Artificial Intelligence – a term widely known by now. Yet, only a few are aware of what it really is about. Currently, AI is highly associated with Elon Musk, served as a subject in many movies and finds its entry into our lives.
A wide audience may have come along the abbreviation ‘AI’ in Steven Spielberg’s adaption of the short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss: “AI – Artificial Intelligence”. Spielberg, who had taken over the project from Stanley Kubrick shortly before his death, tells the touching story of a small, humanoid boy wanting to be ‘real’ to regain his human mother’s love.
What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence involves creating a humanlike intelligence. So, when a computer attempts to solve issues or “learn new things” through imitating intelligence by using sophisticated algorithms, one speaks of artificial intelligence. Machine learning takes the center stage. The computer can identify familiar patterns and make decisions on its own by analyzing huge amounts of data.
Talk to me
For most people the first point of contact with an AI most likely were virtual assistants Alexa, Cortana or Siri. When they receive your requests, remind you of important events or recommend the ideal route to get home, all this happens with support of AI. However, these virtual assistants use AI Natural Language Processing (NLP) solely for analyzing dialogs of its conversational partner as well as converting spoken questions into search queries on Google. AI isn’t only limited to your smartphone’s virtual assistant, but also used to optimize the camera software. For instance, on iPhones Apple’s Face ID feature analyzes and remembers the user’s face. This system keeps on learning and can still identify the user after going through visual changes, for example when the beard has been cut back. For this purpose, these systems use depth sensors for a reliable recognition.
Trend analysis with AI
Already, artificial intelligence is used in trend research. For example, our AI Pythia, which can do very precise trend research for future trends. Her algorithms deal with collecting, controlling and analyzing huge amounts of data, which are being evaluated with an artificial neural network. Instead of just calculating complex as-is states, which would be too large for the human brain, she can create forecasts. Therefore, Pythia recognizes trends and creates forecasts, which can provide a relevant competitive advantage.
Based on Pythia’s trend forecast, the drugstore chain Rossmann added the trend CBD oil to its product line. The forecast became true and CBD oil became one of the fastest selling products in Rossmann’s stores. Pythia supplies Rossmann with trendy products and brands for the entire retail line. By now, Rossmann isn’t just a customer, but a stakeholder as well.
Pythia’s application area extends to several categories. Our artificial intelligence was able to prove itself in the food industry repeatedly. For a brand the product "turmeric capsules" (in german: "Kurkuma") was analyzed. In Germany, not only Kurkuma but also Curcuma is correct as a spelling. Pythia predicted that the search volume for the variant with K would be 75 % higher in the next 18 months. Our AI takes trends of different countries into account as well: For the company Wonderfoods Pythia recommended "Matcha tea" in time, before the trend arrived in Germany. Thus, the company could prepare itself and became one of the first known Matcha tea suppliers in Germany.
Often, a product variation is suited best for seasonal topics. We informed a manufacturer of cough sweets that the term "chesty cough" will be very popular in the colder months. The manufacturer produced a chesty cough version of his cough sweets and was able to triple sales.Pythia has proven itself for other brands as well. Foxybox, the first European beauty box, uses her to select products for its range. Since influencers want to talk about the latest quite regularly, results have been in favor and have seen enormous growth in a short period of time.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are complex technologies, which are primarily at the beginning of their development. Depending on function and company their application areas can vary. Pythia creates trend forecasts for future demands. For this reason, interested companies can improve their products development. In relation to artificial intelligence there will be a lot of progress in the coming years.
Send us a message or give us a call! We clear things up on how you can prepare your company for future trends with Pythia.