ML Advisor - Supporting business to use the potential in machine learning

Abstract

This research introduces the Machine Learning Advisor (ML Advisor) a web-based tool, which supports organizations to get a basic understanding of Machine Learning (ML) and to identify, select and evaluate potential use cases for ML.ML has potential to transform every industry today, but only a few organizations have Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML integrated into their offerings and processes. Many organizations struggle to identify and select potential use cases for ML. In many cases executives and managers do not have a basic understanding of ML. To address these issues the ML Advisor was developed relying on design science research with three development iterations. Before the first iteration started, a focus group meeting with four ML experts was hold. This meeting helped to get a deeper understanding of the problem, to identify success factors and barriers for ML projects and to collect ideas how to support organizations in the decision to use ML for a specific case. Based on these findings a first version of the ML Advisor was developed. The prototype was then reviewed by three ML experts during interviews. The feedback from these experts contributed towards the second development iteration. After the second iteration, the prototype was shown to two other ML experts. The feedback from these experts were used again to improve the ML Advisor. After the final iteration, the artefact was evaluated together with a focus group with four ML experts. They confirmed, that the developed artefact supports companies to identify, select and evaluate ML use cases and therefore to support organizations to use the potential of ML.