https://www.elementx.ai/blog Applied AI engineering insights from ElementX, an Auckland-based enterprise AI delivery and enablement consultancy. en-nz Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-waiting-on-ai https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-waiting-on-ai Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT What's the risk of doing nothing? Richard McLean explores why staying on the sidelines might be the most costly choice. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/from-chaos-to-clarity-navigating-data-duplication-abundant-data-and-query-optimisation https://www.elementx.ai/blog/from-chaos-to-clarity-navigating-data-duplication-abundant-data-and-query-optimisation Sun, 04 Feb 2024 22:34:44 GMT A practical guide to making Retrieval-Augmented Generation models perform on real enterprise data, covering data cleaning, deduplication, and query strategies like vector search, semantic reranking, and HyDE. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-importance-of-explainability-in-ai https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-importance-of-explainability-in-ai Thu, 25 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT With generative AI now routine, businesses need to weigh up when a transparent 'glass box' model is the better choice over a powerful but opaque one, especially in finance, healthcare, legal, and education where decisions carry real weight. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/enhancing-education-with-rag https://www.elementx.ai/blog/enhancing-education-with-rag Sun, 21 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT How universities can use Retrieval-Augmented Generation to keep AI responses grounded in their own course materials, improving search, personalising the learning experience, and giving students access to multimedia resources through a single interface. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/introducing-sophie https://www.elementx.ai/blog/introducing-sophie Tue, 07 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT How ElementX, in partnership with UneeQ, brought a digital human named Sophie to the Aotearoa AI Summit panel as an unscripted AI participant, pulling insights from a large language model in real time. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/happy-10th-birthday-elementx https://www.elementx.ai/blog/happy-10th-birthday-elementx Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT Founders Daniel Xu, Ming Cheuk, and Richard McLean reflect on a decade of building ElementX (formerly Spark 64), the AI breakthroughs they have lived through, and the lessons they pass on to organisations starting their own AI journey. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/assisted-search-the-natural-evolution-of-search https://www.elementx.ai/blog/assisted-search-the-natural-evolution-of-search Mon, 15 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT A walkthrough of the four levels of search (keyword, semantic, contextual, and generative) and how enterprises can move beyond simple keyword matching to give customers and staff faster access to the right answer. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/unleashing-the-power-of-search-exploring-the-4-levels-of-advanced-search-for-enterprises https://www.elementx.ai/blog/unleashing-the-power-of-search-exploring-the-4-levels-of-advanced-search-for-enterprises Wed, 03 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT Why AI-assisted search is the next step beyond traditional search engines for enterprises, with examples from healthcare and legal, plus the guardrails and disclaimers needed to manage the risk of inaccurate AI-generated answers. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/revolutionising-tier-0-and-tier-1-support-with-ai-virtual-assistants https://www.elementx.ai/blog/revolutionising-tier-0-and-tier-1-support-with-ai-virtual-assistants Wed, 19 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT How AI virtual assistants can power Tier 0 (self-service) and Tier 1 (basic) customer support, covering FAQs, knowledge bases, virtual assistants, and smart search. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/zero-few-one-shot-learning https://www.elementx.ai/blog/zero-few-one-shot-learning Sun, 12 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT An introduction to zero-shot, one-shot, and few-shot learning techniques that let machine learning models work with very little training data, where each approach shines, and where it falls short of traditional deep learning. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/our-2023-summer-internships https://www.elementx.ai/blog/our-2023-summer-internships Thu, 02 Mar 2023 21:37:18 GMT A look at the projects our 2023 summer interns Fuki and Raining worked on at ElementX, from attribute extraction to generative 3D models. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/attribution-extraction-for-retail https://www.elementx.ai/blog/attribution-extraction-for-retail Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT How natural language processing makes it practical to pull structured product attributes (RAM, screen size, features) out of free-text supplier descriptions, helping retailers tag thousands of products and improving the on-site shopping experience. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-future-of-retail-how-ai-is-changing-the-way-we-shop https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-future-of-retail-how-ai-is-changing-the-way-we-shop Mon, 13 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT How AI is reshaping retail: personalised recommendations, conversational shopping assistants, smarter product search, and inventory management, with examples including The Warehouse Group's gift recommendation engine. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/9-awesome-applications-of-computer-vision https://www.elementx.ai/blog/9-awesome-applications-of-computer-vision Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT Nine industries where computer vision is delivering measurable ROI today: retail, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, banking, energy, food and beverage, and environmental monitoring. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/chatbot-implementation-our-ctos-blueprint-for-success https://www.elementx.ai/blog/chatbot-implementation-our-ctos-blueprint-for-success Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT CTO Ming Cheuk's six-step checklist for planning a chatbot project, from defining the underlying problem and choosing a platform to training the model, monitoring metrics, and maintaining the bot once it is live. