Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly recognised as highly beneficial for businesses, across a wide range of sectors. A mere inquiry posed to ChatGPT, OpenAI’s sophisticated chatbot, reveals a plethora of AI tools tailored for different business applications, spanning from sales to recruiting.
Excitingly, Irish companies appear ready to adopt this emerging technology. In a KPMG study, it emerged that nearly two-thirds of larger Irish businesses are already utilising, or trialling, AI for financial reporting. Accenture’s 2024 Technology Vision report indicated that the majority of Irish executives anticipate a significant impact of generative AI and chatbots on their business procedures. For a substantial 40% of these executives, these new technologies represent a potential “transformational change” for their firms.
This encouraging trend in Irish businesses is supported by a recent Google report, which suggested that the introduction of new generative AI tools could potentially enhance Ireland’s economic output by up to €45 billion annually within a decade, if properly harnessed.
While AI concepts, such as machine learning and algorithms, have existed for some time, the introduction of next-generation AI tools marks a significant change. These tools have a more personable approach, and their underlying technologies are generally smarter and more beneficial than previous versions.
However, reservations towards AI persist, often due to concerns about data usage and errors linked to large language models that support the technology. This has led to a certain wariness among businesses in their adoption of the newer AI versions. This seems likely to change soon. Apple’s announcement in June about integrating AI tools into its software—from iOS and iPadOS to Mac operating systems—suggests a shift in perception. Moreover, Google has also already infused its AI toolkits into Android, facilitating both Pixel phones and Samsung’s key Galaxy devices.
In conclusion, the future appears bright for businesses ready to capitalise on the potential of AI tools. Chatbots and other AI-powered systems are making their mark across the business landscape, facilitating increased efficiency, improved decision-making and superior customer service.
Since its debut in 2022, the use of ChatGPT, initiated by OpenAI, has led to the development of various tailored chatbots utilising this technology. These modern chatbots are capable of tasks ranging from the formulation of academic summaries and sophisticated presentations to the construction of landing pages for marketing campaigns and coding without any prerequisite experience. The most recent evolution, model 4.0, boasts potential for developing essays and reports, though it is still prudent to review its outputs for potential imprecision.
In addition to ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini (previously Bard) is reaching more nations, with Ireland among them. This application, now available separately on Android and integrated with Google’s efficiency software suite, enables users to draft documents and adjust the tone of emails and other typed content. Consequently, documents and emails can be efficiently tailored to suit varying audiences.
A further alternative to ChatGPT is Anthropics’ Claude, a highly intelligent chatbot with a broad spectrum of knowledge, making it an invaluable tool for answering most lawful queries.
AI tools deliver a variety of significant benefits, primarily in tackling mundane tasks requiring minimal expertise, a role that most prefer to avoid. Accordingly, AI tools that boost productivity and help alleviate such dull tasks are highly favoured – provided they align well with business needs.
For example, Otter.ai can transcribe audio files, either directly from live meetings or by importing pre-existing files into the system. Furthermore, it can endeavour to summarise the meeting and offer an action item list resulting from the discussion. The AI tool’s compatibility with virtual meetings enables its integration with your calendar to join video calls automatically and generate transcripts. This cloud-based service acts like a handy mini assistant, guiding you accordingly. Users should be aware that, due to its cloud-based nature, a reliable internet connection is necessary for live transcription, and your files will be stored by a third-party subject to their data usage and privacy policies.
As one of the leading entities in the technology world, Microsoft continues to make impressive strides, most prominently with the rare modification made to its keyboards that now include a unique key for its AI aids. For anyone subscribed to Microsoft’s deluxe service, having these AI CoPilots can significantly streamline your daily tasks. These CoPilots optimise your work productivity by assisting with organising your emails, singling out urgent ones, and planning your timetable around impending meetings.
In situations where the meetings exist virtually via Teams, CoPilot can stand in for you, furnishing you with an account of the meeting, a comprehensive event synopsis, and a to-do list, along with specifying the members in charge. It also extends help in coding through GitHub CoPilots and generating PowerPoint presentations from documents, all with a few simple commands. For corporate clientele, Microsoft assures commercial data safeguards that align with your corporation’s data guidelines.
Notion also deserves recognition as a productivity tool often coined as the “AI everything application”. This programme furnishes the possibility of creating, sorting, and disseminating information such as notes, databases, tasks, and other kinds of content within your team. Notion is powered by AI technologies from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which help in obtaining more detailed insights working in a Q&A format from your content, along with its Writer and Autofill feature that aids in the creation and editing of content. Importantly, this keeps your data protected and prevents it from being used for extensive language model training.
The aid of AI writing assistants such as the renowned Grammarly, which acts as your personal proofreader, helps to alleviate the time consumed in producing top-quality written content. By identifying and rectifying grammar and spelling errors, and proposing suggestions to enhance your writing style, Grammarly provides great value. Its premium service even offers tools that can tweak the tone for your emails and documents making them more formal when needed. The functionality of Microsoft’s CoPilot for Word is somewhat similar, allowing you to draft content and add frequently used text blocks.
Sales and marketing thus benefit greatly from these AI advancements.
AI appears to hold a promising potential in sales and marketing. Organisations such as Intercom employ AI for their client servicing chatbots, while Hubspot utilises AI to enhance its marketing drives, proffering content approaches and predictive lead scoring.
Apart from Hubspot’s personalised chatbot, for those interested in AI-powered marketing and sales can consider Salesforce’s Einstein AI that offers AI-supported analytics, sales forecasts, and lead scoring.
However, AI tools are not all beneficial. Some promise a lot but deliver little, becoming more of a burden than a boon. These tools should facilitate your business operations, not create additional work or require excessive intervention.
It’s important to remember that what suits one firm might not be fitting for another. Consequently, here are a few important factors to mull over when selecting AI tools for your enterprise.
System compatibility:
Before investing in any AI tool for your business, ascertain that it is compatible with your current systems. If it fails to integrate, it is merely another software that falls short of its potential and constitutes wasted expenditure.
Data security concerns:
AI tech relies heavily on data, ideally for training purposes. However, many firms justifiably exercise caution. Corporations such as Samsung, Amazon and Apple have either banned employees from employing ChatGPT for confidential tasks or placed restrictions due to concerns over data usage. Therefore, if the chosen AI tool cannot ensure your data’s safety, look for other options.
Not all cheap tools offer value:
Although the idea of AI is to save costs, don’t be tempted by the cheapest tools on the market. Insist on a tool that is not just well-constructed, but performs the tasks you require. If the tool, for instance, is a customer-centric chatbot, verify its performance from your customer’s perspective. If it’s not up to standard, it will only lead to customer dissatisfaction and negatively impact your business reputation.
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