When you run a business, you’ll begin to notice how quickly things change around you. We’re living in a society with countless ongoing technological advances – so much so that we barely pay attention to some inventions or creations that would have been marvelled at not too long ago. Of course, to run a successful business, you’re going to have to keep up with the times.
There are, undoubtedly, countless technological advances that will hugely benefit your business and prove extremely profitable to your operations. By keeping up with advances and changes, you can keep up with the competition, ensuring your business’ place as a key competitor within its field.
Now, with so many advances constantly being unveiled, it can be difficult to know where to lay your focus. But for now, let’s focus on AI. This form of technology holds a whole lot of potential for businesses in nearly every industry and field, so it’s not all too surprising that the majority of us are waiting for new introductions with bated breath. Here’s some more information on the subjects to help you make the most of it!
What Is AI?
Let’s start out by understanding what AI actually is. AI stands for “artificial intelligence”. Many of us, upon hearing this phrase, automatically think of futuristic sci-fi movies with robots doing people’s bidding and other tasks. But this isn’t necessarily what AI is when used in day to day life. So, what is AI?
There are a number of definitions of artificial intelligence that have surfaced over the last few decades and not all agree what it actually is. A good explanation is that offered by John McCarthy in 2004. He defines AI as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs.
It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.” Put simply, it is the creation of systems that can think and act like humans.
How Can AI Be Used in Businesses?
Of course, AI could benefit multiple areas of life. But what is the main benefit for businesses. Well, at the moment, the main purpose of AI for many businesses is largely to reduce operational costs. AI can also help to increase efficiency and improve customer experience. All in all, these actions can help a business increase its profit margins and generate more revenue.
To try AI for yourself, you should consider implementing a number of smart, AI technologies into your business’ operations. Some examples that you might want to consider include:
Machine learning – if a machine can learn and identify information in a similar way to a human, and if it can organise and process that data like a human, we can take away a lot of the time consuming work our employees undertake and divert their efforts to more productive and less routine areas of business development and improvement.
For example, ABtesting.ai can take care of the routine parts of A/B testing, providing faster and more accurate results and allowing your marketing team to dedicate their time to more productive areas, such as the creation of new campaigns or changes to websites that will benefit your business based on the results provided by the AI system.
Natural language processing – this is useful if you have helplines or are creating products that answer people’s questions or complete commands for them. Machines that can process people’s natural language can help direct them to the information they need, increasing efficiency in day to day life.
The Overall Benefits of AI for Business
So, before investing, you probably want to know the overall benefits that AI can bring to your business. Here are just a few points that you might want to take into consideration. Properly implemented, used and managed, effective AI can:
- Save your employees time in completing repetitive and routine tasks
- Save you money by automating and optimising these processes
- Increase productivity, as employees can focus on more areas at once
- Increase efficiency, as AI takes less time to process data than people might
- Allow for more informed decisions based on information provided by AI
- Reduce scope for human error, providing your business with more accurate data
- Allow you to prejudice customer behaviour, allowing you to better meet expectations
- Allow you to understand customers’ wants, creating scope for better customer experience
- Get through huge amounts of data in less time
- Provide good quality leads to expand your customer base
- Boost revenue through faster identified sales potential
Investing in AI
If this all sounds like something that could benefit your company and that you would be interested in, it’s time to consider investing in AI. Now, the best place to start out is to conduct a thorough review of your business and what areas AI could best help you in. This, of course, will vary drastically from one company to another, as each will have individual aims, goals and needs.
So, you may want to bring in a specialist to advise you on the best approaches to take. Where possible, use someone who is independent and not working for an AI company. Otherwise, you will simply receive a sales spiel and be encouraged to take options that may not necessarily be with your business’ best interests in mind.
When you’ve received the advice you need, it’s time to start shopping around. Competition within the AI field is fierce, so chances are, there are multiple companies offering the AI that you’re looking for. By shopping around, you can not only ensure that you’re getting the best option for your business, but you can ensure that you’re getting the best price.
As you can see, there really is a lot to take into account when it comes to investing in AI for your business. Hopefully, some of the information above has helped to familiarise you with the concept, shown you some potential benefits and can get your company’s AI journey started off in the right direction!
