AI in Business | May 3, 2024

Welcome to this week's AI in Business newsletter! We're excited to share the latest developments and insights on how AI is transforming the business landscape. This week, we'll explore OpenAI's new "Memory" feature for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, which enables the AI to retain context and remember key details. We'll also delve into the implications of generative AI on business leaders, how AI is driving growth for small businesses, and why it's essential to adapt and upskill in an AI-augmented world. Additionally, we'll highlight a featured AI tool and provide practical tips for harnessing AI in your business.

Top AI in Business News Stories

OpenAI Makes 'Memory' Available to all ChatGPT Plus Subscribers

interactions, OpenAI has recently unveiled the Memory feature for all ChatGPT Plus subscribers. This innovative addition allows ChatGPT to retain details provided by the user, significantly enriching the context for future responses without requiring repetitive input. For businesses, this means ChatGPT can now remember key company details or project requirements from previous interactions, dramatically improving the efficiency of ongoing tasks and workflows. For instance, if a business shares information about a current marketing campaign, ChatGPT can use those facts to generate consistent content or provide relevant suggestions in future interactions. Initial tests have fine-tuned this functionality, leading to improved user control over memory editing and privacy settings. Currently exclusive to ChatGPT Plus users, with plans to expand access, this feature aims to redefine personalized AI interactions.

Implications for Average Businesses

The introduction of ChatGPT's memory feature, offers transformative applications for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by allowing the AI to recall crucial aspects of the business, like specific product details and customer preferences, thus streamlining communication and customizing interactions without repetitive data entry. Notably, it enables efficient email drafting that mirrors individual communication styles, saves time in creating consistent business communications, and enhances customer service by personalizing interactions based on past interactions. However, SMBs must carefully navigate challenges such as maintaining data accuracy and ensuring the secure handling of sensitive information to fully leverage this feature while adhering to privacy standards. For more detail on real world business use cases of this new feature, check out this week’s Featured AI Tool of the Week.?

How Leaders are Already Using Generative AI at Work

A recent Deloitte survey of nearly 2,000 director to C-suite level respondents reveals that organizations with high or very high generative AI (GenAI) expertise are moving beyond experimentation and implementing the technology across their workforces. These leaders are focused on building trust, changing talent strategies, and scaling up GenAI deployments to drive tangible benefits and value creation. They are also prioritizing strategic and growth-related areas such as improving products and services, encouraging innovation and growth, and creating new roles and work processes to succeed in the competitive market for GenAI talent.

Implications for Average Businesses

While the article highlights that organizations who report “high” or “very high” GenAI expertise are quickly moving past the infatuation stage, and starting to implement the technology across their workforces, only 46% of survey respondents are providing approved GenAI access to just a small portion of their workforce (20% or less). For average businesses looking to adopt GenAI, building trust is a major component for success. However, this requires a lot of knowledge, thoughtfulness, and careful selection of pilot projects to get started (this is a major value add of what we do for businesses). By doing so, businesses can unlock the full potential of GenAI and stay ahead of the competition.

Enhancing Entrepreneurship: AI’s Big Impact on Small Business

In this article by our friend, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 's Jordan Crenshaw , Jordan shares important insights into how AI is changing the game for small businesses by driving growth and increasing competition. The article explains how AI can make businesses more efficient, save time, and improve decision-making. AI systems also allow for better customer experiences and provide insights into market trends. Through real-life examples, we see small businesses using AI to their advantage. For instance, one business owner uses AI to create product descriptions that are effective on search engines, and another uses it to design marketing materials and handle customer service. AI is proving to be a crucial tool that enables small businesses to thrive in a competitive market.

Implications for Average Businesses

Jordan Crenshaw’s insights make it clear that using AI is quickly becoming essential for survival and growth, not just a luxury. Small businesses benefit from increased efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and deeper insights into the market. Companies like Henry’s House of Coffee and Something Sweet COOKie Dough show how AI helps streamline operations, improve marketing strategies, and understand customer behavior better. Embracing AI tools gives small businesses a significant competitive advantage, allowing even the smallest players to stand out in a changing economic landscape.

