Here at Mr. Thrive Media, we like to stay on top of emerging technology. Who knows when the next Google Suite will come around? What if there’s something better than Zoom out there? Naturally, when AI took a turn for the mainstream market, we perked up our ears. AI, particularly AI in business, is something we’re curious about for a mix of reasons.
The world is wondering things along the lines of “Will AI replace jobs?” The answer is, it’s too soon to tell, but we don’t think so. When we think about the current AI boost, we’re reminded of a time when robotics was being developed for medical procedures and surgeries.
There were questions about whether robots would eventually replace doctors. Robotics assisting in surgeries has been around since the late 1980s. It’s been continually advancing ever since. Even still, doctors and surgeons remain. There are voices in tech saying those jobs will someday become obsolete. The opinions of the wider world say no, we will always need them.
When it comes to AI in business, it’s likely we’ll see a similar turn of events. It’ll streamline certain jobs and tasks, but there will always be a need for humans. In all our imperfections, we are necessary for this world we’ve built together. In this post, we’ll explore how our place will mesh with the inclusion of AI in business.
What Is AI Technology?
Before we really dive into the new mainstream place AI has in business, we need to firmly understand what AI technology is. When you hear the term AI, you likely think of technology that can think for itself. That isn’t entirely incorrect, but it isn’t the full picture either.
AI, in simplistic terms, is a program that is fed functions and formulas. It then takes the process of those formulas and applies a supplied idea from a human being who is feeding the machine this information.
For example, you could feed an AI technology a formula to hypothesize what happens when two variables combine. Then, you give it information about what those two variables are: say two characters in a romantic novel. For writing AI, this combination of a formula and variables will result in a story about two people falling in love.
A fear people have about AI is whether or not it will eventually think for itself. This is hard to predict. Maybe it will. Technology has been advancing at an increasing pace, and that will only continue.
For now though, and for the foreseeable future, AI is dependent on the formulas that are fed to it. You can feed a formula that teaches AI to predict something further than the function, but only to a certain level. Not to mention, those formulas are still coming from humans.
Why Is AI Going Mainstream?
AI has been in the works for many years at this point. We’ve been hearing about it since the first time Iron Man hit theaters in 2008. The variety of AI Tony Stark has at home was impressive. The reality of AI has been building for many decades. An important question is, what has boosted it so far forward in recent years?
The COVID-19 pandemic was a major boost for AI technology to come sweeping in. In those few years when the world was quiet and focused on other subjects, AI was developed at an alarming rate. Now, we’re hearing about new AI technology that was built quietly during the major pandemic years.
The COVID-19 pandemic also pushed AI in business forward as businesses were finding new ways to operate. These days AI is blossoming as an asset for better production and freedom for employees. At Mr. Thrive, we’re excited about the possibilities AI has for podcast production and marketing operations.
3 Factors of AI Tech and Business
As AI integrates with standard business practices, it’ll be interesting to see how it all works out. In the marketing and podcast industry, we can already see several possible benefits of AI in business. These are also applicable across the spectrum of businesses.
These three factors are things we can expect from AI in the next few years, if not much sooner. Some of them are already entirely possible. Others will come along soon. All of them will help us cut costs and increase efficiency without taking jobs away from the people we need hard at work.
3. Employee Support
AI can be used to provide support for employees in a range of tasks and tools. One very popular AI product is copy-producing AI. This AI is a step beyond products like Grammarly, which are already a staple in many businesses. AI like copy production tech will give employees more time to focus on ideas while their AI helps with the production.
2. High-Quality Efficient Production
We’re still not quite to this point yet, but eventually, mainstream AI technology will be able to produce high-quality content. In the podcast world, we’re excited about the possibility of podcast production technology that can support podcast producers. Soon enough there will be AI that can produce the baseline of an episode or similar piece of content at a high-quality level.
1. Cost-Saving Methods
For any business, saving money is always a good thing. AI in business is able to help business owners and employees save time on tasks that can be automated. There will always be a need for people, from content creation to quality control. That said, using AI can trim down time spent on repetitive work.
