The words ‘innovation’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ (or AI) seem to pop up together more and more. From healthcare to finance to weather data, AI continues to disrupt, creating thrilling possibilities we’ve never even considered before.

It’s hard to say just how far this potential can go and how much it can actually accomplish. According to an AI study via Gartner, 80 percent of emerging technologies will have artificial intelligence at their core by 2022, and nearly 50 percent of executives believe that AI helps influence better business decisions. There is no mistaking the impact AI will have on products and services in the coming years. If you’re an executive or stakeholder in a company, it is essential to understand how AI solutions can innovate processes.

But at the same time, AI remains a somewhat esoteric field, with many people not even really understanding what it is — let alone what it can accomplish. Let’s take a closer look at some of the industries AI will almost certainly continue to disrupt, and what type of innovations we can expect.

1. Healthcare

Especially in this period, it’s hard to imagine a more important priority than healthcare — and fittingly, healthcare is one of the top industries artificial intelligence is impacting.

There are multiple ways in which AI is impacting healthcare, from connecting doctors and hospitals to patients to helping with diagnosis.

For instance, AI chat via desktop and mobile apps gives patients quick access to doctors and clinicians when an illness or injury arises, and can also offer some preliminary guidance. In many instances, a virtual doctor visit can be done from the comfort of a patient’s home. Virtual doctor apps can provide answers to medical questions and assess medical symptoms. All this is available to patients via AI chatbots 24/7. This is even more important than ever with COVID-19 pandemic guidelines in place.

AI is increasingly being used for various types of diagnosis. From childhood diseases to skin cancer, algorithms are starting to prove their worth in the hospital environment. Providence St. Joseph Health in Seattle, Washington is even utilizing AI to identify COVID risk for patients, all done virtually. This type of AI disruption is a much-needed innovation in times of health uncertainty.

2. The Automotive industry

The promise of self-driving cars has AI at its very core, but even today, Artificial intelligence is also disrupting the automotive industry. Google, Tesla, and other major tech/auto companies are adding AI to the mix with striking results.

Utilizing AI-supported software, automobile companies are helping vehicles on the road understand and navigate their roadway environments. For instance, braking when dangers arise on the road, as well as parallel parking.

3. Marketing & Advertising

Perhaps unsurprisingly, marketing and advertising have been some of the industries quickest to embrace AI. In this digital era where it’s all about stats and data, AI has already become a cornerstone in the fields.

By utilizing AI algorithms, companies and agencies can learn more about consumer buying decisions and trends, which enables them to develop better (and more profitable) campaigns.

The amount of data marketers and advertisers can now consume is at a record pace. This also brings to the table automation within data processing. The faster a company can process data and make a decision, the faster they can gain a competitive edge. After all, AI was used in the development process of some of the best marketing automation tools on the market.

4. Financial

Finance is another industry which has been utilizing artificial intelligence for quite some time. They are in many ways early adopters of the innovative technologies AI serves up, in large part because the enormous amount of data, figures, and trends used in finance. Financial institutions are already utilizing AI to great extent to make decisions for themselves and customers.

One of the most widely used forms of AI in the financial industry is AI finance chatbots, giving banking customers a quick way to get financial tasks done online. Bank of America, for example, uses an AI chatbot called Erica. Need help online with financial questions? Erica the AI chatbot can help. But that’s far from the only approach: AI can help streamline and optimize multiple processes, from analyzing credit history to detecting fraud

With human logic and reasoning as a backup, AI is already proving to be a valuable asset in finance.

5. Education

While this is still a controversial field (and the recent UK grading debacle clearly shows the current limitations of AI), another industry that artificial intelligence continues to disrupt is education. This wasn’t exactly the focal point of AI research and implementation, but it was greatly boosted by the current situation as students must learn navigate the COVID pandemic restrictions for in-learning education.

AI is essentially helping educational institutions, from elementary schools to large universities, connect and deliver exceptional learning pathways to students. For instance, AI predictive algorithms can help students create and share tests for greater learning capabilities.

Artificial intelligence can also help students learn in a more personalized way, creating unique lesson plans that meet a student’s way of learning.

Without a doubt, there are limitations to what AI can achieve, and there’s a lot of unjustified hype out there — but at the same time, the potential of the technology is undeniable.

There’s no industry or technology that is immune to the impact of AI, whether now or at some point in the future. Artificial intelligence is upon us, and it will leave no stone unturned.