Artificial intelligence and automation have been two hot areas of investment, especially over the past decade. As the worldwide workforce increasingly shifts to a remote workforce, the need for automation, technology, and tools continues to grow. As such, its no surprise that automation and intelligent systems continue to be of significant interest to venture capitalists who are investing in growing firms focused in these areas. The AI Today podcast had the chance to talk to Oliver Mitchell, a Founding Partner of Autonomy Ventures. (disclosure: Im a co-host of the AI Today podcast).

Oliver Mitchell

For over 20 years Oliver has been working on technology startups and in the past decade he has been working on investing in automation. He spoke with us about seeing the big changes that are coming to the world with automation and the exciting possibilities that it still has to offer. He is a partner at venture firm Autonomy Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that looks to invest in automation and robotics.

The best AI solutions are the ones that solve industry-specific problems

Despite the fact that Artificial Intelligence has been around for decades, there is still no commonly accepted definition. Because of this, artificial intelligence means something different to every industry, and this is reflected in the sort of investments that Oliver and other VCs are seeing. While some technology firms may be focused on how artificial intelligence can better help them manage funds, other companies might be more interested in how AI can supplement their human workforce. The various different tasks that artificial intelligence can help with is something that investors need to look at when making their investments.

Out of all of the investments that Oliver has made over the years, the best ones have been with companies that really focus on solving specific problems in an industry. In particular, applications of robotics to manufacturing, and specifically the concept of collaborative robots is appealing. Collaborative robots can be used to work alongside employees. To make the arm easier to use it has AI onboard and a suite of tools to enable anyone to operate the arm without technological training. With this arm, companies dont need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire specialists to train their robotic arms. Rather, the arm can be taught through movement how to carry out tasks through an iPad or similar device. This arm falls under the category of collaborative robots, or cobots for short, that are able to work side by side with humans.

About half of the Autonomy Ventures portfolio companies are based out of Israel. One portfolio company is Aurora Labs, which focuses on providing a software platform for autonomous and connected cars to monitor their onboard software. Aurora Labs calls their software a self-healing software for connected cars. Your average car needs to go to a dealership in order to receive any kind of firmware or software update if an issue is detected. This is because the technician needs to plug a device into the OBDII port of the car. Due to limited power in the chips in most current cars, they arent able to access the cloud. Even those cars that have OnStar onboard have very limited connectivity. Self-healing software for connected cars from Aurora Labs allows cars to connect to the cloud so that they can receive updates over the air. While much of this solution isnt AI per se, the use of machine learning for more adaptive updates is part of the indication that AI is finding its application in a wide range of niches.

Keeping AI in check

Something important that Oliver addressed is the view and aims of AI. A lot of people have a science fiction perspective on artificial intelligence. He believes that we need to manage our expectations on AI because there are many tasks that AI still cant do that even a child can. One example Oliver uses is the ability to tie a shoe. While a 7-year-old has been able to tie shoes for years, robots still cannot tie a shoe. We need to be able to address everyday problems before we can start to move on to what we see in movies.

Oliver also is concerned about issues of bias in AI and machine learning, especially as systems become more autonomous. Software around the world is used to help humans but so many of us are quick to turn to technology without a chance to evaluate its proper use. Oliver sites many examples including the AI-based criminal justice system that was biased in its assessment of an offenders likelihood of reoffending. Once the software was deployed in multiple states it was found that it rated people of color more likely to reoffend.

Oliver also points out bias in a type of technology that is used in emergency departments around the world to analyze patients. The software looks at a patients chief complaint, symptoms, and medical history along with demographics and gives the medical staff a recommendation about what to do. However, this software has been found to not take into account the human aspect of medical care. It will make a decision based on a perceived likelihood of effective treatment, not on saving every life possible.

Regardless of the challenges and limitations of AI, investors and entrepreneurs see significant potential for both simple automation and more complicated intelligent and autonomous systems. Companies are continuing to push the boundary of whats possible, especially in our increasingly remote and virtual world. It should be no surprise then that VCs will continue to look to invest in these types of companies as AI becomes part of our every day lives.

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Artificial Intelligence And Automation Top Focus For Venture Capitalists - Forbes