AI in Business 101 - Forget "Will AI Replace Me?" - Ask This Instead

The worry "Will AI replace my job?" is an increasingly common one as AI capabilities advance rapidly. In fact, this fear is even stopping some people from using and benefitting from AI tools, essentially hiding their heads in the sand hoping the wave of AI transformation will simply pass. But that mindset is misguided and self-limiting. Instead of fearing AI, the smarter approach is to reframe the mindset as: "What new skills must I develop to thrive by working alongside AI?"

Adapt, Don't Resist?

The reality is AI will automate certain tasks and redefine job roles, not completely replace humans. Those who embrace upskilling to augment their talents with AI will be indispensable. Those who resist will likely stagnate.

Unique Human Skills Identify the skills that differentiate you from AI systems - creativity, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, management abilities etc. Double down on developing these human-centric competencies that AI cannot yet replicate well.

Practical AI Proficiencies

?In parallel, cultivate practical AI skills:

• Start using the AI tools and apps available for tasks like writing, analysis, creation etc.
• Learn how to give clear instructions to AI tools to get desired outputs (prompting)
• Understand what type of information the AI needs to produce good results
• Develop the ability to review and refine the AI's output effectively
• Explore AI use cases across different areas of your business beyond your primary role

The key is to just start using AI tools, and learn what works as you go. Become comfortable with AI as a co-pilot that can streamline and enhance your work, not just seeing it as an advanced technology. With hands-on experience across AI tools for communication, automation, creation and more, you'll be able to fluidly integrate AI into your existing skills and responsibilities.?

Start Small?

When getting started with AI, identify a specific, well-defined business problem where AI can offer a clear return on investment (ROI). Focus on pilot projects with limited upfront costs. Many AI solutions offer tiered pricing models to fit your budget and risk appetite.

Example: A small marketing team could start by using AI writing tools to generate promotional emails, social media posts and website copy drafts to increase bandwidth.

Imagine the Force Multiplier?

While adapting your individual skills is crucial, consider the compounding impact if your entire organization is upskilled in AI complementary abilities - a future where every employee seamlessly integrates AI into their workflows:

• Sales and customer service teams using AI conversational assistants to provide faster, more personalized support and follow-ups
• Marketing professionals utilizing AI content generation and design tools to produce more engaging campaigns and materials
• Operations staff leveraging AI process automation and analysis to streamline logistics and optimize workflows
• Finance teams taking advantage of AI-powered forecasting, reporting and expense tracking capabilities
• HR personnel aided by AI resume screeners and interview assistants to improve hiring decisions
• Managers and business owners relying on AI strategic planning tools to pressure-test ideas and explore growth opportunities

A company unified in strategic AI adoption creates a formidable force multiplier for productivity, efficiency and innovation-driven growth that leaves hesitant competitors behind.

The path forward is clear - stop worrying about being replaced and instead constantly ask "What new skills will make us indispensable and propel us ahead in an AI-augmented world?"?

Approaching AI as an opportunity puts your entire organization on an upward trajectory.

Need help? Contact us to learn how we can help your business leverage off-the-shelf AI technology into your workflows.?

Featured AI Tool of the Week - ChatGPT’s ‘Memory’ Feature

Currently available to Plus subscribers, ChatGPT's newly introduced Memory feature allows it to recall and build upon details from previous conversations, opening up a world of possibilities for seamless, personalized, and context-aware interactions. As businesses increasingly turn to AI to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences, this innovative feature promises to be a catalyst for more efficient, tailored, and rapport-building exchanges.

Real-world Use Case Examples

• Streamlined Communication: ChatGPT can remember important details like product information, making it easier to draft emails and sales materials.
• Personalized Email Drafting: It can learn the writing style and tone of your team members, so it can draft emails that sound like they were written by them.
• Enhanced Customer Service: ChatGPT can store and recall customer information, like purchase history and preferences, to provide personalized service.
• Project Continuity: For ongoing projects or tasks, ChatGPT can recall key details, decisions, and context from previous discussions, avoiding the need to re-explain everything.
• Training Material Creation: ChatGPT can learn and remember processes, documentation, and knowledge specific to the SMB to generate customized training content.
• Personal Assistant: By remembering preferences, schedule, and background on the SMB owner/employees, ChatGPT can act as a more contextual personal productivity assistant.
• Content Repurposing: ChatGPT can re-use and build upon previously discussed ideas, outlines, or data points to create new content efficiently.
• Competitor Tracking: Details on competitors discussed can be stored to continuously analyze the competitive landscape.
• Lead Nurturing: Remembering interactions with prospects can allow for more personalized follow-ups and nurturing by ChatGPT.

