Unlocking potential: AI’s role in business

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time online—whether it’s for work, entertainment, or staying informed—you’ve probably noticed how AI is changing the way we interact with digital platforms. 

From finding what you need with a quick search to improving your writing or refining your ideas, AI has seamlessly integrated into our daily routines, whether we realise it or not.

As of 2019, nearly half of South African companies had already embraced AI, using it to implement customer service chatbots and even automated translations.

With AI enhancing productivity across different industries, more and more business owners are exploring its potential. 

Join me as I explore the best ways businesses can leverage AI to boost their productivity. 

The benefits of using AI in your business

The NSBC 2023/2024 National Small Business survey reports that a lack of funding and poor cash flow are significant obstacles for businesses, with 31% admitting to failing to market their products or services effectively. 

So, if you don’t have financial resources to market your business, what other options do you have? 

Leveraging AI as a cost-free tool can aid in various aspects.

Think of AI as your virtual assistant: it can provide feedback on your business plans, brainstorm ideas for marketing campaigns and social media posts, automate tasks like scheduling and invoicing, and even analyse data to help you make smarter decisions.

According to HubSpot’s State of Artificial Intelligence report, the top benefit of integrating AI into marketing is saving time. 

Benefits like these came in handy when we created the S’market, an online marketplace featuring Bob, an AI assistant that helps consumers discover trusted, local online stores in one place.

Matt Jenje (Senior Full-Stack Engineer) and Patrick Heinen (Head of Product Engineering), who spearheaded the project, shared that AI represents an exciting and emerging field where every company explores solid use cases. At SnapScan, we are no exception to this trend.

“We knew we needed a way to help consumers search for stores that were relevant to them, but traditional search just wasn’t going to cut it to meet our goal: helping consumers connect with stores they might not have heard of before,” says Matt. 

“If you don’t know the store exists, how can you search for it? That’s where AI comes in. We can tell Bob everything he needs to know about the different stores and then pick up from a user’s search for what store fits their needs best. He has the added benefit of being able to reply in multiple languages so that all our users feel represented.”

Their innovative approach highlights how AI can change and improve how people interact with the S’market platform.

Criteria for selecting AI technologies

Choosing the right AI tools for your business or project can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to the field or have limited resources. 

Businesses can consider many things, such as key benefits, transparent pricing, the technology’s scalability, and ease of integration into their current workspaces or workflows. 

For the S’market, Matt and Patrick looked at three different criteria before they made their decision: 

1. Cost
2. Ease of use
3. Maturity 

“After looking into it, the pricing models were all very similar, so we decided to drop that criteria and focus on ease of use and maturity. We looked at a few different options for our use case, but at the end of the day, OpenAI won with their assistant API,” Matt shared. 

Launched last year, OpenAI’s assistant API significantly reduced the training workload that would have otherwise fallen on the team. Given its advanced maturity in the field and the need for a rapid and efficient implementation for S’market, OpenAI seemed like the best solution. 

For our S’market team, using AI has been a valuable learning experience. It has allowed them to engage with cutting-edge technologies, which is always exciting. 

“Having an understanding of AI has shaped our decision-making processes in the best possible way and made us really excited for the future. We imagine Bob could one day be a little personal shopper who helps our users make good buying decisions. We’re really excited about the opportunities this technology will bring,” says Matt.

Challenges and lessons learned

While AI is great, it has its challenges. 

According to ENSight, AI challenges in South Africa include concerns about data privacy, cyberattacks, unemployment risks, limited awareness, misuse potential, and the need for accountability.

Aside from those glaring red flags, there’s always the risk that it might initially cause some teething problems. 

This was the same for the S’market team.

Their primary challenge was preventing Bob from providing inaccurate information. During initial iterations, Bob would “lie” confidently, raising concerns about potential trust issues amongst our users.

“Eventually, we got Bob to give disclaimers when he wasn’t 100% confident, but learning how to get him to do that was a definite challenge,” shared Matt. “We also had problems with the reliability of the API, where sometimes the queries took much longer than we expected. Luckily for this problem, we just had to wait, and the stability of the API improved with constant updates from OpenAI.”

As a team, they confronted these challenges openly and directly. Recognising they were on the cutting edge, they were prepared for uncertainties and committed to resolving any issues.

Where to next?

While AI offers remarkable benefits, businesses should be prepared for initial challenges like ensuring accuracy and reliability.

Remember, there are always pros and cons with these tools. Use AI to help, not take over your tasks or projects entirely. After all, business is about connecting with people. Lose that connection, and you lose those crucial touchpoints.

And for those that want to take on more complex projects with the help of AI? Matt and Patrick’s approach shares a few lessons: patience, adaptability, and proactive problem-solving are key when integrating advanced tech like AI into business. 

These skills will help you navigate challenges and maximise AI’s potential benefits.