Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on Business
Maureen Considine
Artificial intelligence, I’m sure you’ve all heard this term by now, and you may even have experienced it as well. How much do you really know about it? Do we really know where it’s being used?
I know my knowledge was limited, even when I started hearing about things like ChatGPT, I still didn’t know that much and what I was hearing or reading wasn’t all that positive. So I set out to educate myself.
As a business owner, that added a whole other layer to the subject and I wanted to know more about how it could be used and what the implications were. As well as what do business owners, of both larger and smaller companies need to know.
As a writer, programs like ChatGPT actually forced me to look into them more, because of their prevalence and popularity. Also because what if all the hype was true, that it could be beneficial in a business, and worth then knowing about.
One thing is for sure, that we can probably agree on is that it is here to stay and innovation is expanding all the time so it can’t just be brushed off as a fad, or something that won’t be around long.
So what value does it have, is what I wanted to know, what are some ways it may be useful and how will it fit into my own company, if at all. And, better to do it now.
Here is what I learned.
What exactly is Artificial intelligence?
According to HCL Tech…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the science of making machines that can think like humans. It can do things that are considered “smart.” AI technology can process large amounts of data in ways, unlike humans. The goal for AI is to be able to do things such as recognize patterns, make decisions, and judge like humans. Sep 16, 2021 Artificial Intelligence, defined in simple terms | HCLTech
Artificial intelligence is a constellation of many different technologies working together to enable machines to sense, comprehend, act, and learn with human-like levels of intelligence. Maybe that’s why it seems as though everyone’s definition of artificial intelligence is different: AI isn’t just one thing.
This innovation is being used in every industry in some fashion and likely more than we realize. That innovation is continuing to advance and cause change to the business environment, sometimes very quickly.. Its ripple effect has begun to reach small businesses, entrepreneurs and consumers, forcing us to live with it and to approach it in our own businesses.
One of the most important benefits I found was regarding time. It has the ability and the potential to save people time, in so many ways. One, by reducing the amount of time spent on basic rudimentary tasks and questions. This can be incredibly helpful to a company.
It has the capability to improve and enhance people’s creativity, which is very exciting. It can help us to think differently, to ask better questions and to expand into categories or topics that are new to you.
It is a way to make your writing stronger by suggesting ideas or vocabulary to include that will get your audience’s attention, as well as to make a stronger more concise point.
It can be used to create emails, articles, and while I’m not embracing that just yet, because it needs a personal touch, it can compose email subject lines, titles, even calls to action which can be an important factor in marketing.
There are other benefits to a business and to writers — in writing topics or prompts when you can’t seem to create any on your own. It can be an incredible way to break through writer’s block, it can be a great way to expand the content on your website for instance.
What I also found are many very solid ways that Artificial Intelligence, can help within the day-to-day functions of a company. For example, in online meetings, notes can be taken, summaries created and updates for late attendees can be provided and rather quickly. The implications for that are staggering given the number of zoom meetings companies have now, the busy schedules that most of us have now and how hard it can be to keep everyone on the same page.
When considering larger teams, summaries can be generated and shared, automatically and even immediately. for larger teams and even virtual teams can be very useful and a considerable time saver.
One example is ChatGPT, a form of artificial intelligence that is used to communicate or chat in human conversations. It’s an electronic bot used to answer questions mostly, or ideas, thoughts and even string them together as essays, reports or articles.
You know those bots you’ve seen on websites, that’s ChatGPT. You can put an idea into this program or chip and it will generate ideas, article and other writing.
It does have limits that can affect the customer’s experience, in ways we are still discovering and will need to be attended to. The coding and set up of these bots needs to be carefully done and monitored so that more than basic conversations can be had.
Anytime there is an issue outside the small window that is programmed into the bots, it’s a dead end and it can be very frustrating. Now more and more companies are replacing their customer service with a bot and ChatGPT and that is not always good for business.
In closing…Much of the feedback on AI and ChatGPT is about how it will replace humans. And that cannot be denied as a likely outcome.
It can replace and eliminate human interaction in much of the ways we have grown to enjoy and expect. So there is a learning curve here and an adaptation cycle to contend with.
When viewed from the other side, it does free us up to do other things and this can be good if those other things include activities outside of work rather than just more work.
Maureen Considine is Founder and CEO of Finding Your Way Coaching. A Master Coach with expertise in Income Acceleration, Business Development, Sales and Mindset, she is the Wealth Health Creation Strategist for entrepreneurs, executives, and other high performers. Maureen has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing. She has helped hundreds of clients grow their businesses and reach their true potential using her unique, intuitive, and holistic approach. Maureen has a B.A. in Psychology, with training in mindset and the Psychology of Sales.