Conventional wisdom holds that artificial intelligence is the next great horizontal technology that will unleash futurewaves of innovation. Yet AI is not a single type of technology. It takes many forms and encompasses many, many uses. Andto focus on AI is to miss the forest for the trees.

The foresthere ismachine intelligence,or MI,according to Deloittes annual Tech Trends report, which was released today. Business spending on MI is forecast to reach $31.3 billion by 2019, according to IDC.

Deloittesreport,Tech Trends 2017: The Kinetic Enterprise, describesAI as a subset of a larger, more important category of technologies (MI) that also include machine learning, deep learning, cognitive analytics, robotics process automation (RPA), and bots, to name a few. Collectively, these and other tools constitute machine intelligence: algorithmic capabilities that can augment employee performance, automate increasingly complex workloads, and develop cognitive agents that simulate both human thinking and engagement, the report states.

Deloitte cites three factors driving the rise of MI:

Collectively, MI technologies like speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning will help businesses automate manytasks traditionally done byhumans, thereby driving greater efficiency and productivity. Large tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple are betting on delivering these services to businesses. In turn, venture capital firms have loaded their portfolios with MI-focused startups at the bottom of this food chain (see table below).

Above: Machine intelligences impact: Sample acquisitions and investments, 20142016

Deloittes 2016 Global CIO Survey had asked 1,200 IT executives to name newtechnologies in which they planned to invest significantly overthe next two years: 64percent of those included cognitive technologies, or MI.

The report includes some advice for businesses looking to embrace MI. Amazons Maria Renz, vice president and technical adviser to the CEO, and Toni Reid, director of Amazon Alexa, write: We advise looking at your customer base, listening to them, and understanding their core needs and ways in which you can make their lives easier dont be afraid to invent on the customers behalfcustomers dont always know what to ask for. If you have the right focus on the customer experience, the rest should fall into place.

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Deloitte predicts machine intelligence, not mere AI, as a big trend for ... - VentureBeat