Artificial Intelligence is a term that we hear a lot these days. You could even say it is hyped, but does that mean that we know exactly what it is? At shareNL we believe it is important to start the conversation about the new technologies that are emerging in order to seize the opportunities they offer, as well as addressing the challenges they create. Therefore, on the 6th of October, several experts were invited to our Meetup to talk about how Artificial Intelligence could impact the Sharing/Platform Economy. In other words, what would the recipe of a future with both these developments look like?

No data scientist
As David Arnoux, head of Growth at Growth Tribe, kicks of this evening as the first speaker, it immediately becomes clear why this meetup on Artificial Intelligence is necessary. Research states that about 70% of people are clueless when it comes to this topic. While this may be the case, the new technology is already used by a number of businesses. Scenes straight out of science fiction movies like Minority Report have become a reality, only now, instead of predicting murders, focus lays on assessing customer behaviour. The great thing is that due to many easy-to-use tools ‘you don’t even need to be a data scientist to get this result!’ – David Arnoux.

Smart plus
The second speaker Ronald van den Hoff, co-founder at Seats2Meet and the Serendipity Machine, begins his presentation with an optimistic tone of voice. He is positively surprised that working with Artificial Intelligence is an achievable option for bigger as well as smaller companies. His co-working space organization, which facilitates the sharing of knowledge, is one of the companies implementing smart data. Ronald explains that ‘while smart is the key word, that is just not enough’. Like the way Starbucks adds an experience to your daily cup of coffee, Seats2Meet aims to optimize your work experience by using smart data to match you with relevant contacts. By this activity they translate personal data to value for the individual.

Ronald van den Hoff | co-founder Seats2Meet and Serendipity Machine

A better place
Rockstart, presented by Maud Wammes, is an international community of experts supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs. They offer guidance during the first 1000 days of a business by sharing knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. This year they have set up an accelerator program on Artificial Intelligence which 10 start-ups have been selected for. While these start-ups are operating in different fields, they are all built upon the new technology. Maud explains why: ‘We believe Artificial Intelligence can make the world a better place in every industry’. This leaves us curious to see how the start-up platforms in particular will live up to this promising expectation.

Siraj Raval | youtuber and author on Artificial Intelligence

Big and deep data
Although it may not be easy to take the stage right after a YouTube star, Daniel Gebler, CTO at Picnic, had nothing to be afraid of. Picnic is indeed much more than an alternative supermarket. They use AI to offer sets of complimentary products on their website, to recommend targeted product suggestions and to define routes which make for the fastest distribution service. He impressed the attendees with a complicated equation which is applied to estimate how much time a delivery will take. However, in order for this equation to work a lot of information is required. ‘For deep learning, we need big data and deep data. This means we need a lot of it, in detail and focussed on the individual.’ according to Daniel.

Ever changing definition
Having heard the presentations of the diverse selection of speakers it was essential to go back to the core of the matter. What is Artificial Intelligence and how will it influence sharing and platform economy? Therefore, Harmen van Sprang, co-founder of shareNL, did a short interview with Simone Maas, trend research intern at shareNL. In the upcoming months Simone will concentrate on finding the answer to this question to eventually be able to advice different stakeholders on how to prepare for the future. Although Simone says that for now ‘even defining Artificial Intelligence is difficult’, we can be sure that the future will contain the following ingredients:

1. We don’t need data scientists, but we do need big and deep data.

2. Smart data is not enough; it should have the potential to make the world a better place.

3. Trust will be more important than ever.

Written by Simone Maas

The recipe for a future with Artificial Intelligence and Sharing/Platform Economy