• AI will progress towards trusted data

According to predictions by Forrester Research, 2021 will show the real impact of AI and the dark side of artificial data emanating from organizations. The data comes in two forms, synthetic data that allows users to develop training data sets to train AI and fake data. Companies are having a hard time with consumers and other interest groups and regulators to provide the right data and lineage for AI. This includes showing the audit trails for compliance purposes and ethical use of AI. This year, blockchain and AI will work together seriously than ever to enhance integrity, support provenance, and improve data use.

• More demand for ethical AI

There have always been talks about AI and ethics. Although AI is a promising field, there is concern about privacy, fairness, security, and AI confidentiality. Companies such as Google have come up with policies that seek to entrench ethics. In 2021, the demand for ethical AI will be at the top of the AI trends list. According to Forrester Research, CIOs will have a duty to respond to digital acceleration and manage uncertainty in AI use.  As AI and the ethical part of it increasingly become an area of concern, you are likely to see some companies deliberately choosing to do business with partners who commit to data ethics and ethical data handling practices that reflect their own values and customer desires.

• The enhanced role of AI in healthcare

The coronavirus pandemic came as a surprise, and it caught the healthcare industry unaware. Thanks to technology, healthcare handled the crisis reasonably well using concepts of big data and artificial intelligence. AI was used to identify COVID-19 patients through thermal cameras and other mobile applications, and critical areas of the pandemic. This technology is already helping the sector increase accuracy, and researchers are using machine learning concepts to search for an effective treatment for the disease. By leveraging AI and data analysis, professionals will be able to predict various outcomes to help healthcare service providers. AI and ML instruments will be widely adopted in healthcare as the pandemic persists to help doctors track patients' health remotely.

• AI will boost automation and augmentation in workplaces

  The coronavirus pandemic has brought the biggest disruption in the workplace than anything else. In 2021, more companies will look for help from artificial intelligence to manage workplace disruption. This involves applying AI for intelligent extraction of documents, studying human resource needs, tracking work and performance, and using autonomous robots to speed up processes and reduce the cost of operations. According to Forrester, more than 60% of data and analytics decision-makers in companies are adopting AI in their decision-making initiatives.

Generally, organizations will look for ways to apply AI safely and ethically to emerge stronger both in the short and long term. Although it might have helped in various aspects during the pandemic, executives will benefit from AI in rethinking their future considering its efficiency, flexibility, and reliability.