Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool when used correctly and judiciously. There are many books and articles written about the subject, some good ones right here in the pages of this month’s issue!

Let’s take a look at some AI applications that can benefit your business. We’ll also look at how to keep your AI use from going off the rails.

The Good

There is much good that can come from using AI in your business. On your operations side it can help you organize and improve anything from your business plan, to your marketing and advertising, to performance reviews, and so much more.

Start by either writing or audio-recording your thoughts and ideas. Next put them through an AI engine like ChatGPT, Gemini, or CoPilot. The software then outputs clear, concise outlines with details that puts them in logical, sequential documents.

This technology can also work with your service management system to help organize your processes and procedures that can then be accessed on your field technicians’ devices. There is already great software out there that does just that. This can be a powerful way to ensure consistency and quality throughout your company.

AI can be also used as an important part of dispatching. Imagine your software tied to an AI engine with key data about your service techs.

This data might include where they live, what certifications and tools they have, what they are really good at, and what they are still in the process of learning.

Now imagine your AI-enhanced system planning your daily service schedule, or helping you make changes at any point in time. In seconds it could inform your dispatcher exactly which technician to send based on location, availability, tools, and strengths and weaknesses.

There are many other ways AI can help your business, but unfortunately I only have so much room on this page to write about them!

The Bad

One of the worst things you can do is rely blindly on what AI produces. It can get things slightly, or very wrong, so the output should always be reviewed and edited before finalizing it.

As much as AI can be a huge time-saver, if left unchecked it can produce bad, even damaging information. In other words, don’t abdicate your decisions and responsibilities to it. Use it instead to make your work easier, then refine the output to match your intent.

The Ugly

When it comes to internet-based content like websites, social media posts, blogs, etc. AI can give you a great starting point.

Caution: Many internet bots are AI-based. These bots instantly recognize work created by AI, and usually dismiss pages, videos, photos, posts, and blogs as written by AI, plagiarized, or fake. This means a site or post rankings created by AI can be dropped to almost invisible.

How do you combat this? Use AI to organize your ideas, then edit the output to reflect your original thinking and personality. This applies as much to words as to graphics and videos.

There are many applications for this amazing technology. The key is to be aware of its limitations and avoid unintentional consequences. When you accompany Artificial Intelligence with Actual Intelligence (Also AI- lol) you can do amazing things for your business!