What Is AI as a Service? [Beginners Guide in 2022]

We’ve all heard about artificial intelligence, be it from sci-fi movies or from following the latest technology news and trends.

But what does the term AI as a Service mean? Is it robot waiters who bring you food and drinks? Perhaps it’s a personal butler, ready to take care of your every need?

Don’t worry, we haven’t reached that point of progress yet.

However, we’ve reached the moment when we seek an answer to the question of what AI as a Service is. How can we benefit from it?

What Is AI as a Service?

Artificial intelligence as a service, or simply AIaaS, is a term that describes subscription-based third party companies that provide AI services.

Such services exist because not every company can afford the expenses around developing artificial intelligence. Moreover, artificial intelligence aims to automate redundant, repetitive tasks and drive your business towards digital transformation.

Benefits of AIaaS

In case you haven’t noticed, artificial intelligence is already all around us. From chatbots that use natural language processing to hold conversations with real people to APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow two applications to communicate with each other.

Having said that, artificial intelligence as a service brings multiple benefits to the table.

Here’s a brief summary:

• Cost reduction. AI as a service can greatly reduce the cost of developing an AI solution.
• Faster. AIaaS is also much faster to execute than standard AI projects.
• Simpler. You don’t know how to code? No problem. AIaaS eliminates the need to hire an expert and create complex infrastructures.
• Custom solutions. It’s easy to customize AIaaS depending on your goals and business needs.
• Easy to scale. An important feature in the design, artificial intelligence as a service is ready to scale with your business whenever you need it.
• Transparent. You pay only for what you use.

The AI as a Service market is steadily growing. It’s visible that there’s one particular industry where it has the most applications. That’s right, customer service.

Companies that emphasize on customer service usually handle large volumes of data. Artificial intelligence is really useful to help analyze this data quickly, analyze existing customer data, and predict their future behavior. On top of that, chatbots can greatly reduce the average handling time. This, in turn, increases customer satisfaction and allows human employees to focus on more complex tasks.

In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises can also gain a lot from artificial intelligence as a service. This is simply because it allows them to use advanced technologies, which would otherwise be very hard to implement. Be it cloud-based apps, processing data and storage, or automating tasks, artificial intelligence as a service can do the job for you.

Types of AIaaS Platforms

You’re probably wondering what type of artificial intelligence you can implement in your business? Look no further, here are the most common types of AI as a service platforms.

Chatbots

Chatbots are the most common types of bots. Chances are, you’ve talked to one yourself, and you can bet you’ll be talking to more of them soon. This is due to the tendency is to automate human customer service and to almost entirely rely on bots.

This automation is already showing huge value. Chatbots reduce first-time customer response and overall customer satisfaction. In addition, let’s not forget about their ability to handle multiple queries at the same time.

Using natural language processing (NLP), chatbots can be thought to provide relevant answers to the most frequently asked questions. On top of that, chatbots do not require food, water or sleep, so they can work 24/7. This saves you time and resources, allowing employees to focus on more perplexing tasks.

The chatbot market is steadily growing and is well-received. In fact, we’ve reached the point where now 40% of internet users around the world would prefer communicating with a chatbot to a real person.

Machine Learning

Machine learning (ML) is used to analyze and find patterns in data. As the learning process evolves, the machine starts to make its own predictions without being taught to do so. The goal of this data analysis method is to eliminate or reduce human intervention to minimum.

Using AIaaS, companies can manage machine learning without the need of technical expertise. There are loads of custom solutions that can deal with everything from pre-trained models to performing a custom task.

APIs

APIs, or application programming interfaces, are software that allows two applications to communicate with each other. Also, APIs are commonly used in natural language processing, conversational AI, and computer vision.

An application programming interface is what is used to pull out all information from a collection of databases in order to present this information for a topic.

Data Labeling

Data labeling is the process of interpreting large amounts of data for more efficient organizing process. It can be used in plenty of ways – guaranteeing data quality, categorizing by size, or further training of your artificial intelligence.

Data Classification

When you tag your data in one or more categories, this is the process of data classification. This classification typically involves content, context, and user-based. With the help of AI, data can be classified on a larger scale, provided that data classification outlines and criteria have been clearly defined.

Examples of AI as a Service

Now, let us move on and take a closer look at a few examples of successfully operating AI as a Service platforms.

1. MonkeyLearn. Interested in customer feedback? Want to dig deeper to gain detailed insights? Look no further than this ready-to-use text analysis tool.
   You can create custom charts and visualizations, filter by multiple data inputs, dates and custom fields, and much more.
2. IBM Watson. IBM have been in the AI game for some time now. Their AIaaS include Watson – a multifunctional tool designed with several pre-built applications. These include the Watson Assistant, which can build virtual assistants, and Watson Natural Language Understand – for tasks requiring advanced text analysis. Furthermore, developers can benefit from the IBM Watson Studio to train, build and deploy machine learning models across the cloud.
3. SERP Robot. Artificial intelligence has also affected digital marketing. SERP Robot is a tool that allows automatic SERP keyword tracking, plus reports and alerts. You can also track the rankings of your competitors. On top of that, you can obtain information about both global and local search volumes.

What Is the Difference Between AIaaS and Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the process of simulating natural intelligence in machines. The idea is for the machines to behave the same way as humans do, emphasizing on experience and adaptive learning. In a nutshell, AI aims to mimic human intelligence in order to automate mundane tasks.

On the other hand, AIaaS is a service offered by third-party companies that provide ready-made AI solutions. This way, artificial intelligence is exposed to a wider range of businesses. Also, it is made more accessible to companies who want to boost their digital presence.

Does Your Business Need Artificial Intelligence as a Service?

At this point, you might be wondering whether your own business needs AI? AIaaS makes AI technology more accessible, cost-effective, and requires minimal effort.

In most instances, in-house AI development is not an option, since it requires strong technical expertise, and is very costly. However, with AIaaS, you only pay for the tools that you need, and can upgrade plans as your business grows.

Wrap-Up

AI as a Service is an affordable, custom solution for pretty much anything you may need. It doesn’t really require technical expertise, meaning everyone can use it.

The AI as a Service market is full of companies ready to help you automate redundant tasks, and take your business to the next, digital, level.