Chapter 1

Why AI Matters in Your Business

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding AI and its impact

Learning from AI success stories

Exploring AI's benefits for you

Over the last few years, talk about artificial intelligence (AI) has reached a fever pitch. On LinkedIn, you might have noticed that a majority of the conversation has shifted to the topic of AI. A lot of that conversation centers on what AI means to businesses and professionals alike.

Both workers and companies are concerned about the unknowns that AI will bring to the table. Employees are afraid they might be out of a job. Organizations are worried that they're not implementing AI quickly enough. While some of these fears are justified, many are blown out of proportion. AI's potential to reshape the way we work is unprecedented. However, with insight and planning, it's manageable. The purpose of this book is to help you sift through the hype and understand the reality of our AI-enabled future.

Understanding AI and how it works will provide context as you learn why it matters to your organization. At its core, AI enables machines and software to perform tasks at a level that previously required humans to do. Think about tasks like composing documents, recognizing images, making decisions, and interpreting language. Traditional software can help you do some of these tasks, but this software is bound to fixed rules. AI does not have the same constraint. It can learn from data and adapt its behavior over time. This is what really sets it apart and makes it such a game changer for businesses and organizations. Let's explore AI more and talk about why it has suddenly become more relevant.

Defining AI in Simple Terms

The easiest way to define AI is that it combines computer science and data science to perform tasks that, if performed by a human, would require intelligence. AI exists in a different domain than traditional software tools and robotics. These conventional tools adhere to a strict set of rules that govern how they can operate. Without a human to provide input and direct their activities, they cannot function. AI, on the other hand, can act far more autonomously. It will consider context, learn from mistakes, and even initiate actions on its own.

For example, you can use a word processing application to write a document, but you still need to type out every word and sentence. Using AI, though, you simply tell the AI what you want to write about and who your audience is. From there, it will draft the document for you. Now, imagine this type of autonomous capability applied to any number of business tasks. You could automate everything from marketing and accounting to warehouse operations and product development. (More on this later in this chapter.)

Broadly speaking, there are two types of AI:

• Narrow AI: This type of AI performs specific tasks that are within a defined scope. When you think about how Netflix recommends movies you might like, you're thinking about narrow AI. Essentially all AI in use today is narrow AI. It performs its specific task very well, but it cannot use its capabilities for any other type of task.
• General AI: Often called "artificial general intelligence" (AGI), this can do any task that a human can do and probably better. At present, this is still theoretical. Experts debate whether AGI is 5 years or 30 years from now. It is, however, inevitable.

For now, business applications exclusively use narrow AI. These tools are great at automating workflows, handling data analysis, and enhancing your customer interactions. These tools can also provide immediate value to your organization.

AI's emergence and relevance

AI is quickly transforming the way we work and live. For most of us, AI only entered the realm of public consciousness (outside of popular fiction) near the end of 2022. On November 30 of that year, OpenAI released ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com) to the public. Within the first week, the platform gained one million users. According to CNBC, by March 2025 that number had grown to 500 million weekly active users. That's the fastest organic growth of any stand-alone application in history.

AI's historical context

It would be easy to think that AI is something new. After all, outside of dystopian stories like The Terminator and The Matrix series of films, no one seemed to be talking about it even just five years ago. But the history of AI goes back much further. Researchers and futurists had long toyed with the idea of autonomous machines. The actual term "artificial intelligence" was coined by computer scientist John McCarthy at Dartmouth College in 1955.

In the years since, it has culminated into our modern AI tools. Image recognition, speech processing, language translation, and generative AI used to exist only in science fiction. Now, for far less than the cost of a part-time employee, you can use each of these to automate your everyday tasks.

Why AI is crucial for businesses today

AI can deliver real-world advantages that transform how you run your organization. Think about how many routine, repetitive, or data-intensive tasks you or your team do daily. AI can handle many of these faster, cheaper, and more accurately than any team can. This will have far-reaching effects on your operations and bottom line.

For example, let's consider being able to predict future trends and risks that relate to your organization. AI excels at providing insights that can tell you what is going to happen before it actually does. It can spot patterns in massive datasets and draw accurate inferences. This type of crystal ball can help you make better strategic decisions and plan more effectively. This is a single example from several dozen about how you can start leveraging AI today. Chapters 4 through 6 provide practical insights about automating tasks, enhancing operations, and sparking innovation through AI.

You also risk falling behind if your competitors adopt AI and you do not. Speed, agility, and cost are all becoming more dependent on AI integration. In the near future, AI will be able to automate most repetitive and routine business processes. Early AI adopters will gain market share, and their peers will lose ground. Staying current will be essential.

Misconceptions about AI in Business

The topic of AI stirs up a lot of strong opinions and wild ideas. As an expert in the field of AI, I often get interviewed by media outlets like NPR. When it comes to listener questions, there's one that gets asked nearly every time: "Is AI going to destroy humanity?" People are afraid of AI and have many misconceptions about it. Separating fact from myth will help you make more informed decisions about how to best use AI in your business.

Myth: AI will replace all jobs

If there is one myth that puts most workers on edge, it's that AI is going to steal their job. You might even be feeling some anxiety about this right now. This can add a lot of stress to the work environment and make your team more resistant to adopting AI automation. A quick trip to LinkedIn will demonstrate just how pervasive this misconception is. Companies think AI is a silver bullet that will automate the entire enterprise over the course of a year. Employees are either crippled by fear or in complete denial about the realities.

The reality is far more nuanced. There is truth to the idea that AI does repetitive, time-consuming jobs faster, cheaper, and more accurately. This is a powerful incentive for companies to replace workers with AI. There is a strong probability that data entry, back-office processing, and even customer support roles will disappear over the coming decade. As robotics improves, you might even witness frontline jobs in areas like construction, hospitality, and healthcare go away. Boston Dynamics has already developed robots like Spot® that can take on highly dangerous jobs in construction (see Figure 1-1). Other roles will soon follow.

FIGURE 1-1: Spot® by Boston Dynamics can do many things too dangerous for humans to take on.

The current consensus is that AI will take over some jobs and create other new jobs. These days, most professions consist of a mix of tasks. Some tasks require more strategic and creative thinking. Other tasks are pure drudgery that most people would be happy to pass off to AI.

Ultimately, AI will disrupt the workforce and the exchange of labor as we know it. How quickly that happens is difficult to predict. We are at the very beginning right now. There will be a transitionary period that sees AI take over some tasks, while humans continue to do others. Eventually, AI will do most tasks and humans will move on to more supervisory and strategic roles, with job titles that do not yet exist today. Chapter 9 provides more details about managing workforce changes and building an AI-ready culture.

Myth: AI is too expensive for small businesses

One factor holding back many businesses from adopting AI is the perceived cost. When small business owners think about implementing AI, they get scared. They often imagine million-dollar budgets, years-long implementation, and a team of consultants charging by the hour. This could be a real scenario but more likely something you would find in a massive...