The classic 1960’s cartoon, The Jetson’s
The Jetson’s, presented a world of automation and technology. With a push of a few buttons, meals were prepared. Robots took care of tedious tasks like sweeping. Newspapers were digital and phone calls included video. While we still don’t have flying cars or push button meals, we have come closer and closer to the Jetson’s futuristic world. Robotic vacuum cleaners, electronic news, and FaceTime calls are a part of our everyday lives. With further advances in technology, self-driven cars may become flying. Perhaps 3D printing will someday apply to meal preparation. But automation and technology is not only making our home lives easier. It improves our business lives as well.
Data analysis has two sides
First data must be collected, cleaned, and collated. The other side is that the data must be interpreted. Businesses cannot act without the insights from the interpretation. But those insights cannot be developed without organized data. These steps each take time. It is difficult to know how much time to spend with the data rather than interpreting it. It is because of this quandary, that automation and machine learning has a chance to shine in a variety of business settings.
Jane Jetson, the matriarch of the Jetson family still felt tired from running the household, despite the fact that much of her daily chores were automated. Humanity and the relationships we build with family, friends, and clients can not be replaced. But there are tasks, just like vacuuming, that can be achieved without human hands. Once you have a data plan, automation of the cleaning and organization is one step toward efficiency for your business. Creating useful ways to view the data, automatically, can give your business more time to develop the insights necessary for making solid decisions using hard numbers rather than intuition.
Balance
The cartoon’s protagonist, George Jetson, worked about 9 hours a week thanks to automation. Of course, we aren’t there just yet. But artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation are making some typical tasks for businesses function without human intervention. Even now, software exists that can predict what a customer will consider, review, and ultimately purchase. By using automation and machine learning, data can be analyzed in a more effective and efficient way. Patterns that humans might never see are apparent and obvious to computers running algorithms to interpret data. These obscure, but insightful patterns will be what sets apart your business from your competitors.
AI becoming more important
In the last 10 years the world has changed with artificial intelligence and automation becoming more important and prevalent in nearly all industries. When implemented along with appropriate training and guidance, automation can transform your data into a powerful tool that you can analyze as needed, rather than wait for a complicated IT report. Of course, there’s the dangerous voice saying “But we have always done it this way.” Embracing the automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning is the first step in revolutionizing your business and data analysis.
The Jetson children, Judy and Elroy, embraced new gadgets, gizmos, and technology immediately in the cartoon, often to their parent’s dismay. But more often than not, George and Jane saw the usefulness of their children’s new gadget and found a way to utilize it in their home. Personally, I’m still waiting for the development of the voice activated washing machine from the series. It cleans, dries, and folds in 30 seconds. Talk about automation!