AI In the Podcast Business
While Mr. Thrive Media is a multi-media marketing agency, our bread and butter is podcast production. We’ve been excitedly watching the podcast industry grow in recent years. The possibilities of AI for podcasts–including these four AI-powered platforms–is particularly exciting for our agency, our clients, and everyone looking to create a podcast.
4. Otter
Otter isn’t new technology in full, but it has remained a useful tool in all the years it’s been on the market. Otter offers AI-powered transcription services. You can record a meeting, phone call, or voice notes to yourself. Otter is an example of AI that is helpful for not just the podcast industry, but every industry and individual.
3. Podcastle
Podcastle is AI-based editing and production software. Podcastle has enhanced editing features for your audio. The AI kicks into gear with automation of the removal of background noise in a recording, as well as providing realistic voice skins. Podcastle also has features to allow you to cut audio and play it back along the way to create a smooth recording with ease.
2. Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is an AI hosting platform. A reliable hosting platform is necessary if you want to get your podcast on all the best streaming services. Buzzsprout helps you prepare for and publish on your preferred platforms. It optimizes your audio files, and can publish immediately or schedule for publishing.
1. Descript
Descript is another AI option for podcast transcription, editing, and publishing. Yes, we sound like a broken record with those tools by now. However, those are some of the key points of podcast production that AI can readily help with. They also keep AI strictly in the lane of support, instead of taking over jobs.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI In Business
There are so many questions out there about AI in business and AI in general. In the coming weeks, months, and years, there will be even more. As AI continues to progress and mesh with businesses, there is going to be so much we need to learn. Our answers to these frequently asked questions are just the tip of the iceberg of everything we can learn about AI in business.
What are the Benefits of AI In Business?
The benefits of AI in business include:
– Gains in efficiency and productivity for tasks that can be optimized through the use of AI.
– An improvement in the speed of business functions, which means a greater value for clients.
– An opportunity for new capabilities and business expansion because of greater efficiency and time available to grow.
– Improved customer service, with AI for customer service and an improvement in functions that directly benefit the customer experience.
– Improved monitoring of data, analytics, and potential issues, since AI can help with that monitoring on a regular basis.
– A reduction of human error in small tasks.
These are the benefits we can see so far. There will likely be more, but the base of AI benefits stems from these improvements.
What Problems Does AI Solve In Business?
The variety of problems AI solves for businesses includes:
– Customer support: AI with chatbots and analysis of customer experience means greater response time for customers. It also gives teams the ability to consistently learn from customer interactions.
– Demand forecasting: there will be improved efficiency in the world of forecasting in business. It can be done these days with data analysis and market trends, AI can make those processes more efficient.
– Fraud: from identity theft to payment fraud, having AI on the case can help you keep a sharp eye on potential fraudulent situations. It can also catch fraud faster than human audits.
Those are just a few of the potential problems AI can solve in business. Overall, AI can make businesses more efficient, productive, and able to grow.
What are the Four Types of AI?
The four main types of AI machines are:
– Reactive machines
– Limited memory machines
– Theory of mind machines
– Self-aware AI
There are still ongoing discoveries and AI technology that doesn’t fit fully in any of these four categories. However, most AI on the market today can be grouped into one of these four categories with substantial accuracy.
What Companies are Currently Working on AI?
Some of the companies to keep an eye on in the AI world are:
– SAP SE
– Rockwell Automation, Inc.
– Baidu, Inc.
– Micron Technology, Inc.
– General Electric Company
– Intel Corporation
– Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
– International Business Machines Corporation
– Cisco Systems, Inc.
– Oracle Corporation
– Meta Platforms, Inc.
– Google
– Amazon
– Microsoft
– IBM
– Intuitive Surgical
Of course, that’s barely scratching the surface. These days AI technology is relatively accessible to businesses and entrepreneurs. Anyone with the tech and know-how can create an AI system. As that happens, this list will grow at an astronomical rate.
AI Technology In Business: Think A’Bot Your Business and Future
Here at Mr. Thrive Media, we’re looking forward to integrating AI in business to see where it can take us. For now, our team of podcast producers, virtual assistants, and marketing partners are doing all the work on a human level. If you’re looking for marketing and podcast services done by humans with AI levels of accuracy, reach out today.