Artificial intelligence is by far and away the biggest buzz word of 2018. While Blockchain seems to be in a down cycle, A.I. in 2018 is trending back up in a big way. We are already starting to see practical applications of A.I. and Machine Learning making their way into every day business practices, and it is only a matter of time before A.I. becomes as ubiquitous as the internet itself.

Here is what to expect from A.I. in 2018.

Most buzzwords that enter the zeitgeist go through a strange phase where people keep using the term loosely, to the point where it loses all meaning. Agile was the word of 2016. Innovation the word of 2017. A.I. seemed to be lumped in the same boat until recently, but as time has continued, and more and more products in the A.I. space are being built, the sheer volume of products in the space has meant that we have a pretty good idea of what A.I. is, and what A.I. is not.

Automated analytics seemed to be a strange pipedream not too long ago. I remember hearing of Google developing a product in 2016 that was able to look into your Google Analytics, and be able to make clear and precise recommendations for what you should do with your website. It’s 2018 and that product is here. It might not be perfect but it’s starting to give analytical tools some seriously interesting results.

We’ve already seen this type of impact at Google’s latest I/O conference. Though the interactions of Google’s voice technology that was able to call a restaurant to make a reservation were largely staged, a little bit closer to home is the personalisation of voice hubs, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home. As voice search starts to make “suggestion mechanisms” increasingly likely to shape a user’s preferences, A.I. will shape the way these hubs formulate a deep set of personal data that Google is able to use.

Not too long ago we were talking about A.I. as a feature. These days A.I. is a product, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down in 2018. Products such as chatbots, analytics tools and automation tools are all in themselves A.I. being formed into a complete product. Sales cycles are long in these fields, so don’t expect every man and his dog to have one yet.

So, I’ll leave you with this tasty morsel. It’s not a trend yet, but it will be more towards the end of the year. For those playing along at home, Business Intelligence suites like Microsoft’s Power B.I. have been toying with the idea of taking their analytical tools and feeding them into a powerful suggestion tool, that is able to provide “truth” inside analytics. A.I. will allow businesses to see the “truth” in data, allowing business to employ a “robo-consultant” who is fast, effective, and doesn’t charge as much as a member of the big 4. Watch this space.