Predictive Analytics paves the way for in-store credit in Africa
Topic Predictive Analytics paves the way for in-store credit in Africa January 6, 2025 đź•’ [x] min read Add Your Heading Text Here Predictive Analytics The rise of store credit cards in the United States has proven to the world that it is not only a manageable risk but, in fact, a hugely lucrative business model. This rise to success is owed, in part, to the effective marketing of super brand culture. Another reason is that in the post-modern landscape of superstores and global brands, a new currency has come to the fore – data. Africa has its own fair share of home grown, as well and global, super brands and retail groups with enormous vaults of consumer data. Moreover, there is a bustling demand for micro-lending throughout most of the continent. Even mid-sized retailers with loyalty programs stand to capitalise. Why is there hesitation amongst Africa based retailers to…
AI’s biggest failures and what we can learn from them
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for a number of years now, but the release of ChatGPT to the wider public has really brought it into the mainstream discourse. Whilst the focal point right now is on the potential opportunities offered (and disruption caused) by ChatGPT and other generative AI tools like Midjourney, the technology underpinning these tools has been evolving for quite some time. The reality is that organisations have long been investing significant sums in the hopes of making the next big breakthrough (or gaining a significant competitive advantage) by creating value from data. However, not every big investment in AI has been successful, and many companies have had to learn hard lessons along the way. In this article, we cover some of the notable failed investments in AI and what we can learn from them. Google Glass:Â In 2013, Google launched its much-hyped smart glasses, which…
Bespoke Predictive Solutions and Analytical Consulting in South Africa
OLSPS has been involved in data science for 30 years and has witnessed the evolution of predictive technology, where terms like “machine learning”and “artificial intelligence”, once the domain of academic journals and science fiction, are now prevalent in every sector. During this period, OLSPS has been fortunate enough to have broken new ground on some fascinating analytics solutions in a variety of industries. OLSPS’ data scientists have learned crucial lessons about what it means to convert high-level academic know-how into practical and effective business solutions. Over the last ten years, OLSPS has implemented a number of high- profile, predictive solutions, earning industry recognition and a prestigious award from IBM in the process. 1. Bespoke Predictive Solutions At OLSPS Analytics, we aim to assist you in accurately analysing and interpreting your data and use machine learning and artificial intelligence to derive and productionise your insights in a way that is customised…
The next generation of 4th Industrial Revolution and Ethics Implications for Information Technology professionals (programmers).
The 4th Industrial Revolution refers to the current era of technological advancement, characterized by the integration of digital, physical, and biological systems. Currently this is marked by artificial intelligence (AI) interfaces, robotics, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and big data. The new age 4th Industrial revolution includes things such as grocery shopping recommendation engines, voice-activated road map assistances, image recognition engines as well as visually impaired navigation systems. Web3s, ChatGPT (or other chatbots) and many other things are the future of 4IR. Web3s is the next evolution of the internet beyond Web 2, which focuses on creating a decentralized internet, where users have greater control over their data and interactions online. It seeks to provide more privacy, security and autonomy providing a new digital landscape where users can interact directly with each other. It essentially aims to rid users of bank systems, social media platforms and many other online marketplaces. In…
Unleashing the Power of Predictive Analytics: Transforming Decision-Making with Data
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations are continually seeking innovative approaches to enhance decision-making and gain a competitive edge. One powerful tool that has emerged as a game-changer is predictive analytics. By leveraging historical data, advanced algorithms, and machine learning techniques, predictive analytics empowers businesses to uncover patterns, make accurate predictions, and optimise decision-making processes. In this rewritten article, we will delve into the profound transformation that predictive analytics brings and explore how it revolutionises the way organisations operate. The Foundation of Predictive Analytics: Data Quality and Diversity: At the core of predictive analytics lies high-quality and diverse data. To generate reliable insights, organisations must collect and aggregate data from various sources, including internal databases, customer interactions, social media, and IoT devices. The availability of diverse data allows for a comprehensive analysis, capturing a wide range of variables that influence desired outcomes. However, the raw data alone is insufficient.…
Revolutionising Natural Language Processing and Boosting Business Revenue with OpenAI APIs
In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, few innovations have made as profound an impact as Transformers. Originally introduced in a seminal paper by Vaswani et al. in 2017, these neural network architectures have revolutionised Natural Language Processing (NLP) and transcended their initial purpose of machine translation. Today, they are at the forefront of AI research and application, changing the way we interact with language and data. At their core, Transformers are a type of neural network architecture designed to capture intricate relationships within data, especially in sequences like sentences or paragraphs. The key breakthrough lies in their self-attention mechanism, which allows the model to weigh the importance of different parts of input data when making predictions. This mechanism enables Transformers to understand and model dependencies between words and phrases effectively. Self-attention is a fundamental component of Transformers. It’s the secret sauce that enables these models to excel at…
Deepfake AI making waves: A look into its impact and potential
I have a big interest in AI and all its new and old capabilities. In continuation of exploring the ethics of big data and machine learning, I looked at the recent discoveries in Deepfake videos and audios. Needless to say, we only see this used in movies and not so much in our real lives. However, this does not mean it is not used in real life. In fact, this has been used in manipulation of news. So, in this blog I talk about ethical thoughts and considerations of using this technology. Understanding Deepfake AI Deepfake AI short for “deep learning based fake artificial intelligence” is AI used to create realistic but fabricated images, audios, or videos. This is a good use of deep learning (a machine learning subtopic), where artificial neural network inspired by human brain and structure, learn to perform tasks by recognizing patterns in data. Deepfake uses…
White Paper – Claims Risk Solution
Most short term insurers have a corporate vision for claims which includes: Increasing customer satisfaction Reducing claims handling costs Increasing the amount of fraud detected and repudiated. The OLRAC SPS (OLSPS) solution addresses this objective as it provides a risk score, in real time, for each in scope claim entering the claims handling system. This decision is automated and uses a combination of risk/business rules and predictive analytics to assess the risk profile of each claim. The solution can also be configured to implement other business rules and then produce a segment recommendation for claims assessment.
Unlocking the Potential of AI: The Importance of Data Understanding and Experience
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) is palpable. Companies across industries are eager to harness the power of AI to drive efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage. However, the rush to adopt AI tools without a deep understanding of data and experience in integrating predictive solutions can lead to unforeseen legal and practical challenges. AI, by its very nature, is a powerful tool that lacks the contextual awareness and understanding that human analysts possess. It does not inherently grasp the nuances of data interpretation, such as changes in data sources or the implications of data discrepancies. Without a solid foundation in data understanding and experience in making predictive solutions work in existing environments, the potential for AI to misinterpret or misuse data is significant, if it seems to the non-technical or business end user to make perfect sense. AI such as GPT is a generalist…
Newsletter – Q4 – 2023
Scheduled for release in 2024, OLSPS is set to introduce a new statistical analysis software which redefines the user experience with statistical analysis tools. Â This modernised platform builds upon the renowned IBM SPSS Statistics engine, offering an intelligent solution crafted for individuals who value a guided experience and aim to minimise reliance on guesswork. Â WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFO!