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MALTATODAY 3 July 2022

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Prof. Alexiei Dingli Department of Artifical Intelligence, University of Malta Alexiei Dingli maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JULY 2022 OPINION Are Maltese companies using Artificial Intelligence? IN 2019, while we were formu- lating the Malta.AI national strategy, one of the tasks was to launch a survey amongst Mal- tese companies. We wanted to gauge awareness about their knowledge of AI; we needed to understand how they use it and whether they are comfort- able with it. Furthermore, since the strategy was long-term, we wanted to ascertain their plans and challenges related to deploy- ing AI solutions in businesses. From that study, it became ev- ident that we needed to build awareness of what constitutes AI and how it can be deployed, par- ticularly amongst Small and Me- dium Enterprises (SMEs), which might find it harder to adopt new technologies. At the time, around 50% of respondents knew what the term meant but did not correctly understand the value which AI can bring to their or- ganisation. Of those, 50% claimed that they had used some form of AI in their life. Surprisingly, this number shot up to 95% when we gave them examples of AI applications. The reason for this is relatively simple. AI solutions don't have a label distinguishing them from other software, so very few people can understand the difference. According to the survey, one- in-five businesses already use AI technologies. At the same time, a further quarter declared that they would do so in the coming years. But the biggest stumbling block is that many professionals do not have the appropriate knowledge or skills required for AI adoption. They are uncertain about AI, and its benefits, thus holding them back from exploring new oppor- tunities. Fast forward to today, and keep in mind the changes we've been through! The pandemic, the world conflicts, the shortage in human capital and the lack of raw materials all created new pressures on the global economy, which accelerated the adoption of AI technologies. Luckily we have entities like the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and In- dustry or the Malta Chamber of SMEs, both of which are pushing their members towards the digi- tal transformation of their busi- nesses. • What's also very encourag- ing is the result published by Eu- rostat, whereby Malta ranks in 9th place on an EU level regard- ing enterprises using AI. When considering the EU's entirety, Malta is above the 8% average. In most cases, these companies used off-the-shelf systems, but 47% in- vested in the fusion of AI within their processes. These companies used AI to: • Explore and analyse large amounts of unstructured textual data aided by software that can identify concepts, patterns, top- ics, keywords and other attrib- utes. This technology is called text mining. • Convert spoken language into a format that a machine can un- derstand, generally referred to as speech recognition. • Generate automatic replies, summaries of texts and entire documents automatically using natural language generation. • Processing of images or vide- os to identify objects and people in various domains. Such algo- rithms fall under the image pro- cessing and recognition domain. • Perform machine learning using powerful algorithms such as deep learning technologies to analyse data. • Automate different work- flows which feed into the deci- sion-making process using AI- based software robotic process automation. • Physically move objects using robots capable of observing their surroundings and taking autono- mous decisions. These are only a few of the cur- rent applications. What's for sure is that AI is developing quickly, and the number of benefits it can bring is enormous. Companies can now invest in safer technolo- gies monitored by AI with cleaner Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Even here, Malta ranks in 10th position Europewide regarding IoT use in industry, where one- third of companies use these technologies. The IoTs are seeping through every aspect of our lives. Anyone can now install smart meters, intelligent lighting, all sorts of alarms, door locks, cameras and various other devices. Sensors like Radio-frequency identifiers (RFIDs) are standard nowadays in any shop. And the prolifera- tion of these devices will keep on increasing. These advancements make it possible for companies to keep reducing their costs and environ- mental impact. They help them reach their green targets at a rea- sonable price while significantly increasing their efficiencies. Ul- timately, it pushes them toward the creation of sustainable en- terprises which fuel better deci- sion-making. Of course, the challenges are various. The democratisation of AI is speeding up, and several solutions are available. Both soft- ware-based (e.g. virtual assistants, face recognition, etc.) AI systems or embedded devices (e.g. auton- omous robots, drones, etc.) are becoming the norm. Many AI algorithms and models are being released as open-source, thus al- lowing the AI community to use them freely. However, AI still comes at a price, and enterpris- es need to invest first to benefit from these technological solu- tions. The positive part is that the return on investment (ROI) on AI projects is usually relatively high. An AI business survey amongst 1000 companies in the US con- ducted by PwC earlier this year found that organisations leading in AI see significant ROI. The most important thing is to go for a comprehensive effort and not treat AI as some magical dust to sprinkle on projects. What's sure is that Malta is well-positioned in the use of AI and other emerging technologies in business. However, we can al- ways do more to improve our ser- vices. Let's not forget that we cannot solve the challenges of today (like the shortage of human capital or raw materials) with yesterday's thinking. We need to innovate, be courageous and take the plunge. It won't be easy, but ultimately, only those who dare venture into new uncertain territories manage to find new land!

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