Small business owners across the country are embracing AI at a rapid pace, drawn by promises of efficiency, cost savings, and competitive advantage. But the rush to adopt AI before you fully understand it could cost your business.
On this episode of Business Trends Today, Bill Harper, founder and CEO of BrandBossHQ, joins us to discuss what he’s seeing unfold in the AI space today, and it’s not all positive news.
The playing field has changed
There is no question that AI has delivered real benefits to small business owners. Tasks that once required expensive agencies or large in-house teams are now accessible to anyone with a laptop and an internet connection.
Harper points to creative production as one of the clearest examples. A small boutique retailer can now produce marketing visuals and content that rivals what a global brand puts out, without the global brand budget.
“AI has essentially given everybody a two-billion-color crayon box that they can all use the exact same way,” Harper said.
The problem with getting an answer
When a business owner types a question into ChatGPT or any other AI platform, the tool responds quickly and confidently. Harper warns business owners not to confuse speed and confidence with authority.
Every major AI platform draws from a shared pool of data, Harper says. That means a small business owner and every one of their competitors can ask the same question and get the same answer.
“When all of the agents are pulling from the same data set, they’re trying to come to the same answer. And that’s the very opposite of differentiation, which is what you need to stand out in the category,” Harper said.
Businesses that feed AI a generic prompt get a generic result. Without an experienced strategist shaping the inputs and evaluating the outputs, those businesses are not gaining an edge. They are blending in.
Cutting the wrong people
Some businesses have responded to AI’s rise by reducing or eliminating their marketing and communications teams. Harper calls that a serious mistake.
What AI can do well is execute, draft, design, organize and summarize, Harper says. But what it cannot do is understand what makes a specific business different, who its customers are, or what message will actually move them to act.
“AI is the great execution tool, but you’ve got to have someone experienced enough to actually guide it, or you wind up either looking just like everybody else, sounding just like everybody else,” Harper said.
AI won’t tell you when you are wrong
One of the biggest criticisms of AI is that it is designed to be agreeable. Often, they will agree with the user, regardless of whether the idea they are responding to is actually sound.
That can create a false sense of confidence, Harper cautions. A business owner can walk away from an AI session feeling validated and informed while holding a strategy that will not work.
“You’re getting a false positive back from a machine that’s designed to say, Jim, that was a great question,” Harper said.
To prevent this, Harper says Business owners need to have a strategic check on their AI output, otherwise they are essentially driving without a map.
What smart businesses are doing differently
Businesses that treat AI as a starting point and apply experienced human checks to what comes out are the ones that are pulling ahead, Harper says. But those that treat AI outputs as finished answers are heading into what Harper describes as a cul-de-sac of underperformance.
The businesses positioned to win are not the ones using AI the most. They are the ones using it the most deliberately.
"This is both an opportunity and a caution all at the exact same moment." – Bill Harper
Business owners shouldn’t be afraid to use AI, Harper says, but they need to proceed with caution. That requires a human being who knows your business, your customers, and what sets you apart from your competition.
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