Three-Quarters Believe AI Applications Are the Next Big Trend: Industry Insights and Blockchain Adoption in Banking

IDC predicts global spending on cognitive and AI systems will reach $57.6 billion by 2021. A BrightEdge survey of Fortune 500 marketers conducted in February 2018 reveals that the top three responses to "next big trend" are all AI applications: consumer personalization (28.66%), artificial intelligence (25.69%), and voice search (21.23%). These three categories combined account for 75%, indicating AI is more prevalent than respondents realize.

Sixty percent of respondents indicated they are likely to incorporate AI into their content marketing strategies, representing a 17% increase from 43% in the previous year. Many users are unaware they are interacting with AI, which differs from traditional programming-based PC or mobile interactions through its neural networks, algorithms, and big data capabilities that enable better understanding of inputs and more precise outputs.

Survey respondents identified AI's greatest benefits as better customer understanding, improved productivity, and time savings. Despite nearly half viewing AI constructively, the main barriers to AI adoption remain confusion about AI definitions and insufficient budgets. AI is already integrated into daily life through smart wearables, voice assistants, smart home devices, and chatbots. Brands using AI experience higher productivity and time savings (27.39%) and improved ROI (8.07%).

In a separate development, Polish bank PKO BP has partnered with blockchain company Coinfirm to implement Trudatum, a blockchain-based document verification system. This marks one of the first instances in European banking where blockchain technology is publicly acknowledged for document management. Each document recorded on the blockchain (such as transaction proofs or product terms) is published as an irreversible hash signed with the bank's private key, enabling clients to remotely verify document authenticity. The system creates a "durable medium" for storing legally required client agreements digitally.