.png){kind=icon}
At first glance, artificial intelligence (AI) might seem like a magic tool that will transform your entire workflow. AI can write reports, organize your inbox, generate replies, build apps, talk to customers, and produce websites in minutes. With these capabilities, you may wonder, "Why do I need human employees?"
While AI is impressive, it has its own flaws and drawbacks that many users overlook right away — and by the time they do, it's often too late, as they've already laid off half their workforce. As you navigate this exciting new field, it's essential to learn how small businesses can leverage AI for growth without letting it consume their resources. This also helps you make smart, cautious investments in AI-powered software and tools.
Producing content for your business used to take hours, days or even weeks. Today, AI can generate pictures and assets in minutes. Businesses often use AI to create the following:
If you need specialized tools, some AI platforms can produce customized apps tailored to your business. Tell the assistant what you're looking for, and the software will generate an app that you can adjust with written feedback. Once you're done, you'll hand the app over to your employees, no coding required.
Sometimes, responding to emails can take an hour or more out of your workday. AI assistants ease your burden by sorting emails as soon as they enter your inbox. They can flag specific topics and notify you when a message requires an urgent response, then write a draft or suggest phrasing as you type.
Better yet, innovative technology can review emails and automatically add dates to your calendar. If the bot detects a schedule conflict, you'll get a notification so that you can review the issue. These features save time that you could spend developing new products, meeting with business partners, or refining your marketing strategy.
When customers have questions and can't find answers, they're more likely to leave your website than send an email and wait for a response. For this reason, many businesses host chatbots on their websites. However, these bots come with their own set of challenges: the virtual bots can only provide pre-written responses, and human agents aren't available 24/7.
AI chatbots circumvent these issues by offering personalized responses that appear friendly and human-like. They pull information from your database or FAQ to provide answers and take time to make customers feel seen and reassured. If necessary, they collect the user's email address so that you can follow up later.
Your chatbots may speak confidently, but they're prone to misreporting, skewing statistics, and producing factual errors. Even when you tell AI to be honest, the software could continue to lie in a misguided attempt to give you what you want. After all, AI doesn't have a thinking mind like a human. Instead, it's a program designed to please the user and keep them engaged for as long as possible.
By this point, you probably understand the importance of fact-checking responses, but your customers and employees might take everything the bot says at face value. This is particularly risky if they use the software to defend misbehavior or extreme political beliefs. Worse still, sharing false information could damage your brand's reputation and force you to invest in PR cleanup.
Imagine that one of your employees wants to know if they can bring snacks to work. Instead of reaching out to HR or checking the employee handbook, they ask a chatbot, "Can I bring snacks to the office?" The bot says they're allowed to bring snacks because it's trained to agree with the user. As a result, the employee starts breaking your "no snacks allowed" policy and blames the AI when someone reports them to the office.
This is just one situation that could arise when workers have unrestricted access to AI assistants. Before long, you might have to deal with public mishaps and company-wide incidents.
AI is still a controversial technology, with many consumers arguing that businesses shouldn't use AI at all. They claim that chatbots are stealing jobs from real artists and writers, while producing inferior products. In fact, using AI-generated content in an advertisement or social media post could spark significant backlash.
As a hobby, many Internet users will "jailbreak" chatbots to get them to say something offensive--and if they succeed, they'll hold you responsible for running unethical software. If your public-facing bots don't have many restrictions, a simple question, such as "Where can I get unregistered firearms?" or "Why are people from certain countries so annoying?", could reflect poorly on your entire company.
AI's greatest strength is also one of its most significant drawbacks. When you rely on AI to write your emails, manage your calendar, proofread documents, and complete other daily tasks, you might start to lose the skills that made you a successful business owner in the first place. As a result, you may struggle in situations where you don't have access to the software.
Similarly, your entry-level employees may fail to develop the skills necessary to succeed in the industry and secure more prestigious jobs. Instead of learning how to evaluate data or generate reports, they'll outsource these abilities to a program that could disappear at any time. While AI is currently freely accessible, companies may introduce restrictions or paywalls in the future, potentially disrupting your workflow and harming employee morale.
It might sound like the plot of a science fiction movie, but people dating their chatbots is a real-life phenomenon. Some users interpret the bot's flowery language and excessive flattery as evidence that the software is sentient and has a romantic interest in them. Others know they're talking to a program, but they still develop feelings for it anyway.
ChatGPT is a frequent target, but users can become attached to any bot — including yours. If your customer service chatbot is a little too friendly, people might start talking to it every day and eventually develop a one-sided relationship. To make matters worse, changing or removing the bot could lead to meltdowns from scorned lovers.
When you use smart technology, you don't have to jump to the final product. Instead, you could ask your assistant to help you brainstorm, generate outlines or create rough drafts. Once you've finalized your plan, you'll hand it to your creative team so that they can write the blog post, make illustrations or develop social media content.
This approach helps you find a balance between AI vs. human creativity in social media. You'll get the benefits of AI's resources and fast generation times without sacrificing the human element. This could also help you avoid controversy from people who scrutinize your assets for signs of AI-generated content, such as distorted text or misshapen features.
Whether you're asking AI to write reports, research topics or offer weather predictions, make sure you verify any factual claims with reputable, third-party sources. This might seem like an unnecessary extra step, but chatbots give their users false information every day. Repeating this mistake could damage your reputation and lead employees to question why you used AI in the first place.
As you learn how small businesses can harness AI for growth, it's important to find the right tools for your business. Admittedly, this can be challenging because generative AI has only been around for a few years; however, look for companies with major clients and numerous positive reviews on third-party websites. Avoid anything that sounds too good to be true--AI is powerful, but it can't single-handedly save a struggling business.
Once you've chosen a company, reach out and request a live demo. This helps you determine if the company is the right fit for your business. If a company insists on taking your money without letting you try the software first, they're probably exaggerating their system's capabilities.
Many people view AI-powered tools on your website as an opportunity to "jailbreak" the assistant and damage your company's reputation. You could prevent this situation by limiting your customers' access to chatbots. If you host an AI-powered chatbot on your site, consider offering users a limited set of options to choose from instead of allowing them to type freely.
You could also eliminate the situation by removing AI assistants from your website and social media. Instead, you'll rely on traditional chatbots and human agents. In a world where businesses are increasingly using AI for everything, this might help you build a reputation as a company that still values its human employees.
Smart technology can automate certain tasks, making your workday easier. However, if you start thinking that you can't survive without AI, it might be time to reduce your usage. Try organizing your calendar yourself, writing your own emails, answering customers' questions, and writing reports to ensure that you don't lose these skills. You might be surprised by how well you remember your own competencies.
Now that you've learned how small businesses can harness AI for growth, it's time to optimize for AI search results. With more people using chatbots as search engines, E-Marketing Associates has the tools to make your site accessible to bots, increasing the likelihood that Siri or ChatGPT will recommend your site in a conversation.
We'll also optimize your site to enhance your search engine rankings, which can increase your visibility and generate more leads. Standard practices include optimizing your site for mobile use, adding clear headers and bulleted lists, polishing your Google My Business profile, and writing informative, well-researched blog posts.
Contact E-Marketing Associates today to learn more about our services for small businesses. You could also schedule a 15-minute discovery call.
.jpg)
