With all the progressive advancements in Artificial intelligence, IT and Cloud computing, the vision of a completely interconnected world is fast becoming reality, and the multiple processes used by these technologies have increased the chances of success for any business. Machine Learning, Cognitive intelligence, Knowledge Management, and Semantics technology which includes text mining and other essential processes are only some examples of the many advantages that can help companies boost productivity, reduce costs and gain a competitive edge in the market.
Social Media is a specific source of information for companies to gain insight into consumer behavior and many are using it for just that. Text Mining which is part of Natural Language Processing (the process used by AI algorithms to understand human behavior and make sense of human language by collecting and analyzing structured and unstructured data) can help businesses predict fluctuations in supply/demand and customer satisfaction/loyalty, and upgrade their business strategies as well as acquire previously undiscovered business Intel to boost their competitive advantage. Social media monitoring is a valuable and central tool provided for this purpose through OSINT (Open Source Intelligence).
Open Source Intelligence is used by companies to better understand what their customers are saying about their products or services on social media, and is of course widely used by government, defense and intelligence agencies to also monitor social media content and respond more effectively to crises or emergency situations (such as what spectators are tweeting or posting in video content during a terrorist attack for example).
Through OSINT companies can optimize their internal infrastructure, reduce bureaucracy, save time and energy/hardware costs (through Cloud computing services for example- with online servers hosted by third parties or installed in the customer’s IT infrastructure and in conjunction with the central main database); and through AI algorithms can monitor in real time threads in conversations between consumers, and between companies and their customers.
The biggest strength of OSINT is the fact that through all these processes and especially Text Mining it extracts, analyzes, processes and filters valuable data which can be structured (if needs be as in the case of data which is unstructured—i.e. not fixed in location such as PDF docs, audio/video content, HTML files, etc.) classified and separated into appropriate categories and used for multiple needs.
These classifications include Life Sciences, Government, Defense, Banking, and many business applications in Banking, Risk Management and Insurance among others. For companies who wish to learn about the benefits of OSINT for their single or multiple needs, there are renowned companies like Expert System, which use AI technologies to process open source intelligence and help businesses improve their performance.
It is also for this reason that voice and speech recognition and the development of apps with audio-visual interfaces are becoming an important part of the entire OSINT process, because they help AI to understand better human behavior and cater more efficiently to customer demand and new emerging trends. VR (virtual reality) is going to be the next wave in AI development that will be used to promote customer/client engagement, employment (CEOs use them for conferences with business partners and also potential job applicants) and a more direct and immersive interaction in real-time so that companies can respond faster and anticipate a crisis before it even begins.
In this case this would mean anything that is likely to negatively affect the supply/demand cycle, cost/risk factors, and endanger customer loyalty/satisfaction. AI can also determine the appropriate budget for an intended enterprise. Targeted tweets are another example through which algorithms can anticipate f
