Benefits & Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Business
Even if you don't understand the details, you might be living under a rock if you haven't been catching bits and pieces of conversations surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on our increasingly digital world. With the introduction of openly available tools such as:
Even if you don't understand the details, you might be living under a rock if you haven't been catching bits and pieces of conversations surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on our increasingly digital world. With the introduction of openly available tools such as:
● ChatGPT
● Google Gemini
● Microsoft Copilot
● And more Artificial Intelligence companies
the world of Artificial Intelligence is right at our fingertips, whether or not we have thought through the implications.
In this blog, we'd like to cover the very basics of what AI is and how it works, along with a few key benefits and risks of using AI in the workplace. These recommendations will continue to evolve as cutting-edge tools make their way into more common use in everything from writing personal emails to academic work to running a business.
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and How Does It Work?
We often think of AI as having some portion of a human's ability to reason and think. Tools like ChatGPT have been developed enough that it's easy to get that feeling when you ask this seemingly magical website a question and get a 'reasoned answer,' even down to the language style you've chosen and with your target audience in mind.
AI creates the illusion of reasoning, however, because Artificial Intelligence is–at its core–based entirely on the ability to process enormous amounts of data (usually written language) at a speed we've never seen before. Then, because the data is taken in and processed at remarkable speeds, AI tools have been developed to recognize patterns within the data in order to reissue that data in all kinds of ways.
Ultimately, though, AI is unable to generate a concept on its own. It is entirely dependent on a human being having generated and published content somewhere online. AI is only as smart as the smartest person and, frequently, also as dumb as the dumbest content. More on that later…
How to Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) Effectively at Work
The Blank Page
J.K. Rowling said, "The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting."
Sometimes, whether you are writing a report, a blog, a review article, or a business website, staring at a blank page can be paralyzing. AI writing tools can be very good at breaking that paralysis by providing something to work with.
The current temptation is to copy-and-paste the AI response and call it good; however, as we'll discuss in a moment, there are pitfalls to relying too heavily on writing help from AI. With a careful read and discerning editing, though, a kickstart from an AI tool can really speed up the writing process and demolish writer's block.
Filling Out an Idea
If you've been working on a project for a while and feel that you have a solid basis for your ideas, you may start to struggle to develop other points to bolster your theories.
For example, say you own a storage equipment company like JS Rack & Supply. You may have put hours of work into your web design company to develop a comprehensive online catalog that will reach as many of your potential customers as possible. However, your personal experience may be limited to working at your Portland location. You have great ideas, but they might not use the terminology that customers across the country may be searching for in Google.
By using an AI tool, you can flesh out additional terms and even identify possible areas for expansion by gathering information outside of your own experience. AI can be better than a regular search engine for this type of work because AI tools are better equipped to recognize patterns and are not affected by paid advertising.
Suddenly, your Portland-based company is better able to serve its new customers in Boise, Idaho, because AI helped you think outside the box to add to your well-developed ideas.
Risks of Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Work
Fake News
If there's anything the "fake news" era of media has taught us, it's that the internet is not always reliable. In fact, responsible internet users should constantly be on the alert for signs that the information they are receiving is not quite right.
Here's the kicker: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is based on the information on the internet. It consumes the satire sites and the conspiracy theory sites with the same hunger that it devours data from clinical studies and peer-reviewed academic sources. That means that an answer from AI can contain incorrect information, even when presented confidently as fact.
There is nothing more embarrassing (or even potentially threatening to your job) than presenting blatantly false information in a meeting or conference call because you didn't review what your AI tool generated for you. Human touch is still necessary to make the most out of any AI-generated information.
(For an example of one employee trusting ChatGPT a little too much and losing their job as a result, see this article in Medium.)
Expanded Use of Artificial Intelligence
For better or worse, AI appears to be here to stay. We're confident that, like most technology, its use will change and evolve with time, but in order to do so, it also has to be explored. We hope that, by mentioning a couple of ways that AI can help you with content creation for your business, you'll have a little more confidence in exploring what AI can do for you.
We also hope that a basic understanding of how AI works will help you avoid the pitfalls of letting an Artificial Intelligence tool do all of your thinking for you! Humans–including you–have a whole lot to add to this world by virtue of invention and innovation. We hope that your creativity, together with AI's growing capabilities, can bring an exciting new dynamic to your business.
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This blog barely scratches the surface regarding specific issues small businesses or other employees may face when using AI to generate business or create better content online. We look forward to discussing Artificial Intelligence in further entries, especially regarding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In the meantime, we at Surge Web Design hope you'll dip your toes into the Artificial Intelligence pool to start finding innovative ways to improve your business. If you would like a consultation on these topics and other ways to improve your web presence as a small business, please contact us online or call us at 1 (208) 391-3413. We are based in Boise, Idaho, but serve small businesses throughout the United States.