The Role of Artificial Intelligence on the Web

Here are a few examples of the practical roles AI is taking in web development:

Chatbots

Chatbots are one of the most common applications for AI on the web. Chatbots can act as sales consultants, customer service representatives, or countless other jobs a company may need. These chatbots are available 24/7 and can help weed through the massive volume of inquiries, so employees in these departments can spend their time focusing on tasks or customers that require more of their attention.

(VeepBot is still in development)

Chatbots are not true AI, but instead are developed with what is called machine learning, which is often considered a subclass of AI. Machine learning is a process where the computer learns by developing patterns and algorithms to effectively identify certain situations and know how to handle them.

If you were to show a human 1000 books and tell them to identify all of the books that had a blue cover, they would be able to accurately separate the books. Tell an AI program to do the same task and it will run through and tweak its algorithms until it can eventually do as good a job as a human. This process of trial and automated modification causes the program to essentially learn how to recognize the color blue.

This type of machine learning means that chatbots are able to adapt and learn as more experiences and problems get thrown at them. Over time it feels less like speaking to a computer and more like speaking to your own personal assistant.

e-Commerce/Marketing

AI also can play a large roll in e-commerce websites. They are able to track your purchases with that website and offer intelligent alternatives or suggestions depending on a variety of factors.

Some companies have tested AI features that can modify and adjust price depending on the season, demand, and previous purchase history of customers. They can also be used to apply a small discount at exactly the right stage in the user’s buying process to help push the them into making a purchase on your website.

This kind of varied pricing would otherwise require whole teams of people to dredge through large quantities of data just to implement. However, AI is able to collect this data and apply it to everyone on an individual basis in a much faster and more efficient manor.

The goal of AI in e-commerce is to treat each customer on an individual basis and give them a unique experience. No one likes to sift through content that is not relevant to them. AI gives companies the opportunity to individualize the shopping experience of every customer so they are only shown relevant information. It’s like having your own personal sales consultant showing you products that are specifically tailored to you.

Voice Search

Voice search is nothing new. One of the first devices to popularize voice search was Apple’s iPhone 4S in 2011, which introduced the world to Siri. Since then, voice search has been drastically improved and everything from speakers to cars offer voice search functionality.

Voice search allows users to quickly search for their information in a natural way, without having to sift through page after page of a search engine to find their answer. The AI software will do all the work behind the scenes to provide the user with the most relevant information it can find. 

Due to its ease of use, voice search has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. It is predicted that by 2020, 30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen. That is an incredibly large shift in how users will browse the internet. Will your website be ready?

The Future of AI and Websites

Artificial intelligence is going to change the way we use the internet. Your average day-to-day web browsing will be powered by these algorithms. Gartner believes that AI will influence over 85% of customer interactions by 2020.

Nonetheless, trying to predict the future of AI would be like trying to predict the impact of electricity at the time of its inception. There are hundreds of thousands of applications for AI. As time moves forward and technology gets better, there will be more uses that never would have thought of.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence is changing the way users interact with the internet. Every day less and less people sit down in front of a computer to go on the internet. Mobile browsing has been dominating the online world for the past few years and recently the use of voice search has been growing and is expected to keep gaining popularity.

Not only is AI changing how people access the internet, but it’s changing websites themselves. Companies have been designing smart content websites that will tailor itself to individual users. This means that your version of an online store may look different than a friend’s even though they both are the same website.

On top of that, chatbots are becoming better and better — to the point where sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish them from real people. They can be developed to help with almost any problem a user may face online. These advancements in AI help ensure you have the best experience possible online.