In today’s highly competitive times, artificial intelligence technology is making inroads into every aspect of our lives. We have already seen how computers can help with issues such as medical diagnosis and treatments, weather prediction, search engine optimization, etc. The same holds true for the way humans interact with each other on the Internet. One can think of search engine marketing as being the equivalent of an online store – a virtual store where you will find all sorts of different products and services at different prices and in different categories.
Once upon a time, the website owner or webmaster would hire a staff of real people to manage the website and make it more attractive to visitors. That is the “old” way of doing things. Today, the entire business is done by sophisticated computer programs that are able to sift through massive amounts of data (all of the billions of websites out there) to find the most relevant, well-designed, and useful websites to present to the search engines. All that results in the creation of websites that are both search-engine friendly and user friendly.
As is evident in the name of the business, artificial intelligence technology is at the root of what makes this all possible. In fact, many of the best online retailers started out this way. They used complex programs and techniques to decipher user behavior and then plugged that into the programming code of the actual store. Once the site was established, they simply applied the same concepts to everything else on the site. The result was a well-managed online retail experience that millions of people love every single day.
Online shopping is just the latest application of this concept. Many retail websites use artificial intelligence technology to predict customer behavior and then design their website and pages so that the most likely behavior is satisfied. For example, a car website might predict that a car would make a left turn faster than normal and then provide traffic data to the customer based on this information. If the customer confirms this belief, then they are given the discount they were looking for. If they confirm that they won’t make the reservation, then the discount is cancelled.
Why should we care about how artificial intelligence technology can help us online? This question has been on the minds of many businesses, and the answer is simple: because it means more sales. Imagine a car website that can predict how much traffic will be on an afternoon. Then it simply provides coupons, discounts, and specials based on this knowledge.
Today’s Internet savvy consumer expects everything to be just as she wants it. A company that can predict how a potential shopper will act before the shopping begins is one that will get more conversions. Not only that, but an online retailer with artificially intelligent software that can weed out unproductive leads and target only the ones that are most likely to make a purchase is one that will generate more revenue.
How artificial intelligence technology will impact our lives in general though is a much more interesting question. Will the self-consciousness of consumers result in less consumer spending? Will people be less honest in their reviews of products as to whether they actually bought them or not? And what about more personal aspects of purchasing such as obtaining a credit card number or mailing in a tax return? Will the Internet’s artificial intelligence software to be used for social marketing as well?
One thing is for sure, artificial intelligence technology will impact all areas of our lives. It is just a matter of how fast and dramatic this impact will be. In the near future, artificial intelligence will be at the forefront of all online activities from shopping to mating to even the political process.
