Have you ever thought why the world of business is evolving so rapidly?
One of the main driving forces behind this transformation is the integration of Artifical Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into business operations. These tool are used in many fields of the business, from data collection and analysis, supply chain management to customer service. It does not only allows business to improve and develop but also save costs in a long run and reduce errors.
Which, and how, business operations are infuenced by AI and ML?
Market Research and Competitive Analysis. These tools can help your business to quicker, more effective benchmark yourselfs against competitors. Moreover, according to Pierce Denning, thanks to ML alghoritms businesses can gather data, detect patterns and trends about eg. customer behaviour and market trends from wide variety of sources such as financial documents (sales records, balance sheet), social media platforms or customers feedbacks. Thanks to this business can save time and costs (as the labour-intesive tasks like data analysis are done by AI) that can be used for core operations, and yet, have the data in which areas business excel and fall short comparing to competitors, which gives opportunity for improvement. However, as Denning claimed, it is important to be careful while collecting customer data based on AI and ML findings to avoid running afoul of regulations eg. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I think that Denning made an amazing point that AI can take over data analysis, however, in my opinion, it should be very carefully monitored by employees as to what extend can we trust AI to collect appropriate, true, up to date, objective data? One word in a question can change the whole sense of the task given to AI, and depending how the question is structured it may give us biased data.
Supply Chain Optimization. According to Chat GPT, ML can put supply chain management on a different level. More accurate prediction about demand, optimization of inventory levels and suggestion of the most suitable routs for transport can minimalize delays, reduce costs and ensure that producs are available when needed. Thanks to this, business may be able to implement lean production as well as just in time (JIT) stock control. It is a great way into becoming more sustainable and it seems as AI and ML are a game changer when it comes to supply chain optimization. However, ML and AI are just bots, not humans, and as they can analyse data more effectively and efficently, they do not fully understand emotions (sometimes emotions can lead to controverial events) eg. they may miss an important event that is very emotionally driven which will lead to higher demand of a specific product and if none of employees check it, then the business may lose opportunity for growth, as the AI and ML did not take into consideration this event while predicting product demand.
Improved customer service. As AI can be seen in almost every sector of business, it can be also found in customer service sector. You have probably came across virtual assistant even on your phone. Well, businesses implement virtual assistants and chatbots even in their services. As Denning said, they are powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP). It plays a huge role in B2C sectors. Businesses can provide 24/7 support for customers. They do not also answer questions but also may guide during the buying process, therefore it enriches the customer experience which is crucial in businesses brand image. Moreover, AI allows companies to analyse customer preferences, intrests, needs and behaviours in order to recommend them more appropriate products. However, here rises a question, to what extend is it moral and ethical to collect so much private data from all users? In some cases, customers accpet the regulations and agree to provide these data but then how much of our life is actually private. Also, should businesses inform customers that a bot is chatting with them? Some people may be sceptical to the idea of asking a bot or virtual assistant for help.
In conclusion, AI and ML has greatly impacted business operation. It allows businesses to save time and costs that can be used for development of core activities. Moreover, it can analyse more data and search for patters that humans may miss. However, there are many challanges and moral dillemas when it comes to this topic. To what extend can businesses trust AI and ML to provide reliable, not biased and accurate data when developing and changing business operations? In my opining, these tools greatly help businesses to grow and save costs, however, at this stage of AI and ML development, they should be still monitored by humans.
Sources used- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-artificial-intelligence-business-operations-pierce-denning-bs and Chat GPT
some prompts used in Chat GPT- ” please tell me more about personalization and Customer Experience when it comes to AI and ML in business operations”, “Please tell me more about Market Research and Competitive Analysis when it comes to AI and ML in business operations”, “blog post ideas about new tech trends in business”, “current trends in technology” “give me an idea for a blog post about new trends in tech industry”