Kata’s intelligent chatbot leverage natural language processing. It speaks and understands the Indonesian language, to improve customer engagement manifold.
AI to Transform the Food Industry
Connected Robotics, a Tokyo-based startup, earned fame for its robots capable of making fried octopus balls and serve ice cream. The innovation supply line is ongoing. The company is rolling out automated dishwasher robots, a hot-snacks robot for convenience stores, and an automated breakfast-cooking robot.
Foodpanda applies machine learning algorithms to analyze operations and past orders. The AI-powered system understands the time required by restaurants to prepare food on different days and times. The system sends riders to the restaurant only when the food is ready, improving efficiency manifold.
AI Delivers Big Efficiency Gains for Manufacturing
Aditya Birla Group, early-bird adopters of AI in India, deploys AI algorithms to test the quality of finished goods and to optimize its extensive freight network. AI-powered drones monitor the shop floor. It provides real-time insights on people movement in unsafe zones, the use of safety gear, oil spillage, delayed cleaning and more.
AI Promises a Bright New Hope in Education
A recent Microsoft Asia and IDC Asia/Pacific today study “Future-Ready Skills: Assessing APAC Education Sector’s Use of AI” reveals only 32% of higher education institutions have adopted AI. However, those who have done so have doubled their innovation capabilities. Adopting AI results in better student engagement, higher funding, and accelerated innovation.
The Kibo project allows young children to construct a robot and program sequential instructions. About 160 KIBO robots already aid preschoolers throughout Singapore.
The Healthcare Sector Leads in AI Adoption
Ken Research estimates APAC AI in the healthcare market to touch USD 11,733 million in revenues, by 2025.
Healthcare majors apply AI to detect skin cancers, analyse chest x-rays, and perform diabetes screens from retina scans. Scientists Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have developed a new computer model to pinpoint the roots of gastric cancer.
AI-powered bots take the cognitive stress out of such healthcare professionals. These bots scour through the extensive body of medical research, to help doctors make the best diagnosis and treatment.
Researchers in China use AI to tackle discrepancies in health care access between metropolitan and rural areas. Applying AI in vision care screen over 1,000 diseases from just one picture of the eye, with 97% accuracy.
Japan plans to open 10 prototypical AI-infused hospitals by 2022. The AI systems in these hospitals would make meaningful diagnoses, and recommend the most optimal treatment. These hospitals also apply AI in staffing, scheduling patient appointments, and other administrative tasks. The result is a better and faster cure at a lower cost.
Growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in ASEAN countries has almost doubled over the last year. The IDF Asia-Pacific Enterprise Cognitive/AI survey reveals one in four companies (24.6%) adopting AI in some way in Indonesia. Thailand comes next, with 17.1% of companies adopting AI. Third on the list is Singapore, where 9.9% of companies have adopted AI. Almost all these adopters have some success stories to recount, inspiring others. It is bright days ahead for AI in the APAC region.
