It is hard to deny the fact that today our lives revolve around our smartphones. Earlier when smartphones didn’t exist, mobile users were happy with the basic features, such as Calculator, Alarm and Calendar. The advent of smartphones and its fast-paced adoption in the world brought with it an abundance of apps that help us in various aspects of our lives. These apps help us organize better, communicate endlessly and pretty much help us do anything and everything. Now, there is a huge shift in technology trends that’s diverting towards intelligent apps. Intelligent applications or I-Apps aid in harnessing the true and complete potential of your smart devices and make everyday tasks and experiences effortless.

In this blog, we talk about what are intelligent apps and what are its key features. We will also look at a few examples of I-Apps and what the future looks like for this kind of technology. Let us begin by understanding what these apps are.

What are intelligent apps or I-Apps?

I-Apps are applications which use real-time and historical user data to make relevant and useful user predictions and deliver adaptive and personalized user experiences. This new generation of mobile apps is the result of multiple cutting-edge technologies coming together. Intelligent apps are software that use the power of different Artificial Intelligence (AI) components such as Machine Learning (ML), big data analytics, Natural Language Processing (NLP), deep learning, general intelligence, expert systems, robotics, etc. AI-powered algorithms help these applications leverage real-time and historical user data to help in making precise, contextual and smarter decisions.

Intelligent applications are capable of continuously learning the contextual, behavioral and emotional patterns of users while performing the tasks assigned to it. The apps are designed to deliver predictive analysis, prescriptive analysis, operational vision and product insights to predict your needs and deliver them as relevant information, suggestions or recommendations.

Key characteristics of I-Apps

1. I-Apps are highly contextual & appropriate 

The apps make smarter use of the features of a device to proactively analyze, predict and deliver relevant recommendations and suggestions. You, as a user, won’t have to go to the apps, the app comes to you instead.

2. Intelligent applications are data-driven

I-Apps are capable of syncing up user data from various sources like IoT sensors and user interactions, and converting huge amounts of data from these sources into useful and relevant insights.

3. Intelligent apps are action-oriented

The Intelligent Apps don’t just predict user behavior, it also gives actionable and personalized suggestions.

4. I-Apps are Omnichannel PWAs 

Progressive web applications (PWAs) are continuously blurring the lines between mobile web applications and native apps.

5. The apps are continuously adapting

As the apps constantly leverage the capabilities of AI and its components, the apps are equipped to meet the changing demands of users.

SEE ALSO: Edge Computing vs Cloud Computing: Meaning, Types, Examples & Differences

Examples of Intelligent Applications

Let us look at a few Intelligent Apps that we use almost every day.

1. Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri

alexa | iTMunch

Digital voice assistants of Amazon (Alexa), Apple (Siri) and Google (Google Assistant) are a few great examples of intelligent applications. The apps seamlessly combine machine learning and natural language processing to make your everyday simple tasks convenient. The apps are capable of giving you weather updates, traffic updates, coordinate meetings, adjust smart LEDs, telling a joke, playing your favorite music and much more. Thanks to Natural Language Generation (NLG) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), these digital assistants converse like human beings. Tech giants Amazon, Apple and Google are consistently working towards improving the AI-capabilities of their virtual assistants in order to provide a more meaningful experience to users

2. English Language Speech Assistant (ELSA)

ELSA is an AI-based intelligent app that helps you work on your English speaking skills by focusing on the right accent and pronunciations. The app also gives access to professional training with lots of practice exercises and teaching material. ELSA uses speech recognition technology to understand your native language and tech you how to speak English the right way. You can also learn how to pronounce a word correctly by simply entering it in its search bar. The company was recently in news when they raised funding of about $7 million from a Google’s AI-focused VC firm, Gradient Ventures.

3. Ada Health

Markets itself as a ‘doctor-in-your-pocket’ app, Ada Health also runs on Artificial Intelligence. It is an app that helps users understand their health conditions and search for the most suitable care available. Ada Health launched a fresh way to personalize health by reinforcing sophisticated AI and combining it with human medical know-how and mobile technology. Ada Health app has a conversational interface and asks you simple and relevant questions. It then compares the answers to its wealth of health data of similar cases and delivers personalized responses. It helps users find the best and most relevant explanation for the symptoms they experience, guides them to the most appropriate care and helps them track and manage their health.

4. Seeing AI by Microsoft

Seeing AI is an intelligent application developed by Microsoft. It is basically a talking camera I-App for the visually-impaired. The application essentially helps the low-vision and blind community around the globe to know about what’s around them via cameras on their smartphones. Seeing AI also has a computer vision that narrates the visual world by reading out documents and short texts. The app helps users identify color, currencies, handwriting, age, gender, emotion, light and images in other apps. The app is powerful and seamlessly coverts visual data into audio output. Microsoft recently added a new and groundbreaking feature to Seeing AI that allows users to simply tap their finger on any image to hear an instant audible description on the same.

5. OTT platforms like Netflix and Prime Video

Disruptive over-the-top (OTT) brands like Prime Video and Netflix are the best intelligent app examples. The platforms have leveraged intelligent systems and developed a business model around it. The platforms suggest personalized movies as recommendations, a feature powered by Big Data. It uses implicit (behavioral) data and explicit (information fed directly by the user) to make recommendations over time. The brands have developed powerful algorithms to closely examine and identify patterns from data to help users pick what to watch next.

The future of Intelligent Apps

At present, intelligent apps automate simple and complex problems by processing them into a natural language in real-time. The apps offer highly context-sensitive and personalized information and allow users to quickly analyze, filter and streamline relevant information on the basis of their needs to facilitate the decision making process. Looking at the future, experts say organizations will continue using their legacy systems and tools and combine it with AI to leverage the benefits of intelligent applications. For example, simple apps like email can’t be given up forever completely. Therefore, organizations might develop intelligent applications around emails with AI-powered features. like alerts about emails that need immediate attention.

Organizations around the world are already widely adopting I-Apps approach and steering away from just ‘big data’.  While data is a huge and the most basic element in information technology, organizations are expanding the use of machine learning and cloud infrastructure to create more intelligent applications and systems. 

As companies and demand for their cloud intelligent products grow, companies will have to look for ways to offer unlimited scalability. As data grows relentlessly, users and organizations can’t be restrained by data volumes. Intelligent apps in the future need to scale up and become capable of handling higher volumes of data while delivering seamless performance across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architecture.

These applications also need to increasingly and continuously need databases that adapt to countless dynamics, complexities and the unpredictability of real-word data. Effective intelligent apps will be able to use the richness of all available data made available to reveal the true content in real-time in the future. As data volumes increase and organizations scale, security will be a big issue to deal with for intelligent app developers. Regulations regarding I-Apps need to evolve and developers need to build apps that meet the security needs. 

Intelligent apps are touching our lives in almost all aspects – technology, finance, lifestyle, media and much more. They help you execute tasks with precision, improve efficiency and obtain much better business outcomes. There is no doubt that these apps are continuously paving the way for faster business decisions. Intelligent applications are here to stay so are you prepared for this “intelligent” future?

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