Everyone Has AI, But Data is King

Over the years, we have watched companies from start-ups to large established brands tout that their application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a game-changer, giving them and their customers a distinct competitive advantage. They claim that decisions made by AI technology supersede human capability and can actually predict the future.

There is an element of truth in this; however, we return to the old expression – garbage in garbage out.  At Social360, we apply AI to our algorithm but firmly believe that the key to success is leveraging robust historical data and human intelligence as the foundation.

Core to our business is technology and people working together to identify the reputational issues that can influence business outcomes. We have been doing this for many years and appreciate why good data is critical for all businesses.

Human Intelligence is all about learning from various incidents and past experiences. It is about learning from mistakes. Intelligent thought and intelligent behavior lie at the core of human Intelligence. However, Artificial Intelligence falls behind in this respect – machines cannot think.

They can learn from data and continuous training, but they can never achieve the thought process unique to humans. While AI-powered systems can perform specific tasks quite well, it can take years for them to learn a completely different set of functions for a new application area.

We believe that human verification will always be critical and provides a level of interpretation and ‘gut feel’ that a machine may never have. And as any good statistician knows, the more data there is, the better the analysis and interpretation. This is critical in developing good AI that avoids mistakes, bias, and misrepresentation of the data.

The decision-making power of AI systems is primarily based on events, the data they’re trained on, and how they are related to a particular event. AI machines cannot understand the concept of “cause and effect” simply because they lack common sense.

Humans possess the unique ability to learn and apply their acquired knowledge in combination with logic, reasoning, and understanding. Real-world scenarios require a holistic, logical, rational, and emotional approach that is specific to humans.

At Social360, we have been using machine learning tools since the beginning but only where there is a clear advantage in replacing or enhancing human input. Even then, we do not just rely on technology – we use it as a tool to help our analysts deliver a better understanding of what content our clients need to know and prioritise.

We put more than a decade of data to work – this includes raw data and the human interpretation of that data. We have built a robust and valuable data set that can help machines understand online content and its potential impact – importantly looking at unstructured data (social media) where the use of language and style is often unpredictable. Our analysts produce thousands of reports every year looking at millions of pieces of content. Social360’s algorithms help our human analysts synthesize vast amounts of information to deliver valuable data to our clients.

AI is an invaluable tool shaping industry and combined with human oversight, will be the norm across all sectors. For our part, we will continue to develop AI into our daily workflow to help us solve complex problems and improve our output for clients.

Social360 combines a clever and pioneering approach to data harvesting with innovative technology and human analysis to deliver accurate and intelligent insight.

We were founded in 2008 by senior communications specialists and since then have helped some of the world’s largest companies, government agencies and communications consultancies understand the online narrative shaping their reputation.

If you need help or have questions please visit our website – www.s360group.com