4 surprising ways AI has been used for years

Whether you call it artificial intelligence or Apple Intelligence, AI is everywhere right now. Arguably the tech buzzword of (at least) the last two years, generative AI has hogged headlines with increasing inevitability since the arrival of large language models like ChatGPT and, of course, text-to-image generators.

But while those tools are still toddlers in human years, AI itself has been around for a long time. Indeed, our guide to the history of AI will take you all the way back to the 1960s. Machine learning has been being incorporated into software for decades, and in the last 10 years we've seen some fascinating examples of its impact on various industries. Here are 4 such examples which, while not as splashy as a video of Will Smith eating spaghetti, demonstrate how AI has been making waves in the last decade.

01. Predicting stocks based on car park occupancy

Geospatial data analytics company Orbital Insight uses information such as satellite imagery, along with machine learning, to "measure and quantify what is happening on and to the Earth". Any the company has used AI to find some fascinating links between satellite images and the health of the companies it works with, including US department store J.C. Penney.

In 2017, Orbital Insight used drone imagery of store parking lots to predict the stock price of the company, with accurate results. According to The Next Web, Orbital Insight uses satellite data from companies like Digital Globe, Planet and BlackSky. And as the graph above demonstrates, Oribital’s parking lot figures were almost perfectly aligned with J.C. Penney’s stock chart.

02. Financial predictions

In 2016, the first ever artificially intelligent hedge fund was created, capable of making stock trades using AI. Hong Kong based Aidya, according to Wired, was an automated system that traded in US equities, and on its first day, it "generated a 2 percent return on an undisclosed pool of money".

Aidya is no more, and fully automated hedge funds remain the stuff of the future. But the industry continues to adopt AI at a rapid rate. As reported by Financial News London, a fifth of hedge fund managers believe AI will disrupt portfolio management in the near future, and "some 86% of hedge funds have allowed their staff to use some form of generative AI", such as ChatGPT.

03. Brewing beer

The first beer brewed with AI was produced in 2016, by brewery IntelligentX. Using machine learning, the system recorded feedback received via Facebook Messenger, using it to tweak recipes. Four flavours were created: Black AI, Golden AI, Pale AI, and Amber AI, with customers requested to follow a link after purchasing to answer 10 questions via Facebook.

Not that the brewers let AI take over the process entirely. According to Forbes, they decided whether or not to heed the algorithm's advice. "AI gives insights to help a brewmaster be better equipped to make decisions based on customer feedback."

04. Negotiating contracts

Pactum is a is an AI-based system that "helps global companies to automatically offer personalised, commercial negotiations on a massive scale". The chatbot automates contract negotiations between businesses and their suppliers and the company claims it can "complete complex negotiations in just a few clicks and find an agreement for both parties in as little as 15 minutes."

And Pactum has some big clients. According to Bloomberg, Walmart is using Pactum AI to negotiate prices with some vendors. "The retail giant tells the software its budgets and needs. Then the AI, rather than a buying team, communicates with human sellers to close each deal."

"The reality is, humans struggle to reach agreement on major challenges, especially where global cooperation is required," Pactum announces on its website. "But we believe that once Pactum has excelled in commercial negotiations it provides a promising platform to reach agreement on major issues affecting humanity. It’s capacity to solve high-level negotiations simply is unparalleled."

Creative Bloq's AI Week is held in association with DistinctAI, creators of the new plugin Vision FX 2.0, which creates stunning AI art based on your own imagery – perfect for ideation and conceptualising during the creative process. Find out more on the DistinctAI website.