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-series-to-build-or-to-buy https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-series-to-build-or-to-buy Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT How boards should approach the build-or-buy question for AI, covering trade-offs around speed, control, talent, maintenance, and capex versus opex, plus the often non-binary middle ground of building on top of pre-trained models. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/looking-ahead-to-2023 https://www.elementx.ai/blog/looking-ahead-to-2023 Sun, 18 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT Founders Ming Cheuk, Daniel Xu, and Richard McLean on the AI developments they were watching for the year ahead: foundation models, generative AI in production, AI in defence, and the democratisation of access for smaller organisations. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-series-keeping-regulation-and-compliance-concerns-front-of-mind-during-ai-project-planning https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-series-keeping-regulation-and-compliance-concerns-front-of-mind-during-ai-project-planning Mon, 12 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT As AI continues to become more widespread in our daily lives, it is important to consider the regulatory and compliance requirements associated with such projects. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/avoiding-roadblocks-to-adoption https://www.elementx.ai/blog/avoiding-roadblocks-to-adoption Sun, 27 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT Part three of the AI Governance series. Three roadblocks that quietly kill AI projects: data preparedness, organisational culture, and change management, plus the questions a board should ask before greenlighting a project. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/12-use-cases-for-virtual-assistants https://www.elementx.ai/blog/12-use-cases-for-virtual-assistants Mon, 21 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT A walkthrough of twelve real-world chatbot deployments, from Domino's pizza ordering to the University of Auckland's student service bot, showing how virtual assistants are reshaping customer support across industries. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-considering-stakeholders https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-governance-considering-stakeholders Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT Part two of the AI Governance series. How directors should think about the impact of an AI project on customers, employees, shareholders, the wider community, and government regulators before committing to it. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/explainable-ai https://www.elementx.ai/blog/explainable-ai Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT An introduction to Explainable AI (XAI), covering why it matters, the difference between global and local explanations, and the methods like LIME and SHAP that make complex models legible to humans, regulators, and end users. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-is-edge-ai-and-how-can-i-use-it https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-is-edge-ai-and-how-can-i-use-it Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT A primer on Edge AI: what it is, the trade-offs around speed, security, location, cost, and processing power, and the practical case for a hybrid approach that mixes on-device inference with cloud processing. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/including-ai-on-the-board-agenda https://www.elementx.ai/blog/including-ai-on-the-board-agenda Wed, 02 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT Part one of the AI Governance series. Why AI belongs on every board's agenda, the questions directors should be asking, and what readiness looks like for organisations considering an AI investment. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/introducing-elementx https://www.elementx.ai/blog/introducing-elementx Mon, 24 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT Spark 64 has become ElementX! https://www.elementx.ai/blog/fireside-ai-episode-3-dall-e-with-ming https://www.elementx.ai/blog/fireside-ai-episode-3-dall-e-with-ming Fri, 30 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT This week on the Fireside AI podcast we talked all things DALL-E. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/defence-against-big-tech https://www.elementx.ai/blog/defence-against-big-tech Thu, 15 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT Three strategies for legacy businesses to compete against tech-first disruptors using AI and data: move up the value chain by productising data, automate operations to improve efficiency, and differentiate on customer experience. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-ai-chatbots-are-transforming-customer-support-services https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-ai-chatbots-are-transforming-customer-support-services Mon, 15 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT Chatbots designed to relieve bottlenecks in customer support centres can drive incredible results for your business. Chatbots can take many forms and perform many tasks - have you considered all the available options? https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-essential-chatbot-terminology-you-need-to-know https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-essential-chatbot-terminology-you-need-to-know Wed, 15 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT Chatbot terminology can be overwhelming for individuals without a technical background. This guide breaks down the concepts associated with this emerging customer service tool. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/hackathon-retreat-recap https://www.elementx.ai/blog/hackathon-retreat-recap Sun, 15 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT Check out what the ElementX Team got up to over our company Hackation weekend! https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-humble-beginnings-of-the-imposter-bot https://www.elementx.ai/blog/the-humble-beginnings-of-the-imposter-bot Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMT The story of how Team Humble Wisdom's Hackathon project - the Imposter Bot - came to life. Written by team captain and fearless leader Ming Cheuk, CTO of ElementX https://www.elementx.ai/blog/is-google-vertex-ai-right-for-your-project https://www.elementx.ai/blog/is-google-vertex-ai-right-for-your-project Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT What are the advantages of using Vertex AI? Who should be using it? And why Vertex AI over other platforms? https://www.elementx.ai/blog/lunch-and-learn-an-introduction-to-reinforcement-learning https://www.elementx.ai/blog/lunch-and-learn-an-introduction-to-reinforcement-learning Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT This Lunch and Learn webinar provides a detailed overview of reinforcement learning, its applications and use cases, and a selection of resources you can explore to learn more about reinforcement learning. