It is interesting how technology-activity and -investment is influenced by hype. If enough people are talking about something (especially when some announce that this phenomena is the biggest invention in human history since the invention of the wheel: read block-chain), then it must surely be important. Life in technology is the ebb and flow between one hype cycle to another.
A recent announcement, that I think is an indication of the start of a new hype cycle, is the announcement of IBM pay (read more here). Sure, everyone in technology should have a “pay”, there is Android pay and Apple pay, there is Walmart pay and Chase pay; so why not also have a IBM pay? This cannot be anything special.
Enter Watson:
By combining the private label offering with the proven ability of Watson, IBM could be onto something big: something that might just have the ability to start a new hype cycle. The possibilities and implications of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the payment process is endless. There are so many things that could be done to influence consumer behavior, reduce the cost of transactions, increase volume and more, by using AI to direct payments.
The IBM announcement would have been not that interesting, if it was done on its own: just another “pay” in a sea of “pays”. But implying an integration with one of the most mature AI engines in the world is absolutely significant.
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