How AI is shaping industries across the US

(NewsNation) — Artificial Intelligence has long been considered a shaper of the future, though it is already changing how several industries function.

Here, NewsNation looks at how AI is influencing various industries and ways of life across the world.

Shopping

Retail shopping has long been affected by the convenience of online shopping, but now the latter is set to be impacted

OpenAI, which developed the popular AI chatbot “Chat GPT,” rolled out a new feature last month to help users find suitable products.

It includes visual displays of the product, links to purchase the item, and reviews, which are available to all users.

Perplexity also partnered with Visa to help improve shopping experiences for its users.

“Visa knows a lot about its customers, and if customers opt in, there can be that anonymized data sharing, so that the recommendations you get in Perplexity are in line with your kind of purchase and transaction history so you can get better quality answers,” Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told the LA Times.

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Finance

AI is allowing users to make more informed decisions on the stock market by assessing trends through various data sets.

It is also impacting companies in the sector, not just the average Joe.

The Government Accountability Office says banks, credit unions, and others are already using AI to speed up operations.

Though it warns, “AI technologies present both benefits and risks for businesses and consumers. For example, AI can improve customer service but could also lead to lending bias or cybersecurity risk.”

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Sports

U.S. Olympic gold medallist Samantha Bosco used AI in preparation for her triumph in the road time trial at the 2024 Paris Games.

Speaking to Microsoft, Bosco said Co-Pilot helped her be cognizant of her sleep, recovery, and performance, in addition to ways to improve in these areas.

“The analytics helped with really fine-tuning those little things that add up,” Bosco said. “It kept my motivation up and reminded me of why I’m tracking the data in the first place.

“It was like having my own personal assistant, which can take off the stress of having to figure things out yourself,” she added.

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Safety

While there are concerns about what some may create with AI, such as deepfake pornography, a Texas school is using AI for the better.

Earlier this month, Austin charter school “Ki Charter” became the first school of its kind to deploy “ZeroEyes.”

Developed by Navy SEALS, ZeroEyes uses AI to detect guns spotted by surveillance cameras, according to NewsNation affiliate KXAN.

Per its co-founder, Sam Alaimo, the technology is layered upon digital security cameras to detect guns. If a gun is identified, images are shared with the ZeroEyes’ operations center, which Alaimo told KXAN was modeled after the U.S. military’s Tactical Operations Center.

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Benefits

AI is already helping streamline processes for both employees and employers when it comes to benefits administration.

This shift is being undertaken at companies such as Aptia Group, where AI is central to streamlining its processes.

“At Aptia, we’ve built our platform around AI so employers and partners have a smarter, more connected way to manage benefits complexity,” Josh Welch, Aptia’s Chief Product Officer, told NewsNation.

AI is streamlining document processing to help personalize the experience of employees, ensuring fewer manual tasks exist and more learned insights are available for both employers and their employees.

“This isn’t just incremental automation,” Welch added. “It’s really enabling a holistic shift of legacy benefits administration to intelligent benefits optimization — exactly the evolution this industry needs.”

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