The Intersection of Cognitive Computing and Sustainability

by Jess Handley & Dimitar Vladhov

On the 11th of May 1997, in New York City, life as he knew it changed for world chess champion Garry Kasparov. For the first time in history, a machine, a super computer named Deep Blue that was developed by IBM, defeated the grandmaster. Despite being highly publicized, this was not the first time that artificial intelligence had been utilized by humans. Decades earlier, during World War II, Genius mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turning broke the code to a German Enigma machine, resulting in shortening the war by an estimated two to four years. Although artificial intelligence and some of its methods, such as natural language processing, may appear complex and superfluous at first glance, it is becoming ubiquitous thanks to its ability to provide new interpretations of many types of data that weren’t fully utilized before. A variety of artificial intelligence tools are already being used by big brands, as they scramble to understand the complex systems in which they operate and improve their value propositions to customers and other stakeholders. For brand and marketing executives, in particular, artificial intelligence applications present a unique opportunity to track engagement around any company activity, including sustainability efforts.

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Jess Handley is a South African born aspiring marketing and sustainability professional currently working on the marketing team at Sustainable Brands in San Francisco. Before Sustainable Brands, Jess worked at Ogilvy & Mather’s sustainability branch, Ogilvyearth in Cape Town where she assisted the chief of strategy in both research and planning. She is a keen environmentalist with a particular interest in big brands and how they can harness their global influence for good. Jess holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Cape and post-graduate qualifications in brand strategy and marketing. She is fond of all things South African and is on a mission to see the world.