<p><em>CXOs know that cognitive computing is more than just a buzzword. It's the next step for artificial intelligence in the enterprise, writes <strong>Rohil Sharma</strong></em><br><br>Cognitive computing presents a power like we have never seen before; it overtakes the potential that the world-wide-web promised in the nineties. In five years, computers will be much more aware of their surroundings with an ability to identify hear, touch, taste and smell. Machines will experience the world like a human would. The world we see in the movie 'Her' isn't far from reality today where the operating system - Samantha - is able to learn and grow psychologically.<br><br>Cognitive computing is the simulation of human thought processes in a computerized model. It involves self-learning systems that uses data mining, pattern recognition and natural language processing to mimic the way a human brain works. This includes information systems and applications that can sense, comprehend and act. Today, organizations are using less than 20 per cent of all the data available with them. They end up missing out on insights from very valuable information which exist in the form of human voice and pictures. Cognitive computing systems can help to tap this hidden data by converting this information into digital form. Today, cognitive computing makes it possible to assist in the critical decision making process in industries like healthcare, BFSI, education, research and defense.<br><br><strong>The Added Advantage</strong><br>Though Artificial Intelligence (AI) is very close to cognitive computing, it works differently. The main advantage is that a cognitive system will not just continue to give a wrong or unhelpful answer repeatedly. If it arrives at a wrong conclusion, cognitive computing systems have the power to change its approach and try again. Another differentiating factor is the human element - humans are not part of the equation in AI, but humans and machines work together in cognitive computing. Cognitive computing systems learn from image and speech recognition to understand the world and interact seamlessly with humans.<br><br><strong>Opportunities in Cognitive Computing</strong><br>The real advantage lies in their ability to learn on their own and turn into domain experts. The systems become intelligent over time as they build knowledge and learn a domain, including their language, terminology, processes and preferred methods of interacting. Cognitive computing systems do not require rules to be hard-coded by human experts, unlike in earlier technologies. It can process unstructured data and learn by experience - the same way we humans do learn and analyse what goes on around us.<br><br>At the same time, CXOs need not feel threatened as it will not replace human experts. Cognitive computing is an assistive technology which responds to humans in an assistive manner. Humans have contextual insight that computers simply don't possess. As cognitive computing systems develop a deep domain expertise, it will act as a decision support system and help CXOs make better decisions based on the real time data cross domains- BFSI, government, healthcare, finance, retail, customer service and others.<br><br>Deloitte estimated that cognitive computing is set to be a $50 billion market opportunity by 2018 in the US alone. According to Markets and Markets, the cognitive computing market is forecasted to grow from $2,510.4 million in 2014 to $12,550.2 million by 2019. This means a CAGR of 38.0 per cent from 2014 to 2019.<br><br>Needless to say, cognitive computing can bring huge business value to an organization. There are two main areas where cognitive computing can play an important part in a CXO's role - automation of routine, predictable work to enable quick decision making based on data, and for augmentation activities which are unpredictable and require real-time human analysis and judgment; it can augment the work of human experts.<br><br>Managing big data is one of the biggest issues that CXOs face across all organizations today. Cognitive systems provide a great advantage here - it can categorize, sort and deliver valuable information from huge masses of data. It can also display data in a visually compelling way that helps us make decisions based on data. The technology is still immature but its benefits are being evaluated and proven over a number of verticals, while being mindful of potential risks and potential regulatory issues.<br><br><em>The author is CEO of Perpetuuiti</em></p>
