Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology every business should be interested in. Recent advances in AI and machine learning have found applications in a broad range of industries: everything from healthcare and education to customer service, finance, and human resources.
We see AI news every day, whether it’s about self-driving cars or machines acting as docents for galleries and museums. If you can imagine it, it can probably be accomplished with AI. So how can AI be leveraged in the business world?
The benefits of AI for businesses
We already engage with AI
We may think of AI as science fiction, but in reality, most of us engage with it on some level every single day. When we call the bank, a voice-activated inbound call system directs us to the right menus or tells us the information we need to know. Chat-bots are becoming more ubiquitous on support and helplines. AI even helps universities sort through scholarship applications.
AI enhances our productivity
As a productivity enhancer, AI is a godsend. Many workers report having to spend the majority of their time on repetitive tasks that are a waste of their time, experience, and expertise. Employing an AI solution helps make this a thing of the past as it simplifies those repetitive tasks, freeing up humans to do, well, human things.
AI reduces or eliminates human error
An added benefit of artificial intelligence in the workplace is that AI essentially removes the capacity for human error – something that costs companies in America billions of dollars every single year. Even the smartest, most dedicated employees get distracted and make mistakes. Machines do not.
AI has the capacity to learn
AI’s learning capacity is something we’ve all encountered – whether you realize it or not. Think of your web browsing behavior. Now think about the sites you visit and the items you research. Isn’t it uncanny how your computer can feed those things back to you, seemingly unbidden? That’s the magic of AI. Once the AI in your browser (or Facebook) knows that you enjoy cookbooks, for instance, it will continually serve up some sort of enticement to view, try, or buy products related to cookbooks.
On a helpline, once the AI knows who you are, it can predict your behaviors. This can be a great time-saver when you just need to get to your desired menu, item, or department.
In the end, AI offers us a range of benefits, including:
- Saving time and money by automating repetitive tasks
- Allowing you to reallocate human resources to higher-value tasks
- Delivering business intelligence that helps you make better-informed decisions
- Reducing costly human error
- Delivering more tailored customer experiences
- Generating leads and building your customer base
- Optimizing workloads and service delivery
- Detecting problems before they become major issues
- Predicting future performance
- Improving marketing efforts through tailored messaging
- Delivering a more accurate logistical experience from end-to-end
The opportunity for businesses to profit from artificial intelligence
There are many arguments both for and against AI in business. From an office management standpoint, there are plenty of ways AI can help and just as many ways that it can go wrong.
To make AI work for you, you need to first have a well-crafted idea of what you want it to do and what the ultimate goal ought to be. If the system is set up and configured properly with these goals in mind, then you have a good chance of profiting from the results.
In reality, AI will be part of our future. By gaining a better understanding of what it can do in the present and staying abreast of advances, your company can profit.
Here are some of the ways in which you can prepare for a successful future with AI.
1. Keep in mind that the success of your AI depends on the humans behind it.
Many businesses fear that AI will replace humans completely, and this is simply not the case. Though artificial intelligence is made to gain efficiencies through machine learning, it will never completely replace what a human does.
For instance, AI can’t consider subtle nuances that aren’t represented by numbers or algorithms. In human resources, as an example, it may choose a person who has the right data on their CV — but it won’t be able to consider cultural fit. This is something that can only be determined with an in-person, face-to-face visit. That said, AI can significantly help to narrow down the available choices so that the hiring manager has a solid shortlist from which to conduct interviews.
2. Stay on top of innovations in order to identify opportunities.
The only way you will find the right AI technology for your business is to keep up with the latest advances. Subscribe to AI news and look for articles that have relevance to your business niche. See how your competitors are using AI to their advantage, and take cues from their successes and shortcomings.
AI for BI: smart business management
Even if you don’t see an opening in your organization for a customer service chat-bot, artificial intelligence can deliver business intelligence (BI) that you can use to improve your value proposition, website, customer service, logistics, marketing efforts, and a long list of other initiatives that can be optimized by leveraging AI data.
3. Assign AI-specific jobs in the workplace
To get the most out of your AI solution, knowledgeable management of it must be a priority. Resources should be dedicated to the configuration, monitoring, and analysis of the AI and the data it delivers. An integral part of running an intelligent system is being able to determine its value and put the data to good use.
While AI will give you huge volumes of data to work with, it should be a human’s job to ensure that the data you are collecting is relevant and that the insights it shows are being leveraged properly. As this is an area that involves a range of expertise — not just IT-related —It should be someone who has a broad skillset and a good foundation in BI.
If your company is located in Arkansas and if you are interested in learning more about artificial intelligence in business or AI for office management, call to set up a consultation with Business World today. We are a technology-forward organization dedicated to helping you make sense of today’s complex business trends.
