The Future of AI and Small Business

Whenever you read the news, more people and businesses are talking about the impact of AI on everyday life. From smarthomes, advertising, health care, and farming -- the reaches of AI are boundless. AI, for those who are not familiar, stands for artificial intelligence. Most simply put, artificial intelligence is a tool that will empower humans to approach complex problems more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Historically, AI has only been accessible to the Googles and Amazons of the world. But now, AI is becoming a more ubiquitous character in our everyday life. What does the future of AI look like for small businesses? How will AI change the way we work?

Those who can imagine anything, can create the impossible.

ALAN TURING

AI Will Change the Way We Think

It might be difficult to swallow, but the reality is that AI will become a superior intelligence to humans. Many jobs that currently require human oversight will be changed in some way as AI becomes more accessible to members of the economy. AI is exceptional at data analysis, image processing, and diagnostics. From examining stacks of MRI scans to acres of soil readings, AI can extrapolate details and subtle patterns that humans often are incapable of detecting. This software and hardware superiority will lead to AI taking on an increasingly significant position in the workforce. 

But how will AI change the way we think? By changing the job that we do. 50 years ago, the possibility of advertising specifically to people who meet demographic and interest criteria was unimaginable. In 2020, targeted online marketing has dominated the advertising sector thanks to AI. However, there are still humans that create ads, humans that strategize marketing campaigns, and humans that reap the benefits. But AI played the specialty (read impossible for humans) role of displaying ads that would be impacted the most. 

As AI develops new skills and cognitive abilities, the role that humans play will be impacted, both in the functions that we perform and the approach that we take to solving problems. How will AI change the way small businesses work?

AI Will Change the Way We Work

For information workers, the locating, finding, and collecting of information is a task that is done on a daily basis. Chatbots, powered by AI, currently are able to aggregate massive amounts of data, files, and pages, and present available options through a conversational interface. Likely, most tasks that are not able to be performed solely through automation will be accompanied by intelligent assistants. 

As a historical example, typewriters were replaced by word processors. As word processors became more widely used, a very early version of machine learning was integrated into word processors 一 spell check. Remember Clippy? Word processors began to assist the human writers to correct and perfect their writing. Now, cloud-based word processing through Google Docs integrates an assistive writing technology called Smart Compose. With Smart Compose, the next words that you are planning to type or projected ahead of you, helping to enrich your writing and open up new word choices that you might not have otherwise considered. These are exceptionally rudimentary examples of how machines have changed the way information workers accomplish their jobs in small ways. AI, though, has an incomprehensibly greater potential. Let’s consider an example.

With AI, small businesses will be able to focus their attention on the elements of their business that make them unique. Globally recognized business tasks such as accounting, inventory, marketing, expense optimization, and purchasing will all be automated or augmented in some way by AI. For example, chatbots are now able to capture leads, offer quotes, and answer customer questions without any human intervention. Don’t let this scare you. Technology’s purpose is to enrich human life and make tasks easier for us. AI will enrich your work as all other technologies have, but will do so at an unprecedented pace and intensity.

AI Will Change the Way We Compete

Small businesses that embrace technology are rewarded with the ability to work smarter and focus more on the customer experience. Small businesses that have adopted automated chat in their marketing and seeing higher customer satisfaction levels and a 40% increase in their conversion rates. As AI becomes more involved in our businesses processes, those that embrace the technology will have a significant competitive edge. Once all businesses in the US have access to automating their accounting, marketing, and inventory management, competition will take place in the arena of the perceived customer experience. What is your business doing now to give your customers the best experience possible?

AI doesn’t just exist in the future. Small businesses can take advantage of AI in small ways though targeted marketing, smart devices, and by using 24/7 chatbots to interact with their customers whenever it’s convenient for them. Create a free ZyraTalk account today to experience the future of AI for your small business.