Artificial intelligence may not yet play a significant role in your business, but AI and machine learning are rapidly transforming our modern business environment. According to a year-end 2021 questionnaire by McKinsey, 56 percent of respondents said they had implemented AI technology in at least one function, up from 50 percent the year before.
Still, it can be difficult to determine whether implementing AI in your business is a smart investment or an unnecessary expense. Here are three questions every business owner should ask before diving into the world of AI.
1. How can AI improve my business?
The first question to ask yourself when considering AI is what problems can be solved with the technology. An e-commerce company could use AI to market to consumers and recommend specific products based on their data, while a financial services firm could use AI to better predict shifts in the market and protect their customers from risky investments. get it before it’s too late.
According to the McKinsey survey, the most common use for AI by businesses in 2021 was in service operations, such as chatbots and virtual assistants. Other common uses of the technology include risk modeling, AI-based product improvement, and customer service analytics. Ask yourself if automating part of your business has an easily identifiable benefit, or if you have routine tasks that can be easily automated.
2. Do I have the relevant data?
Once you’ve identified how AI technology can improve your business, it’s time to take a closer look at your data. According to IBM, about 80 percent of the work on an AI project revolves around data collection and preparation, with the remaining 20 percent devoted to analysis and testing.
Any kind of artificial intelligence is only as good as the data it learns from, so make sure you have access to quality data, and lots of it. According to a February 2022 article Dataversity allows companies to use the following six factors to determine the quality of their data:
- Integrality
- Accuracy
- coherence
- Timeliness
- Validity
- uniqueness
3: How much does it cost to implement AI?
Once you’ve determined the problem you want to use AI technology to solve, and you’ve confirmed that you have access to enough quality data, you’ll need to hire some artificial intelligence talent to help create the algorithms that power your AI programs.
Convincing AI talent to join your company may be easier said than done, as giants of the space like Google and Meta can offer large budgets for projects along with pleasing benefits. To compete, employers may consider hiring AI consultants who can be hired on a project-by-project basis, or research what AI software applications can be purchased. You also need to be sure that you have the budget to carry out a potentially costly and lengthy process.
The possibilities for using AI in your business may seem endless, but with some critical thinking you can define your own personal best path forward with this exciting technology.