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/improving-cx-with-ai-automation-six-opportunities-to-delight-your-customers https://www.elementx.ai/blog/improving-cx-with-ai-automation-six-opportunities-to-delight-your-customers Tue, 15 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT The relationship between AI automation and improved customer experience cannot be understated - here are six ideas you can employ to improve CX through automation. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/techweek-2021-integrating-ai-into-your-contact-centre https://www.elementx.ai/blog/techweek-2021-integrating-ai-into-your-contact-centre Sat, 15 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT ElementX held a Techweek 2021 webinar highlighting you how you can integrate AI into your Contact Centre. We demo GPT-3, phone bots, UneeQ Digital Humans and more! https://www.elementx.ai/blog/building-chatbots-people-actually-want-to-use-customer-perspectives-on-chatbots https://www.elementx.ai/blog/building-chatbots-people-actually-want-to-use-customer-perspectives-on-chatbots Thu, 15 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT With all the information on how to best build Chatbots, there's surprisingly little that tells us what customers actually think about them. This article will give you some insights on customer perspectives on Chatbots and how businesses can best facilitate their adoption. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-nnovation-news-feb-2021 https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-nnovation-news-feb-2021 Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT Things in the AI world keep on moving forward, don't they? In this instalment, ElementX highlights the emerging AI technologies across fashion retail, healthcare, photography and more! https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-do-i-choose-a-conversational-ai-platform https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-do-i-choose-a-conversational-ai-platform Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT Conversational AI is steadily becoming synonymous with great Customer Service. But with all the platforms available out there, how is your organisation supposed to choose the conversational AI platform that best suits your needs? In this blog, we go through the key aspects you need to look out for in your conversational AI journey. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-nnovation-news-jan-2021 https://www.elementx.ai/blog/ai-nnovation-news-jan-2021 Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT The world of AI is rapidly evolving - it's hard to keep up! In this recap, ElementX highlights what innovations are developing and emerging across health, finance, fashion and beyond. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/when-ai-goes-wrong https://www.elementx.ai/blog/when-ai-goes-wrong Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Like any emerging technology, AI can be vulnerable to exploitation and attacks. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/human-or-chatbot https://www.elementx.ai/blog/human-or-chatbot Thu, 15 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT How to tell if you're talking to a chatbot or a human? We shed light on the different types of customer messaging support. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/can-computer-vision-solve-my-problems https://www.elementx.ai/blog/can-computer-vision-solve-my-problems Sat, 15 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT Ever wondered if Computer Vision could help you? We'll walk you through the questions you need to answer, in order to assess whether it is the right solution-fit for your business/technical problems. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/which-chatbot-platform-should-you-use https://www.elementx.ai/blog/which-chatbot-platform-should-you-use Mon, 15 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Unsure where to start with chatbots? We show you tools that can help you on your way. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/techweek-2020-the-state-of-artificial-intelligence https://www.elementx.ai/blog/techweek-2020-the-state-of-artificial-intelligence Fri, 15 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT ElementX held our very first TechWeek 2020 webinar, all about what is happening in the world of Artificial Intelligence and how businesses can best leverage all that it has to offer to stay ahead of the curve. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/covid-ai-and-marketing https://www.elementx.ai/blog/covid-ai-and-marketing Wed, 15 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT The business world is constantly evolving - now more than ever due to Covid-19. Want to know what your organisation's marketing team can do to keep up with the help of AI? Here's how. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-are-chatbots https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-are-chatbots Wed, 15 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT New to the world of chatbots? We talk about what makes chatbots work and how you might want to use them yourself. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-ai-is-helping-tackle-the-coronavirus-outbreak https://www.elementx.ai/blog/how-ai-is-helping-tackle-the-coronavirus-outbreak Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT The advent of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning has revolutionised the way we are able to track and combat medical epidemics, like Coronavirus (Covid-19). Let's take a look what's happening in the world today. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/why-is-computer-vision-hard https://www.elementx.ai/blog/why-is-computer-vision-hard Sat, 15 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Computer Vision has come a long way, but why is it so challenging? We dive into this question to see how far Computer Vision has come and what factors make it so tricky to complete. https://www.elementx.ai/blog/teaching-machines-to-read https://www.elementx.ai/blog/teaching-machines-to-read Thu, 15 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT Is it possible to have a computer read an unfamiliar passage of text, comprehend, and answer questions from it? https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-is-computer-vision https://www.elementx.ai/blog/what-is-computer-vision Fri, 15 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMT With all the buzz about computer vision, what actually is it? We take you through the concept of computer vision, highlighting its current and potential uses.