Biggest web-AI players and what are they doing with AI

The growth spurt of AI saw several contenders running to make the most out of it. Over the last two decades, several individuals, start-ups, and even huge industrialists have sought to reap the benefits offered by the applications of AI. There are products in the market to whom artificial intelligence serves as the very heart of their business.

In the Second World War, the Allied forces deployed bomber aircraft. These were key to the strategies employed by the Allied forces. But somehow, these bombers failed to deliver due to them being shot down in large numbers when in enemy territory. It was clear that the bombers needed more armor. But due to the weight of armor, it was not possible to entirely cover the aircraft. Hence, it was decided that the most critical areas of the aircraft should be covered up with extra armor.  Abraham Wald, a Jewish mathematician, was asked to come up with a way to determine  which areas of the aircraft had to be armor-plated. He studied the aircraft that had come back from battle and made note of which areas carried the most bullet marks.

It was found that the wings, the nose, and tail were the parts that carried the highest number of bullet marks, and it was concluded that these were the parts that needed more armor, while the cockpit and the engines displayed the least bullet holes:

But surprisingly, going against the regular method of thought, Wald suggested that it was the cockpit and the engines that needed armor because it was those bombers that were not returning. Bullets in the tail, wings, and nose could not deal fatal damage to the aircraft and hence they returned successfully.

This is how, working with data and identifying the correct pattern, the entire course of the Second World War was changed by a mathematician. Data has been termed as the new oil. What makes it more interesting is that when you have oil, you burn it to produce electricity and energy, to drive vehicles. But with data, you use it to improve business and make decisions, which, in the future, produce more data. The companies that realized this and took the most benefit out of the data available have seen huge growth in recent times. Let's explore what few of such companies are doing with all of the data available, using AI.