The AI Gold Rush: A Case for Cautious Exploration
“If 2022 was the year of crypto, then 2024 will go down in history as the years of AI. ”
It’s not innovative nor surprising to call 2024 the year of AI. The technology, despite being in existence and use for decades, has become this year’s unavoidability, moving beyond buzzword to all-consuming trend driving billions of dollars in valuations and making or breaking companies at all scales.
The numbers are pretty impressive: A McKinsey survey of almost 1,000 companies reports that 65 percent of organizations are using generative AI regularly, a figure which is nearly double the percentage from a previous survey just ten months ago. Funding for A.I. firms made up nearly half the $56 billion in U.S. start-up financing from April to June, according to PitchBook. Prominent investors and executives predict that the market for A.I. will be bigger than the markets for the smartphone, the personal computer, social media and the internet.
In other words, I don’t think anyone needs to be convinced to pay attention to AI—but even if you’re aware of the scope of the opportunity, you may not know where to begin. As with all emerging technologies, there is a danger of rushing into usage without a strategy, which can be in the very least a distraction for your business, and at the most a costly mistake.
So what should your company be doing about AI right now? Of course, the answer is dependent upon your business—if you produce a product that could benefit from the integration of generative AI, it’s essential your leadership is having those conversations. But for the vast majority of businesses, now is the time to explore but not necessarily engage.
At first glance, the most common use cases for gen AI in the business involve content creation, decision support and process automation. Major brands such as Coca-Cola are increasing ad creative output with the use of generative AI, while others like Starbucks and Sephora are personalizing offers to customers. Project management software company ClickUp utilized the technology to optimize its content marketing for SEO and produce more content for its blog.
Of course, new tools are popping up every day within those realms and beyond. The single best thing your business can do today is to investigate, but not rush to fully integrate, AI tools.
Why the wariness? As money flows into the AI startup space, many emerging companies will launch products that boast game changing results. But not all of them will survive the funding gold rush, whether as a result of poor money management or lack of product market fit. Your job, as difficult as it may be without a crystal ball, is to measure the potential impact for positive business results alongside the likelihood that any tool you’re integrating may not be around for the long haul. The only thing more disruptive than changing the way your business functions is having to do it repeatedly.
That said, the time is ripe for experimentation. As your resources allow, encourage your team to consider what daily functions could benefit from an invisible turbocharge and play around with the myriad of new tools at their disposal. In the very least, it will spark consideration for (and perhaps disrupt) inefficiencies in performing habitual tasks.
But where to get started? Use the head start others have already provided by looking to the many AI enthusiasts who are already utilizing and reviewing tools.
Subscribe to The Neuron by Pete Huang, a newsletter written specifically for professionals to stay up to date on the latest insights and trends. Another newsletter, AI Valley, focuses on trending tools that you may want to try out. Prompts Daily takes a fun angle, offering your inbox a way to experiment with AI every day.
It can be tempting to throw away systems, tools and processes at the sign of the latest and greatest technology, especially one as hyped as AI. But the longevity and stability of your business relies on you to prioritize experimentation and prudence in the coming months.
