With AI advancing quickly, more companies are looking at it as a way to improve their business. AI is seen as a major time-saver, whether that means creating a social media content calendar or using bots to handle tasks in hopes of replacing employees. The possibilities seem endless, and almost every business is now using AI in some form.
However, nearly 85% of AI models fail. How does that happen? Once you look into how AI works, it becomes easier to understand why it is not the magic cure-all solution many people expect it to be.
Why AI Is Hurting Your Business
AI is only as effective as the data and instructions behind it. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is treating AI like a human. In reality, AI needs to be approached more like software programming. With people, you can leave out details because they understand context and common sense. AI does not work that way. You need to account for every possible situation that it may encounter.
For example, imagine you want AI to send emails to a subsection of your email list. A business owner might say, “Send an email to my current clients about a recent product update.” While that sounds simple, there are several missing steps. AI needs to know who qualifies as a current client, what the email should say, whether the message should include the client’s first name or company name, and what should happen if that information is missing. There are far more variables involved than simply giving AI a quick command and expecting perfect results.
The second major issue is data quality. The better the data you provide, the better the results AI can produce. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have organized data. In one survey, 91% of people said poor data quality negatively affected their performance, yet only 23% said data quality was an organizational priority. That is concerning because most businesses recognize the problem but are unwilling to put in the work to fix it.
The truth is that organizing data is time-consuming and not very exciting. Many businesses still rely on spreadsheets to manage important information because “it has worked so far.” However, systems sometimes need to evolve if a business wants to grow. When your data is scattered across spreadsheets, inboxes, and disconnected systems, AI receives incomplete information, making it difficult to deliver reliable results.
How To Solve These Issues
The first step toward using AI effectively is improving your data organization. Businesses need one centralized place for data, contacts, financials, campaigns, and lists. Important information should not be buried in spreadsheets or lost in email chains. Having a single source of data gives AI a much stronger foundation to work from and increases the chances of useful results.
The next step is simplifying your AI tasks. Instead of asking AI to handle an entire eight-step process, start smaller. Going back to the email example, rather than asking AI to build the list and write the email from scratch, provide the email list along with an email template. This allows AI to focus on writing and sending emails instead of figuring out every step of the process. Fewer variables usually lead to fewer mistakes.
Before running any AI campaigns, it helps to ask the AI to repeat the commands and steps it will take to produce the final output. You should also have it send you a copy of the final product before anything is put into motion. This serves as a final safety check to ensure the AI bot is doing exactly what you intended and allows you to review an example of the content that will be sent to the user.
It is important to remember that not everything needs to be automated immediately. Many businesses rush to adopt AI to save time and increase efficiency. However, trying to implement too much too quickly without understanding how to use AI properly often creates more work. Businesses end up rewriting prompts, fixing errors, or redoing tasks entirely. Taking smaller steps and building better prompts over time will lead to better long-term results.
AI and the Future of Business
AI will absolutely play a major role in the future of business. However, in its current state, it needs to be implemented carefully and strategically to avoid unnecessary headaches. Organizing your data and creating clear, detailed prompts are some of the best ways to start using AI effectively.
The smartest way to view AI is not as a replacement for employees, but as a tool that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively.
Dennis Riley is the founder of Goals To Results, a team that works with clients to centralize their data, improve organization, and streamline business processes. They help businesses implement AI and automation strategies that save time and improve overall efficiency.
Photo courtesy Mohamed Nohassi for Unsplash+
