Artificial intelligence, an innovation for DAM
| August 31, 2017
Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally alter the way we deal with technology. Facebook already announced that it wants systems that recognize and tag images faster and better than humans. And in April 2017, Mark Zuckerberg announced at the annual developer conference that he wants to implement a function that can explain to blind people what is on a display. For digital asset management (DAM), AI will change workflows through auto tagging and image recognition.
Artificial intelligence – The new DAM employee
To get the most out of a digital asset management system, all assets must be organized and identified in detail. The DAM system literally lives through its use and using images without categorizing and tagging them is a recipe for digital chaos. Categorizing and tagging images is hard work and management often doesn’t appreciate its added value. Subsequently, DAM systems in companies don’t often actuate their full potential.
This situation changes with artificial intelligence as a new ‘employee’. An ‘intelligent DAM’ automatically identifies images and give companies of almost any size access to the full potential of their digital asset management systems.
Additional functionality through artificial intelligence in DAM systems
- Object detection: AI automatically detects objects such as dogs, cars, grass, etc. and tags images in the database correspondingly
- Similar image search: After uploading the initial image, the algorithm looks for comparable assets in the company’s DAM
- Face detection: Image search can find people in a group of images based off face detection technology
- Famous landmarks can be automatically recognized and tagged in images
Canto DAM has AI features like image recognition and auto tagging.
Product pictures are a challenge
While images with general or human-related content can now be identified quite well based on available pictures, product images represent a challenge for artificial intelligence. In order for algorithms to be able to differentiate between a hexagon head screw and a round head screw, they must be specially trained. For companies this is usually done via their own data stocks, which they import and train into the systems.
Artificial intelligence in DAM is in the early stages
The automation of image recognition processes is only the beginning for artificial intelligence in digital asset management systems. Intelligent algorithms have triggered a trend that leads to new interfaces and fundamental changes to the nature of human-machine interaction. Amazon Alexa, for example, creates audio interfaces for everyone in everyday information services. Chatbots are already superior FAQ pages and resources for routine queries.
In the future, DAM systems could also process voice commands in real-time thanks to automatic tagging and machine learning. During a presentation, for example, a marketing executive might pair an infographic with current visitor statistics on the website without having to upload or tag the material beforehand. The possibilities offered by intelligent algorithms are almost infinite. But one thing is clear: digital asset management will also change with artificial intelligence and work closer with professional users.