Technology is at the heart of our accelerating evolution, and we are all now beginning to recognize that AI is the next generation of advancement.
The world around us is evolving faster and faster thanks to technological advancements. The ground beneath our feet is moving, literally. Impressive human developments like the Three Gorges Dam in China have the potential to slow the planet’s rotation, and even the Earth’s magnetic poles are shifting. Technology is at the heart of our accelerating evolution, and we are all now beginning to recognize that AI is the next generation of advancement that will revolutionize our world and usher in a transformed work environment.
What will the world be like in 30-40 years, when AI runs most things? This is probably better answered by fortune tellers and movie makers. There is a lot of uncertainty about the impending future, but it’s clear that the next three to 10 years will give humans the ability to work with AI as a collaborative partner or highly productive employee.
You’ve likely worked with tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude as a writing assistant or a research tool. We have already started seeing the emergence of fully automated AI chatbots, and they are quickly becoming common on websites. It won’t be long before we see fully automated customer service tools answering questions over every channel of communication: phone, text, email, website chat and even social media.
The next two to five years will bring dramatic changes for customer service, marketing, legal, accounting, medical and more. This will create unprecedented challenges for the workers who get displaced with automated AI tools. But it will be game-changing for all businesses. The coming AI revolution is going to create significant cost-saving opportunities for companies by replacing employees and contractors with low-cost AI that will offer better performance, 24 hours a day, seven days a week (without vacation or sick days).
The concept of AI being there to help us is nice, but there are questions about how all of this AI automation will be monitored and managed. For example, if AI is handling customer service, how does a company manage it to ensure quality control and a great experience for customers?
It will be a few years before AI is ready to completely handle all customer inquiries, but it can already address the majority of issues. This will give businesses the ability to focus more time and money on their operations for greater success. However, there will be times when a customer wants to speak with a human, and there will be questions that AI simply doesn’t know how to answer.
Businesses need a way to track and monitor AI customer conversations, and companies will still need customer service agents to help with complex or unique customer needs. The platforms offering these services need to have an interface that presents all customer communication so the toughest issues can be personally handled by humans.
The good news is there are already technologies that offer these AI-automated customer service features at a low cost.
AI automated services seem amazing, but they come at a price. And with risks. There are tremendous social, economic and even tax implications. What happens when customer service, marketing, legal, accounting, delivery/driving, etc., all get completely displaced? The #1 and #2 largest employers in the US are truck drivers and taxi drivers. But what happens when all taxi and truck drivers get replaced with AI? This won’t be a typical economic downturn, where people have to find a job with another company. For the first time, there will be no other jobs available in their field, and people will see their entire line of work become obsolete (and their work experience will have little value).
Goldman Sachs and other think tanks are predicting that 2/3 of all US jobs could be impacted by AI, and up to half of those (over 30 percent of all US jobs) will be replaced by AI. Even the monoliths of our society — the governments themselves — will have to reimage their architecture. All governments employ major labor forces at a very high cost to taxpayers and derive much of their revenue from company payroll taxes and employee income taxes. How will a government afford the expense of programs like schools, police and roads when a large portion of the population is permanently unemployed?
The long-term implications of the AI revolution are complicated and potentially scary.
In the more immediate future, there are also other important concerns that need to be addressed. Everyone has heard about the hallucinogenic effects of psychedelics, but generative AI tools have their own hallucination problems. In an AI’s effort to help society and give quality answers with depth, sometimes it will make up an answer. It’s not commonly understood, but AI hallucinations are a serious issue.
Of course, there are also the more recognized concerns. Can computers truly become self-aware, like we see in the movies? Will AI try to take over the world? These are legitimate questions, with no good answers.
The concept of robots replacing many employees is tough to digest, and we need a better understanding of how this will evolve. If you are worried about how AI could impact you and your job, you should be paying attention. AI will affect most jobs in some way. But we don’t need to be afraid, just mindful (and careful).
AI will help reduce costs for businesses and improve the experience for customers. It will be smart, easy to use and powerful. Compellingly, it will offer the greatest benefit to small and mid-sized businesses. AI will offer all businesses improved productivity, but it will give something additional to SMBs by leveling the playing field with the chance to look and feel like a large corporation. Affordable AI tools with 24-hour customer service agents, smarter marketing and advanced business insights are available for your business now.
AI will bring truly competitive opportunities to the companies that are early adopters. If you are a business leader, seek out technologies that can help you increase sales, enhance your customers’ experience, offer advice on how to improve operations and save you money.
Don’t be concerned; take this chance to get ahead of your competitors with AI technology that all companies will adopt over the next five to 10 years. Look for options that can create value for you, your company and your employees, while saving you money. Embrace this technology; this is exciting.
Published by: Chris Boudreau
