AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be overwhelming. Even the programmers who created these computer models do not know how they work.
BI (Business Intelligence) is critical for business decision-makers but many think AI can function like BI which it really can’t.
In simple terms, the difference between AI and BI is as follows:
AI (Artificial Intelligence): AI is like having a smart assistant that can learn from data and make decisions on its own. It can analyze large amounts of data to find patterns, predict outcomes, or even understand human language. AI can automate tasks, suggest solutions, and adapt to new situations without being explicitly programmed.
BI (Business Intelligence): BI is looking at a report or dashboard that tells you what’s happening in your business. It helps you understand past performance, monitor key metrics, and identify trends using data visualization and analytics. BI doesn’t make decisions for you but provides insights that humans can use to make informed decisions.
BI is good at displaying the patterns in data, and AI is good at helping to explain the patterns.
AI is best used as an assistant and to discover patterns in data that are hidden. To benefit from having AI, you’ll need to first prepare your data for AI (here’s a helpful checklist). First think about what you are looking for which is a good starting point before diving into more complex data inquiries.
For example: What ZIP code do most of our clients reside in? How old is the average client? BI can give you these answers – but getting AI to function like BI is a major step to finding out more details in the data which BI can’t. As an illustration, “Generate a list of clients who purchased more than 5 times and then haven’t purchased in one year and looking at their purchases tell me 5 reasons they stopped purchasing.” This is an example of an AI query that BI can’t answer.
AI is about smart algorithms that can learn and act autonomously, while BI is about using data to understand and improve business operations with human interpretation and decision-making.
We have been testing, programming, and working with AI and BI for years. If you’d like to have a conversation to discuss what you need, give us a call. We are happy to help.
