Explainer: AI
“Artificial intelligence is the new electricity” -Andrew Ng, Google Brain Co-Founder and Baidu Chief Scientist
Everywhere you turn today, it seems there’s another headline about another incredible application of artificial intelligence, perhaps one of the most groundbreaking technologies of the past century.
Initially depicted in blockbuster sci-fi films merely as the foundation of robots, today the ubiquity of AI points to its myriad implementations and the benefits the world will reap as a result.
In fact, just like electricity, AI interacts with most people’s everyday lives in some form or another, transforming how they live, work and play.
Artificial Intelligence makes it possible for a machine to be trained by processing massive amounts of data to perform human-like tasks.
Within the realm of AI, there are a number of subcategories, the most well-known being machine learning. Machine Learning is one of the most common types of AI, which involves data parsing and creating algorithms to learn from, and make predictions on, new data such as image recognition, medical diagnosis, or product recommendations. An even more specific version of Machine Learning is Deep Learning, which uses the model of human neural networks to make predictions about new data sets. Deep Learning, the most rapidly advancing component of AI, is projected to have the fastest growth and become the largest revenue driver of AI.
The first developments in AI can be traced back to 1956. Yet its current wave, dating back to the early 2000s, represents a major breakthrough in the technology’s life cycle, delivering tangible real-world benefits.
Thanks to the continued shrinking in size and price but increase in processing power of today’s computers, high-caliber functions of AI are more conveniently supported. Secondly, the explosion of connected devices has generated vast quantities of data, the fuel that drives AI. Third, algorithms have become so sophisticated that they facilitate machine learning like never before, allowing computers to learn on their own faster and better.
Novel market factors have also contributed to the AI revolution. Competitive needs have driven businesses across multiple sectors to leverage AI in order augment productivity.
VC investments in AI startups regularly increased with a CAGR of 36% from 2013 to 2017, and jumped 72% in 2018 to hit a record $9.3 billion.
As we often tell Fuel Venture Capital Limited Partners, the world is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and we believe AI, an exponential technology, is at the forefront of this evolution.
With the most complete AI-powered data platform, our portfolio company AdMobilize, has disrupted the digital out of home advertising industry by providing the most advanced technology in facial recognition, voice recognition, vehicle detection and crowd analytics. AI is starting to make what was once considered impossible, possible — like driverless cars, and Fuel Venture Capital is on the hunt for startups that leverage AI to make a transformative impact.
Carter Robinson is a senior at the University of Kansas, pursuing a degree in finance. He was part of Fuel Venture Capital’s Summer Intern Class of 2018 and 2019. Follow Fuel Venture Capital on social media, via Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
