USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR REAL GAINS

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from the preserve of science fiction novels to reality. We think nothing of asking Google what the weather will be like or asking Alexa to remind us to take the pizza out of the oven.

But AI can also help small firms get ahead in business. Gillian Docherty, chief executive of The Data Lab, a recent speaker at the EUREKA Global Innovation Summit, shares her tips to help you navigate the AI road ahead.

STARTING Understand your business strategy and work out how data and AI can be used to deliver that faster and better. Knowing where you can drive value from data is key to utilising AI.

BENEFITS AI is more accessible than many business owners first

think and offers incredible benefits. These include a low-cost way to get faster and deeper insights from data so you can make better decisions. Predictive algorithms can anticipate what a customer may buy next, and AI can help improve relationships with customers through greater personalisation.

HELP AI can help companies of any size become more efficient. Lawyers, or those working with large amounts of text, can use AI to read, extract and summarise data, allowing them to focus more time and resources elsewhere. Farmers, and agriculture specialists, can use AI Smartphone technology to track cattle or detect plant disease to help manage crop production.

CHATBOTS They are a great example of AI being used to communicate with customers. These can be added to your website to help people with purchase decisions, make product recommendations or respond to customer service questions. The cost depends on the level of interaction. There are chatbot builders offering affordable ways to adopt this tech.

TECHNOLOGY AI won’t replace humans but will help efficiency via automation. Start small by adopting AI technologies to automate and personalise your email marketing, or use services like So Dash to monitor and filter social media notifications.