ChatGPT, what are the best AI tools for businesses? A simple request to OpenAI’s chatbot will produce a long list of options covering almost every aspect of business, from sales leads to hiring.
Irish businesses, it seems, are eager to embrace the technology, at least in theory. A study by KPMG showed financial executives and board members in almost two-thirds of large Irish companies are using or piloting artificial intelligence in financial reporting. Accenture’s Technology Vision report for 2024 said the majority of Irish executives expect generative artificial intelligence and chatbots will affect their business processes, with 40 per cent saying the technology would usher in “transformational change” for organisations.
A report from Google earlier this year, meanwhile, said the new wave of generative artificial intelligence tools could help boost Ireland’s economy by up to €45 billion a year within 10 years, if we get on board with it.
Artificial intelligence has been around for a while in the form of machine learning and algorithms, but the new generation of AI tools allows you to interact in a more human way with the technology, with the underlying technology a lot smarter and more helpful than we may have been used to.
Still, there has been some suspicion around AI and its future. While ChatGPT and other chatbots were viewed as an amusing toy, some high-profile errors and concerns over data use in the large language models underpinning this technology have led to businesses hesitating to embrace the new generation of AI wholeheartedly.
Things may be about to change, though. Apple announced in June that it would begin integrating AI tools into its software, from iOS and iPadOS to its Mac operating systems. AI will be integrated into the core of the software for its newer devices, making its voice assistant Siri more useful and bringing new features such as writing tools and transcripts.
Apple isn’t alone. Google has already introduced its AI into Android, for both its own Pixel phones and Samsung’s flagship Galaxy devices. And some of the bigger enterprise providers have also been introducing AI-powered tools aimed at businesses.
So what is there for future-focused companies?
Chatbots
ChatGPT may have introduced us to chatbots, but things have moved on since 2022. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has spawned a host of custom chatbots based on the technology that will cover everything from writing academic abstracts and designing formal presentations to creating marketing campaign landing pages and writing code with no experience necessary. The latest model, 4.0, can write reports and essays, although it is still worth checking on the information being churned out just in case there are some inaccuracies.
Google’s Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is being rolled out to more countries, including Ireland. Not only is it now available as a separate app on Android, it is also being integrated into Google’s productivity software to allow you create documents and edit emails and other written material for tone. That means you can reword emails and documents to fit different audiences with little to no effort.
Anthropic’s Claude is smarter than the average human, which makes it a good alternative to ChatGPT as a chatbot. It also has a fairly broad knowledge base, so should be able to answer most (legal) queries.
Productivity
One of the key benefits of AI tools is that they will do the work that we would rather not, the time-consuming work that requires very little expertise to carry out. For that reason, AI tools that enhance our productivity and take over some of the more tedious tasks will always get enthusiastic backing – as long as they are done in a way that suits businesses.
Otter.ai, for example, will transcribe audio files, either by uploading existing files to the service or recording them straight into the software from live meetings. Not only will it do that time-consuming task, but it will also summarise the meeting and give you a check list of action points arising from the session. And if the meetings are virtual, you can integrate the cloud-based service with your calendar to automatically join video calls and transcribe them for you. It’s like having a mini assistant on hand to point you in the right direction. One thing to note though: as it is cloud based, it requires an internet connection to transcribe live. That also means your files are with a third party and are subject to their privacy and data use policies.
Another option is a well-known name: Microsoft. The tech giant made its intentions clear when it decided it would make a rare change to its keyboards, adding a dedicated key for its AI assistants. For those who are willing to pay for Microsoft’s premium service, these CoPilots can be a useful addition to your work day. For example, the technology can help you sort through email and pick out urgent items that need to be acted upon that day and organise your schedule with upcoming meetings. If those meetings are virtual through Teams, CoPilot can attend on your behalf, providing you with a transcript of the meeting, an overall summary of the event and a list of what needs to be done – and most importantly, who has agreed to do it. It can also help you write code, if necessary, through GitHub CoPilots, or create PowerPoint presentations from documents with a couple of commands. If you are an enterprise customer, it is worth noting that Microsoft has commercial data protections in place that fit with your company’s own data policies.
Another worthy mention should go to Notion, a productivity tool that has been described as the “AI everything app”. The software allows you to create, organise and share information such as notes, databases, tasks and other content with your team. Notion has AI tools powered by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic that help you get more insights from your content, in a question and answer form; its Writer and Autofill feature helps you to create and edit content too. Crucially, your data stays yours and isn’t sucked into the training for the large language models.
Writing assistants
Crafting good-quality copy takes time, but the current crop of AI chatbots and assistants can help to reduce that by giving you a good starting point.
Grammarly is like having a proofreader on your shoulder, pointing out your grammar and spelling errors, and offering suggestions to make your writing flow better. The paid-for option also gives you access to tools to edit the tone of your emails and documents, making it more formal when necessary or Microsoft’s CoPilot for Word will perform similar tasks, drafting content for you, allowing you to insert boilerplate text that you often use.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing seems like the ideal place for AI. Companies such as Intercom have been implementing AI for their customer service chatbots, while Hubspot uses the technology to optimise marketing campaigns, recommending content strategy and predictive lead scoring.
Aside from the previously mentioned custom chatbot from Hubspot, those who want AI-powered sales and marketing could turn to Salesforce’s Einstein AI for AI-powered analytics, sales predictions and lead scoring.
The worst AI tools
Overpromising, underdelivering; there are plenty of AI tools out there that could be more trouble than they are worth. These tools should help your business rather than create additional work or require too much intervention, but often they can end up being more of a hindrance than a help.
What works for one company may not work for another, so with this in mind, here are some things to consider when looking at AI tools for your business.
It can’t integrate with your systems:
Before investing in an AI tool for your business, make sure it will work with the systems you already have in place. If it can’t integrate with your existing systems, it will be just another piece of software that fails to live up to its potential, and a waste of money.
It might suck up your data:
AI needs data, and lots of it if it wants to be of any use to its customers – for training purposes only, naturally. But many companies are understandably wary, so much so that last year some major tech companies, including Samsung, Amazon and Apple either prohibited staff from using ChatGPT for confidential work, or imposed restrictions on their use. If your chosen AI tool cannot guarantee your data will remain yours, look elsewhere.
Cheap and ineffective
AI might be trying to save you some money, but that doesn’t mean that you should go for the least expensive option out there. Make sure the tools you are considering are not only properly built but can do what you need them to. If it is a customer-facing chatbot, test it yourself from the point of view of your customers; if it doesn’t perform as expected, it will cause frustration to your customers – and reflect badly on your business.
You can find more on Top 1000 here. For the full list of Ireland’s Top 1000 companies, sign up to the ePaper today. The full supplement is also available in Thursday’s (12/09/2024) print edition
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