By Kristen Seymour
Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been a part of our vernacular thanks to science fiction. Today, it’s also part of our day-to-day lives—especially in business where it can help companies save valuable time and energy. The right AI tools can help organizations optimize operations, improve decision-making, enhance team performance, and perform other useful tasks.
But what tools are the best to use? And perhaps more importantly, how do they work to help businesses scale and increase their bottom line? Keep reading to discover what AI tools are, why businesses are embracing them, and some of the top tools you may want to consider to help your business succeed.
What are AI tools?
To optimize your company’s performance, it’s essential to have the right tools. With a rapidly expanding collection of AI-powered tools available, it’s important to understand AI and stay up to date on the latest trends. AI is a type of programming that is not bound to the same fixed rules, filters, and exceptions that traditional computers are. Instead, AI helps computer systems not only analyze massive amounts of data but also learn from experience and change behavior accordingly—a process called machine learning. One example: If you use Gmail, you can enable an AI tool called Smart Reply, which recognizes your email style and creates pre-written replies based on your previous responses.
Companies employ AI in business in three main ways, according to Thomas H. Davenport and Rajeev Ronanki, writing for the Harvard Business Review:
- Robotic process automation
- Cognitive insight
- Cognitive engagement
Robotic process automation (RPA) is the most common example. It allows bots to mimic human-computer interactions to carry out rote tasks. For example, RPA can automatically replace lost credit or ATM cards and update a customer’s address in a file based on data obtained via email or a call center interaction. Many companies may be able to use RPA to do jobs they would normally outsource.
Cognitive insight detects patterns in massive amounts of data, using algorithms to interpret what those patterns mean. Companies use this technology to predict what a customer is likely to buy or automate the targeting of digital ads to your personal preferences. They also use it to detect credit or insurance fraud in real time. These analyses are highly detailed and data-intensive. Moreover, as AI technology obtains more data, predictions improve.
Cognitive engagement involves the use of chatbots, intelligent agents, and machine learning to engage with customers or employees. Although most of us are probably familiar with this technology, it’s the least common type of AI used in business—and for good reason. Cognitive engagement is relatively new, and a business risks increasing a user’s frustration if a chatbot is unable to answer questions.
Businesses are embracing AI
Regardless of which type of AI tool a business uses, the goals are typically similar: to increase the speed, scale, and accuracy of certain tasks. However, it’s important to note that while AI is intelligent, it can’t replicate certain human skills and traits, such as empathy, creativity, and strategy.
That said, businesses are taking advantage of what AI can do. According to McKinsey’s 2022 Global Survey on AI, the adoption of AI is increasing significantly, with 2.5 times more businesses adopting it in 2022 compared to 2017. And these businesses, especially the AI high performers (aka companies leading the AI charge) are putting their budget behind their AI efforts, with the survey finding:
- More than half (52 percent) of respondents at organizations using AI reported they allocated more than 5 percent of their digital budget to AI (compared to 40 percent of organizations in 2017).
- Respondents who were AI high performers were close to eight times more likely to say their organizations allotted at least 20 percent of their digital technology budget toward AI-related technologies.
- Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of survey respondents expected their organizations to increase their investment in AI over the next three years.
The McKinsey survey isn’t the only insight we have into the rise of AI in business. According to Charlotte Burrows, the Equal Employment Opportunities Chair, more than 80 percent of employers use AI in various ways within their work and employment decision-making.
Best AI tools for business
You probably already use a variety of digital tools to boost your business. But to ensure your company is keeping up with the competition, it’s important to understand the AI tools on the market, what they do, and how they may benefit your business. Once you identify the areas in which your company can use AI assistance, you’ll likely find an option to suit your needs below.
Even if you haven’t kept up on recent advances in AI technology, you’ve probably heard the news of ChatGPT’s launch by OpenAI in November 2022. From content creation to recruiting and customer service, this free, generative dialogue AI application has the potential to be useful in nearly any industry for all kinds of businesses. The basic version is free. Users can pay a monthly fee for the premium version, which offers more consistent access, faster responses, and priority access to new features.
Another useful option for content creation, Jasper is an intuitive writing tool that can generate all kinds of copy (such as emails, blog posts, social media, and product descriptions) with limited instruction. In addition to suggesting a writing tone (such as “casual”), you can drop your writing samples into Jasper to help it create new content in your personal style. Jasper offers a range of subscription plans based on usage and feature needs. Some people report a steep learning curve, so you may need a bit of time to get up to speed.
This online writing assistant offers an AI-powered desktop app to help users quickly compose clear, error-free copy whether they’re working in a document, composing an email, or writing a social media post. It doesn’t only catch grammar and spelling errors but can also make suggestions to ensure content hits the right tone and communicates ideas effectively. The basic assistant is free, and users can opt for a yearly subscription for advanced features such as tone adjustment and plagiarism detection.
This image tool incorporates AI art generation, which you may have seen in the form of colorful reimaginings of your friends’ selfies on social media. In addition to using many of the standard editing elements you’d find in other image editing apps, Lensa AI uses compiled online art to give visual content an AI makeover. Users can pay a one-time fee for a specific number of unique avatars or opt for an annual subscription for unlimited avatars. And while those selfies may be the example we’ve seen most frequently, the tool can also edit product or service photos at a near-professional level for a low fee.
This accounting software offers tools for small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers to automate basic accounting tasks and forecast cash flow. It can capture data (such as bills and receipts) automatically by pairing with Hubdoc. Xero offers a range of subscription plans depending on your needs.
Built to improve the customer service experience, Zendesk is a cloud-based help-desk management solution that allows companies to customize the types of experiences they provide their customers. Features like live chat, a customizable front-end portal, and the ability to integrate with applications like Salesforce and Google Analytics make it a popular pick. Zendesk offers subscription plans that vary in price and features.
Using AI for email marketing, rasa.io aggregates, curates, and personalizes your website and blog content to help you send industry-relevant, individualized newsletters to community members or subscribers on your email list. It helps companies grow their customer relationships through increased reader engagement. With three subscription plans, rasa.io can suit businesses with small, medium, or large contact lists.
Through conversational AI, Drift aims to help companies engage in personalized conversations to build trust and grow revenue. The company offers real-time chat, video, voice, and email AI products and boasts use cases in marketing, sales, and service within various industries. Drift offers three subscription plans to suit businesses with varying needs.
Conclusion
AI can’t solve every problem your business encounters, but these intelligent tools can speed up, scale, or improve the accuracy of many of the tasks you and your team encounter daily — which means you can serve your customers better and improve your bottom line.