The machine learning system doesn’t know about ethics, it doesn’t know about bias, it doesn’t know about who owns the data. The data is there, you show it, and it will learn from it, depending on the complexity of the algorithm that it has.
Because of this, we can all understand that it will be good with repetitive jobs. The big advantage is cost followed by speed.
We can use these systems as tools or as decision-makers. The tools, on their own, won’t choose how to be used, we will choose how to use them. Knowing and understanding how they work and their weak and strong points, we can choose the best uses and get benefits from that.
What applications, opportunities and pitfalls does AI present to businesses?
MC: The big one on the horizon, that’s about to be released, is Microsoft Copilot. It means that Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, will all have ChatGPT capability built in.
SMC: In terms of opportunities, there’s definitely something around having those efficiencies and enabling staff to focus on things that are less mundane and repetitive. That then helps the customer experience and hopefully it is more responsive.
JW: The reality is AI is going to be embedded in every process and tool that we can think of. It will just become the norm and there will be a time when we think ‘how did we live without all this?’
The pitfall is the danger of over-reliance. AI isn’t 100 percent accurate, it will get it wrong sometimes, so that’s something that we need to really be aware of.
SW: If a small business wants to adopt AI, it is going to require a level of investment.
They’ve got to really think about the pitfalls, the legal challenges, if there is bias or if they’ve just not gone as in-depth as they need to when planning.
DC: We’re all AI users, because we’ve got Siri, we’ve got Google If you break it down to the very basics, business owners have AI in their pockets and they just need to start to understand that this is an expansion and growth journey.
YK: We have all been discussing the opportunities. We are still at the ‘trend’ stage,
The tools won’t choose how to be
used, we will choose how to use them
AI is something new, everybody’s interested and enthusiastic, and the expectation is huge.
That’s usually the case with things that are new. After some time, it will settle to its correct size and extent in the business world and in our personal lives.
We will start realising what it can do, what it can’t do, where it won’t work as expected and so on. Of course, it will be a lot more advanced because of how powerful today’s computers are in producing more complete and better systems, but it will get to its real size.
DF: We can all make a complete pig’s ear of a task at hand. But you can explain to me why you’ve done it a certain way, why you’ve made certain assumptions, and a machine can never do that.
LB: I don’t think it is going to take the place of all jobs. Human intervention used with
the tool, that’s the thing. In the back of your mind, you also have to be wary that there is perhaps a limitation.
DF: There is always going to be an element of needing to interpret data and tell the client what it means.
So, it is a useful tool but only goes so far. It won’t, certainly in the years to come, do that job for me, although it will go some of the way to helping make an informed decision.
With AI, you can perhaps generate a contract where you say, ‘I want it to do X service and I want to charge for it in this way’, but in my experience, contracts generated that way have never really done what they’re supposed to.
In terms of contract negotiation, I don’t think AI is there yet to do the job of a human. We’ve not quite been replaced yet, but you never know in the future.
GN: We all have an ability to do a sense check and adopt a common-sense approach. AI is changing all the time. I will use all of this AI but I will also adopt that sense check.
SB: I have asked ChatGPT to give us a summary paragraph for today. It says, ‘As you continue to explore the potential of AI in ChatGPT for your small business in Lancashire, remember that these technologies are powerful tools that can help you improve customer experiences, streamline operations, and unlock new opportunities for growth.
‘But, ultimately, the success of your business will depend not just on the tools you use but on the creativity, innovation and dedication of your team, so, as you move forward, stay focused on building a culture of learning, experimentation and collaboration that will enable you to leverage the power of AI in ChatGPT to achieve your goals and realise your vision for the future.’
Sali Midjek-Conway
Steve Brennan
Steven Wright
Boost is helping Lancashire businesses, just like yours
Get in touch with our team on
0800 488 0057 or contact us online
boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk
#HelpingLancashireBusinesses
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