Technology is always changing, and the use of artificial intelligence becomes more ubiquitous with each passing day. Business owners and professionals may want to learn how to use it to its best ability.
Allie Geilich-Parker, lead HR consultant for Boss Consulting HR LLC, held a talk Thursday for Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce members about the use of AI in the workplace.
Businesses can use AI to help form thoughts or as a starting point in the workflow. AI can also help with tasks like data analysis and note-taking, or even coming up with an itinerary, Geilich-Parker said.
While the needs that can be met by AI depend on the organization, ChatGPT and other GPT-type AI, like DALL·E 3, are a good starting place.
“It’ll tell you if it can’t do it, but chances are it can give you an answer,” Geilich-Parker said.
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One of the attendees was Ian Matthew Herrington, director of workforce development and training for Health Education Center. He’s found AI tools essential, as it helps educate a multilingual student base, and gives them translation resources, he said.
“It’s the future of reaching our students in the way they need to be reached,” he said.
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Pros and cons of AI
Geilich-Parker describes herself as a “work smarter, not harder” person, and AI tools can help with tasks that are annoying, including editing work, customer service inquiries and arranging schedules. AI used properly can free your time and energy for the business itself, she said.
“Most people didn’t start a business because they really wanted to post on Instagram about it, or do the menial tasks that go along with running a business,” Geilich-Parker said
AI users need to remember that the technology “is a mimic of the human mind,” and is therefore prone to the same faults and biases, Geilich-Parker said.
“A tool like Chat-GPT pays attention to what we put into it, and human beings don’t always put the best things into it,” she said.
The technology shouldn’t be used for final decision-making or writing longer compositions, but the cons can be mitigated if used correctly, Geilich-Parker said.
Will AI replace employees?
While some people are concerned about being replaced by AI technology, Herrington believes what was true for computers decades ago is true for AI today. If a job is replaced by AI, it’s replaced by someone who can operate the AI, not the software itself, he said.
“Not having any awareness of the usefulness or the various tools that leverage AI is leaning into ignorance,” Herrington said.
Advice
With the range of AI services out there, it can be overwhelming. Anyone looking to use AI should consider what their needs are first before picking an AI service to use. In addition, not every task has to be handled by AI.
It’s also important to educate yourself and your employees around AI use, and have good company policies around it, Geilich-Parker said.
“What do you want people to use it for, what do you not want people to use it for,” she said. “They still need to cite their sources and they still need to be careful when they use AI.”
Companies also need to counteract the biases from AI by taking the time to see what the AI has sourced or asking a follow-up question to the AI answer.
