In The AI Advantage, Thomas Davenport offers a guide to using artificial intelligence in business. He describes what technologies are available and how companies can use them for business benefits and competitive advantage. He cuts through the hype of the AI craze—remember when it seemed plausible that IBM’s Watson could cure cancer?—to explain how businesses can put artificial intelligence to work now, in the real world. His key recommendation: don’t go for the “moonshot” (curing cancer, or synthesizing all investment knowledge); look for the “low-hanging fruit” to make your company more efficient.
Davenport explains that the business value AI offers is solid rather than sexy or splashy. AI will improve products and processes and make decisions better informed—important but largely invisible tasks. AI technologies won’t replace human workers but augment their capabilities, with smart machines to work alongside smart people. AI can automate structured and repetitive work; provide extensive analysis of data through machine learning (“analytics on steroids”), and engage with customers and employees via chatbots and intelligent agents. Companies should experiment with these technologies and develop their own expertise.

Davenport describes the major AI technologies and explains how they are being used, reports on the AI work done by large commercial enterprises like Amazon and Google, and outlines strategies and steps to becoming a cognitive corporation. This book provides an invaluable guide to the real-world future of business AI.

在《人工智能的优势》中，托马斯-达文波特提供了一份在商业中使用人工智能的指南。他描述了哪些技术是可用的，以及公司如何利用它们来获得商业利益和竞争优势。他穿透了人工智能热潮的炒作--还记得IBM的沃森可以治愈癌症的说法吗--解释了企业现在如何将人工智能用于现实世界。他的主要建议是：不要追求 "登月"（治愈癌症，或综合所有投资知识）；寻找 "低垂的果实"，使你的公司更有效率。
达文波特解释说，人工智能提供的商业价值是坚实的，而不是性感或华丽的。人工智能将改善产品和流程，并使决策更加明智--这是重要的但基本上是看不见的任务。人工智能技术不会取代人类工人，而是增强他们的能力，让智能机器与聪明人一起工作。人工智能可以使结构化和重复性的工作自动化；通过机器学习（"类固醇分析"）提供广泛的数据分析，并通过聊天机器人和智能代理与客户和员工接触。公司应该尝试使用这些技术，并发展自己的专长。
达文波特描述了主要的人工智能技术，并解释了它们是如何被使用的，报告了亚马逊和谷歌等大型商业企业所做的人工智能工作，并概述了成为一个认知型企业的战略和步骤。本书为商业人工智能的现实世界的未来提供了一个宝贵的指南。