Pro Tip: You can teach ChatGPT to remember something new by chatting with it, for example: “Remember that I am vegetarian when you recommend a recipe.” To understand what ChatGPT remembers just ask it.

Benefits

• Improved Context and Personalization: By remembering details from previous conversations, ChatGPT can provide more relevant and personalized responses tailored to the specific business and preferences. This can improve the quality of outputs like recommendations, analysis, or content creation.
• Continuity across Conversations: Businesses won't have to repeat context repeatedly as ChatGPT can recall important details discussed earlier. This allows for more productive conversations without having to re-explain background information.
• Building Rapport: The memory allows ChatGPT to develop more rapport and a better understanding of the business over time through accumulating knowledge. This can foster a more natural and effective working relationship.
• Time-Saving: Not having to re-provide the same context details again and again can save valuable time for busy business owners and employees.
• Tailored Persona: Businesses can "teach" ChatGPT relevant facts and preferences about their brand, industry specifics, etc. which it will remember for more customized outputs.
• Knowledge Management: Important information discussed with ChatGPT can be stored in its memory to create a knowledge base specific to that business over time.

Drawbacks

While the memory feature can provide several benefits to small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) using ChatGPT, there are also some potential drawbacks or annoyances that they should be aware of:

• Privacy Concerns: Storing personal or sensitive business information in ChatGPT's memory raises privacy issues. SMBs may be hesitant to have details about their operations, financials, trade secrets etc. remembered, even if they can delete memories later.
• Memory Inaccuracies: ChatGPT's memory is not perfect, and it may sometimes misremember or conflate details, requiring users to correct it. This could be frustrating, especially if important facts are misremembered.
• Context Mistakes: ChatGPT may make inappropriate connections or assumptions based on its memory of past conversations that are not fully relevant to the current context.
• Cumbersome Management: Having to manually review, edit and clear memories periodically could become cumbersome, especially for SMBs with limited time/resources.
• Training Data Concerns: Some SMBs may not want their proprietary information potentially used to further train OpenAI's models, even anonymously.
• Prompt Engineering Challenges: Optimizing prompts to get ChatGPT to remember exactly what's needed from conversation histories could require trial-and-error.
• Lack of Transparency: The inner workings of how ChatGPT forms and updates memories is a black box, which could make businesses cautious to rely on it.
• Continuity Headaches: If an SMB works with multiple ChatGPT instances, dealing with different memory contexts could create complexities.

Cost

The memory feature is part of the Plus subscription, which includes other really cool features like image and file uploads, URL search, and custom GPT creation among others.

Conclusion

ChatGPT's Memory feature represents a significant stride towards more human-like AI interactions, empowering businesses to forge deeper, more contextual relationships with their AI assistants. While the potential benefits are compelling, it's crucial to navigate the ethical and practical considerations surrounding data privacy, accuracy, and transparency. As the technology continues to evolve, businesses must strike a delicate balance between harnessing its transformative potential and upholding the highest standards of trust and responsible innovation. Ultimately, the Memory feature serves as a reminder that the future of AI lies in its ability to not only augment our capabilities but also to understand and adapt to our unique contexts and preferences.

Stay Tuned and in Touch

Stay tuned for more updates and insights in our upcoming issues as we continue to explore the transformative impacts of AI on the business world.?

We had so much fun recording an episode for Charleston AMA - American Marketing Association The Charleston Marketing Podcast in the Charleston Radio Group ’s studio this week. We had a fun and engaging conversation packed with AI insights for small and medium-sized businesses, solopreneurs, and marketing agencies. The episode launches next week, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out with your questions, feedback, or stories about how AI is making a difference in your operations. Connect with us on our social media channels or reply to this newsletter directly—we look forward to hearing from you!