Artificial intelligence as a top topic in business and society — and more recently in the German policy for Dorothee Bär, the Minister of State for digitisation in the Berlin Chancellery. —Photo: Munich Media days. Picture Collage: Andreas Weber.
By Andreas Weber, Head of Value | Original German Version
Notes: The post was created in cooperation with VDI messages, Stefan Eder. — See also our #ValueCheck contribution to AI in art and media. — The English translation was automatically done via xeroxtranslates.com
The high-tech group of Xerox / PARC enters California Palo Alto new ways in ‘Artificial intelligence’ (AI) with his think-tank and development forge. The next year a AI-software architecture should be ready for the market the company to automatically create offers and future documents of all kinds. The whole thing is so topical, there is still no official product name for it.
“Currently we are in the beta and put our new AI solution also within the own group in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom”, says Elisabeth Rochman, Director of innovation, strategy and communication at Xerox in London.
In focus: knowledge workers
Targets are knowledge workers to automate document creation with AI for Xerox primarily in all areas of industrial enterprises, government agencies and organizations. “We go beyond now far scanning and routing of documents, and other ConnectKey functionalities of the Xerox workplace assistants, learning technologies provide the basis for success by most modern deep”, so Rochman next.
It is important to be maximum productive knowledge workers so that they can best accomplish their important duties in complex environments. It is especially critical for knowledge workers to be able to look outside the box and to be able to identify additional information that may be important for their own work in large and complex organizations.
In this mammoth task, Xerox can rely on a 30-year expertise of PARC in natural language processing and is a pioneer in “natural language generation” to take over. Xerox dominates already automatic translations and language input systems for knowledge workers, as well as in the future dialogue systems for field workers in the repair use.
Info box to Artificial intelligence (AI)
AI in daily use on the example of Apple with Siri. Photo: Mashable
The direct or indirect encounter with artificial intelligence (AI) nobody can escape. For business as private — industry 4.0, medical technology, nursing, Smartphone, autonomous car, smart TV, or in the games sector, we all use AI or benefit.
AI is not a new invention. This research since the 1950s. Starting point is less a ‘thinking machine’, as rather basically programs that can do a task independently, would be necessary for the typically human intelligence. Meanwhile high computing performance as IBM Watson can faster do the AI as a human being. Primarily involves the automation of intelligent behavior and machine learning. In addition to U.S. companies, the strongest driving force is China, with investments of the Government of more than $ 50 billion. The German Government wants to just provide 300 million euros.
Very easily accessible, AI is transformed into our everyday lives such as via Amazon Polly — a text-to-speech service, the texts of all kinds in realistic speech output, so that applications are speaking and whole new categories of voice-enabled products in dozens of languages with a Variety of lifelike voices can be developed, as well as chatbots and the various language assistants by Google, Apple and Amazon.
The big shift
“The special and new at AI — we call it ‘ the big shift’ — is that we need no more area experts to write the rules, instead we need many data points and machine learning algorithms, which themselves derive from the rules of the data sets”, says Rochman. Creativity, intuition, and instinctively correct action in combination with deep-learning are important when it comes to acceptance and interaction between machines and people.
To use the Xerox-AI solution according to Rochman requires no special learnings: “users always have full control and sovereignty. Our AI software architecture is designed so that individual is defined, what degree of intensity makes the most sense“.
AI is the most important branch of modern and future informatics. Four key areas are addressed and networked: Emotionalization, complex tasks, learning and social interaction. The goal: radically simplify the world by an intelligent interface to all offers.
The Xerox/PARC perspective is: artificial intelligence can learn, make assumptions, adapt and respond to unpredictable behavior, and thus make the best decision each with the user and this is more or less in real time. While emotions of the user to be perceived and considered them in the interaction. The Xerox AI architecture itself in this sense as a reasonable and credible partners of interaction, to communicate with the people and to learn from each other.
AI has top priority in the think tank and the development forge PARC. CEO Dr. Tallon Kash wrote a readable paper on the role and importance in the June 2018.
AI not as a product, but as a service
PARC developments, everything already since 2002 follows the principle of open innovation. With respect to AI, the man-machine collaboration that means best through ‘ human-centered innovation services’ to make. In this respect a Xerox-AI solution should be not seen according to Rochman as opaque black box. Rather, the constant transparency in the foreground stand for Xerox to build maximum confidence and to sustainably maintain.
Ideally, this can be done for example by that algorithms themselves explain. Striking words: AI can be used to make AI and to meet people.
Accordingly, PARC researchers working to create a common ground between humans and AI. “Has to do with traditional AI, in which everything according to predetermined, fixed rules must be our development of less. Therefore is not a product, but as understanding service”AI at Xerox, clarifies Rochman. And added: “Our AI architecture is capable of the people, to follow his habits and his thinking, to serve as a qualified solution and service partner.”
The flexibility and simplicity in the interfacing with connectors is also essential to create diverse interfaces. Relevant, high-quality data and networking are the fuel for AI. Here is Xerox not yet decided, whether itself or through third parties offered the interfacing.
My take: off to new shores! Because AI’s head thing!
With the new AI solution, Xerox has the chance to reinvent itself and to raise knowledge work to a new level. Ultimately, one must pass to the pure language assistance services providers up front to play with. This can succeed, if you manage from Xerox to use existing customer and network structures to include AI in the most diverse areas of application.
Just for the digital transformation of the core markets of Xerox — business communication and the professional print industry —, AI is the key factor. In dialogue with AI-automatically generated data that digital can be printed in real time, and using must be no bold vision, but should soon become a reality. Until then, there may be a continue or stony path should appear, but in my view does not shy away from the Xerox. Creativity is not only an important facet of AI, but also becomes the driver of future marketing success for Xerox.
About
The Frenchwoman Elisabeth Rochman studied information systems and networking at the French engineering school, École Polytechnique Femine. She can look back on a successful industrial career in start-ups, as well as in companies such as HP and Hewlett Packard enterprises for over 20 years. In the February 2018 she appointed strategy and communication based in London Xerox as Director of innovation. In collaboration with PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), innovative universities and start-ups she works at Xerox intelligent work products and services supported by artificial intelligence.
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About the author
Andreas Weber as internationally renowned business communication analyst, coach, blogger, and transformer is engaged for more than 25 years. Its activities focus on ‘Transformation for the Digital Age’ via lectures, management briefings, workshops, analyses & reports, strategic advice. —With his blog http://www.valuetrendradar.com/ he inspires readers from over 150 countries around the world.
