I wasn’t THAT much of a Star Wars kid, and seeing a particular scene at too young of an age may explain why.

In 1996 at age 8, I had my first viewing of the original Star Wars (technically now Episode IV I guess - whatever episode was released in 1977.)

Everything’s hunky dory… until I get to the trash compactor scene. Look, we all have those illogical scary moments as kids, right? This was mine, and in hindsight it’s hysterical.

But I recall being struck hard by something - the notion of a robot saving humans. And while looking back I still don’t know why, I do know that in that scene, there is a moral tied to our 21st-century technology state. We humans, we’re mighty imperfect. We have limits, shortcomings, and sorry Nike, we’re just not able to do everything.

AI more or less is able to.

It’s helping cars, medicine, cleanliness, and yep, even trash. Beyond that, here are the ways artificial intelligence can be a tool and a friend for small businesses. 

Marketing

Gone are the days of uninformed roundtable discussions on what “sounds like a great ad campaign” being the sole deciding factor in launching one. The chief benefit of A.I. in marketing is understanding audience. The data behind user behavior is invaluable, and while at a certain point ethics become part of the discussion, the bottom line is knowing who you should be targeting, is just as effective as what you’re targeting them with. Overall, Deloitte does a terrific job going for a deep dive on leveraging A.I. in marketing to improve the consumer experience…that in turn improves the business' bottom line. Additionally, the always-reliable Hubspot serves a helpful video 101.

Chatbots

Okay okay just hear me out! Look, you’ve likely had some frustrating experiences with them - I sure have. But think about televisions from 1990 compared to 2000, or phones from 2010 to today. Vast improvement. Chatbots will be getting better, and soon, thanks to AI. In a true win-win, Employee load will be simplified and less stressful, and customers’ wait times and/or frustration will be drastically reduced. It’s a cycle that paints a beautiful picture of the customer service and general problem-solving future.

Accounting

Okay, Excel could technically be considered “artificial intelligence”, but that’s like saying today that those old Nokia phones are “computers” - yeahhhhh but come on! Accounting has enjoyed a glorious improvement, and from tax preparation to payroll, the biggest perk to AI accounting is speed of course, but accuracy is really where it earns its stripes. Human error is simply common in old fashioned bookkeeping, but AI and machine learning can have accountants, customers, and owners all rest easier.

Security

A.I. defenses against cyberattacks, viruses, random glitches and things we can’t even foresee yet, are going to be the 21st-century’s version of what antibiotics were to the 1900s. We touched on cybersecurity as it related to post-COVID effects, but AI’s constant evolution, improvement and round-the-clock working renders it a must-have. See, back in older days of computer protection, the software would be…stagnant. Not the case with artificial intelligence. Precious information pertaining to finances, sensitive identity details for staff and customers, and everything in between can are already vulnerable enough as is. Fortunately for small businesses, cybersecurity is a highly competitive field, and Comparitech lends a helping hand in highlighting some of the strongest players.

The Law

It’s not just that law is often intimidating or confusing - it’s that it gets increasingly so as time goes on. Now, we’re still far off from C3PO representing you in front of a judge. But A.I. has empowered citizens and business with a deeper understanding of laws, what they’re about to sign, and decisions they want to make. Legal Robot is outstanding for anything contractual, and this blog post by online firm autom.io covers other applications that serve us humans, personally or professionally.

There’s some nervousness in the business world over what artificial intelligence means for us workers with actual flesh and bone. But I have faith this will be an enhancement, not a cancellation - just like every major technology since the printing press, industrial revolution, assembly lines and the internet.

It’s why we at Iliad Media Group embrace new tools, because with them come new perspectives, capabilities - and a lot more time to focus on clients and community. Best of all, we love making our clients a part of their own success, as opposed to having them stand on the sidelines. So if collaborating with smart, fun, caring people who’ll make your business heard on the radio and found online using state of the art technologies…we should talk.