In the 1980s, many people thought that we would have flying cars by the dawn of the 21st century. With the development of incredibly advanced technology, we have developed a system far different than a flying car, but arguably having a bigger impact. Artificial intelligence.
AI’s ability to take the data that it’s given and learn from it, allows it to improve its knowledge and evolve into a considerably valuable resource. With this technology at our fingertips, companies and individuals all over the world are utilizing AI.
Large corporations such as Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, and many more are currently hiring teams of AI specialists to closely work with AI and utilize it in different ways from data analysis, marketing, and generating new ideas.
We know that big corporations are using AI heavily, but what about small businesses? How has the influence of AI affected their businesses and are they leveraging AI as much as larger companies are? The answer might surprise you, because in reality, there isn’t a defined answer. The use of AI in small businesses depends on the place and the owner behind it. At the beginning of this journey, I thought that there would be a greater amount of small businesses utilizing AI in their daily operations. I was shocked to find out that three out of the four places I interviewed, barely used AI at all.
Within Johnston, small businesses such as Purple Poppy Boutique, Styled by JJ Boutique, and Charlie Rae’s have acknowledged that they rarely use AI for any aspect of their business. Although these stores recognize the benefits of what AI can accomplish, they unanimously believe that AI isn’t a necessity to their business and offer a unique aspect to consider.
“I still wanna focus on what my thoughts are. I think they can give you an idea, but we need to use our brain and keep it smart and sharp. So I don’t wanna rely on that [AI] and [would rather] rely on what my own thoughts are. We’ve really got to keep our brains sharp. That’s why I went back to work after staying home. I still have a good brain. I still have great energy. I need to use it,” Nancy Brown said, owner of Charlie Rae’s.
As opposed to using AI to generate content, Brown believes that manually solving the challenges presented by managing her business, stimulates her creativity and even helps her maintain a positive mental health.
“I love to decorate. I love to put things together. I love to use my creativity and that’s what it’s all about. More than anything, [the business is] more for me,” Brown said.
There’s one crucial aspect of running a small business that these three shops value above all else. This is also a main reason behind their skepticism towards using AI. Human connection.
“It’s very easy to shop on Amazon. To click on your computer. It’s easy to do online ordering. But the thing is, there’s still customers that want to experience the shopping face to face and have an experience when they shop. So when they come in here, they want to experience the store. They want to experience the warmth. They want to experience getting to know who the owner is,” Brown said.
From the ambience of the store, to the arrangement of the merchandise, or even the greeting at the door, these businesses strive to maintain in-person connection. They value human connection as the most important thing to uphold and do not believe that AI can achieve it with the kind of programming it offers.
“AI’s not going to greet the customers when they come in the door and know your customers and that’s why I like running my business,” Paula Bierle said, owner of Purple Poppy Boutique in Johnston.
After coming to believe that my search for a small business who utilizes AI was a hopeless endeavor, I finally found a brilliant business woman who immerses herself in the world of AI on a daily basis. DeAnn Wroten. The owner of Prowl Boutique, an online women’s shop. Wroten’s business typically markets women’s clothing, jewelry, and accessories which she sells from her home as well as online and attends small business events. With her business being mostly online, Wroten uses AI like ChatGPT for help writing social media posts, generating sale and promotion ideas, making checklists, writing modeling contracts, marketing for fashion shows, and creating her website.
“I use it to generate different ideas for different kinds of sales, like if I’m looking for a sale to get some old stuff out the door. I might ask it to provide some different things for days of the week or different holidays or months. Like last summer, I did 12 days of Christmas in July and it produced an amazing series for me. It was just a fun thing and I’ve done Christmas in July since I started,” Wroten said.
Since Prowl Boutique is owned and operated by Wroten herself, she is responsible for creating and maintaining all aspects of the business without a team of employees to help manage the workload. Wroten also has a full time job that requires her attention in addition to running her business on the side, so ChatGPT also acts as a helpful brainstorming partner.
“[AI has thought of] different things that I never would have thought of. I have different events that I host and AI has come up with different things for me that have been things that I never would have come up with on my own. It’s a starting point and then I build on it,” Wroten said.
Not only does AI act as Wroten’s personal assistant, but offers tangible benefits that allows her to save time and money, two important things that can make or break a growing business. With the use of ChatGPT, Wroten states she doesn’t need to spend as much time and money to handle necessary legal work.
“I did have it generate some ideas for a contract for my modeling contract. I wanted some ideas of what to include in the contract because I wanted a starting point so I wasn’t spending a ton of time with the lawyer. Then, I wasn’t going to have to spend as much money for them to draft it and then pay them for all of that,” Wroten said.
As AI continues to develop and advance, it’s possible that it’ll be integrated into daily life even more than it currently is. But with new advancements also comes high skepticism about what the future looks like and fear of AI’s potential. The question remains; should we fear AI?
“People think it is taking over. It’s replacing people’s jobs. I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s making us more efficient and it’s letting us focus on the things that we don’t have that we might not have had time for before. I think it’s helping us. I think people are also afraid of it if they’re not familiar with it. It is ok to try it out. Just be careful of what you’re putting in there,” Wroten said.
