Machine learning and products

It's been a busy time but finally I am back to writing. Although busy however, it's been a time that in many ways was interesting, inspiring and full of action. I've been thinking, reading and listening to a lot of thoughts around disruptive technologies amongst which; machine learning. Machine learning is pretty much at the heart of a lot of technological innovation today.

It is safe to say that machine learning is going to change our world as we know it. Machine learning means that machines will be seeing, talking, writing, solving problems in ways that will be much easier than what we can do with humans brains. As we start to see several implementations of machine learning in health, finance, marketing, business, and more, we will start to see things changing and we will start adopting new ways of working. Machines will learn how to see patterns, predict outcomes and solve problems. 

For the less scientific brains like mine, machine learning might be a bit more difficult to grasp at first glance. Luckily there is a lot of information out there that explains this in ways that non-scientists can understand. Here's a visualised introduction to machine learning.

What does machine learning mean for products? Machine learning systems allows for the prediction of outcomes based on learning from data that is already available. This allows for recommendations that are more relevant to the user. Think Netflix or Spotify recommendations, both of these could easily use machine learning algorithms to get the right recommendations to their users. This recommendation capability also gives marketing endless possibilities especially when referring to online products that depend heavily on customer engagement and retention. 

Of course, there is also the possibility for products that have the aim to predict an outcome for users as a main functionality. This could be finance or healthcare related eg. computer assisted medical diagnosis or predictions for financial trading. There is also the use of natural language processing (NLP) that allow intelligent systems to use natural languages human use. The possibilities here are endless and some things we are still to see come to life as inventors and creators put ideas into action.  When thinking about the endless impact this technology can have I can't help but get really excited about the future. 

Care to share your thoughts about machine learning? Leave a comment below.