Should you use AI in your business

I was skeptical about AI when it was initially introduced because it just sounded too good to be true. And while it has its benefits, it also has some big downsides.

In this podcast I talk about how to use AI in your business as a research and support tool, and to be careful to avoid becoming so dependent on it that it creates and runs your business for you.

And a big word of caution here – do not use AI to fill in the gaps for you, giving you a level of expertise that you do not have. You cannot use AI to become an expert in areas in which you have no experience and no credentials. That are already too many fake ‘experts’ in the online space. 

Should you use AI in your business?

AI, artificial intelligence, is the new buzzword. Everyone is talking about it, how great it is, how many problems it solves, how it can help you create products, courses, solutions, write your emails, your books, and let you tap into a wellspring of knowledge without having to do any of the work.

Sounds too good to be true.

And it is.

The problem with AI is that it is not really artificial, it is a lot of knowledge based on the work of many other people so before you dive into the AI pool let’s look at some of the pros and cons of AI and talk about how to use it efficiently, effectively and with integrity in your business.

When I first heard of Ai I was skeptical because something that appeared out of the blue and could solve so many problems had to have a down side. And AI has plenty of down sides. It is useful, I have used it before and been happy with the results. But before you get to the point where you use AI for everything, take a step back and consider the potential for a host of consequences, some of them legal issues that could get you into a lot of trouble.

At its earliest introduction many top names were promoting AI and of course then came the barrage of people who were going to teach you how to use AI in your business , for a fee of course.

Within a few weeks though, many of these people were backpedaling on their AI stance when they realized that AI could cut into their profit margins.

For example, you do not need to buy a $2000 course on how to create digital products if you can just ask chatgpt or another AI tool a few questions and it will write the course for you. This does work, I tried it. I asked about creating a course on a specific topic and AI generated the entire outline for me, in seconds.

Or you do not need a $2997 copywriting course or a $500 an hour copy writer when AI can write all of your copy for you, in a number of different tones and even multiple languages. For free!

And you do not need the services of a $15,000 brand company when you can ask chatgpt to design your brand, suggest fonts, colors, styles, and even get the proper hex codes. AI will now even generate images for you.

So why not use chatgpt, gemini, or any other AI to just start and run your business? Let’s look at some of the benefits of AI first, then we will look at the downside.

First the benefits:

If you are confused, shy, or an introvert, chatgpt or ai programs are a great way to develop confidence, get information, and ask a lot of questions without fear of judgment, or looking stupid. AI loves to answer questions and it will answer them until you stop asking. And the answers are good too. You can even ask AI for help with something you can’t remember.

Last week I was trying to think of a concept that had two words and I just could not remember it. I tried to look at the dictionary or thesaurus but it didn’t help because I could not think of the proper term and I did not want to look at lists of words. So I asked chatgpt and on the second try it got the word right. It was critical mass.  I said thank you and chatgpt was happy to help.

AI knows a lot about a lot of things. It’s true, if you want to know about something you can ask ai and you will get a great answer. If you need 50 catchy email subject lines, ask AI and you will get them within a few seconds. If you want them to be less formal, ask AI to change the answers and there they are. Need more formal or professional sounding email subject lines? Ask AI to amend its output again and you will get 50 more subject lines that are professional enough to send to any board chairman or CEO.

Do you need to get detailed information on a topic? Ask chatgpt, gemini, or any other ai program to help. You can get information on a nearly unlimited number of topics just by asking questions and letting ai answer you.

Do you need help with a process? AI is glad to help with detailed instructions. It doesn’t draw diagrams (yet) but it does provide very specific instructions.

Want to write a book this weekend? Give AI the topic and some details and it will write a book for you, from a short e-book to a very long chapter book. Fiction, non-fiction, biography, science fiction, children’s books – no topic is beyond ai’s capabilities.

And this is just a small sampling of what you can do with AI. It can solve math problems, write code, and do just about anything you could think of. Try asking chatgpt about anything you want and see what kind of response you get.

If AI can do all of this what is the problem?  There are actually quite  a few problems, let’s look at them.

1. Consider where AI gets its information. It is ‘artificial intelligence’ so it does not think for itself, it does not come up with new ideas. AI puts data together from the massive databases that are its collection of knowledge. Where did that knowledge come from? From the work of many other people.

This is especially important to know if you are using ai to write books or papers or reports or other documents that you will claim ownership of and perhaps even copyright on. Microsoft and google, two of the biggest AI platforms, are being sued in a class action lawsuit by a large group of authors, a few of them are my clients, whose books and protected copyright information were used to populate the AI databases. So if you are writing a book using AI you may want to double check the results on a plagiarism website to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit.

2. AI will give you information but it will not give you expertise. If you plan to use AI to create a course, program, or submit information on topics you are totally unqualified to write about, you may be setting yourself up for a blow to your reputation or worse, a lawsuit for fraud or misrepresentation. Just because you can get AI to tell you how to do something from an expert standpoint does not make you an expert. There are enough people on the internet who falsely claim to be ‘experts’ , especially in the area of business, and who don’t know what they are talking about and who do not have the credentials to support their business ventures.
3. AI responses can be generic and repetitive. I saw this happen firsthand. I watched a video on Instagram on how to generate some content with AI and when I entered the same questions in AI I got exactly the same answers that I had seen on the video. So be aware that AI is not creative or original and the answers it is giving you it may well be providing to someone else.
4. AI can become a crutch and prevent you from using your own ideas and creativity. It’s easy to ask AI to generate content for you and it’s fun. The answers are usually good, the content quality is acceptable, and it’s refreshing to have a resource to use when you are feeling creatively blocked or stuck. But that can quickly become a crutch you rely on all of the time rather than an occasional creativity boost. Don’t get too dependent on AI to provide information and content for you.

Now let’s look at some of the benefits of AI, and there are many good ones.

1. It offers a new perspective and a new way of expressing ideas. We tend to write in one way and have trouble coming up with different ways of expressing our ideas and thoughts. That’s normal and I know it’s true for me. Sometimes I will ask AI to express my ideas in different ways that are outside of my normal thinking or speaking style, and I will use that content to create ad content.
2. You can learn new things from AI. Ask AI a random question about a random topic and see what response you get. You can learn many new things with AI and it’s interesting to see how it responds to your questions inquiries. It is like having your own online copy writer and dictionary.
3. It is great for market research. Although AI is updated with content through the year 2023 it is a useful resource for market research when you ask those kinds of questions. If you want to know whether a topic is popular or how many people are interested in a specific issue, AI is a good resource for that. But always double check the responses.
4. It’s a great conversationalist. You can talk to AI like you would a person and it will reply. I asked AI about different topics and its opinion and it was very forthcoming. But don’t ask it to be mean to someone or for negative feedback because it will not indulge you. Instead, it will tell you to be nice to people and try to respect their differences. I know, I tried it.

Like any technology, AI has both positive and negative benefits and you need to use it with caution but I would also encourage you to avail yourself of this technology, with care. It is a very useful and helpful technology when used in the right ways and it can be a great resource for you if you need support. But it is not a replacement for your own experience and expertise, your unique voice, insights, and perspectives, and it will offer a limited opinion, at best.

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Should you learn to use ai? Absolutely. You are passing up on an opportunity to use a creative resource if you don’t but do use it to enhance your creativity, not fill in the gaps of your knowledge and expertise. You want to be an authentic, knowledgeable, experienced resource to your audience, not a faker. And in today’s online world someone will find out if you do not know what you are doing!

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