An Expert Overview of the Effects of AI Tools on Startups

Work trends in the 21st century? Talk about a roller-coaster ride. 

In the last few years alone, we’ve witnessed the e-commerce revolution, the invention of the four-day workweek, the fast-and-furious shift to remote work and more. 

Now, AI tools have officially taken the world of work by storm. New strides in artificial intelligence, such as the debut of ChatGPT in late 2022, have evolved the landscape of work yet again. 

As you adopt AI into your business strategy, you may benefit from getting a full understanding of AI tools like ChatGPT first. Here I’ve put together key takeaways I’ve found useful in navigating the new frontier of AI for the workplace. We’ll look at how startups can leverage ChatGPT and other tools, minimize the potential risks and refocus manpower on specialized areas, such as innovation. 

The Benefits of AI Tools for Emerging Startups

Startups with small teams can benefit from taking advantage of AI tools like ChatGPT to save resources and revamp the way they communicate and collaborate.  

ChatGPT is especially spooky when it comes to producing humanlike responses. (If you haven’t yet already, check it out. You’ll see what I mean.) As you can imagine, AI-generated content unlocks the potential to automate a wide range of tedious and time-consuming tasks. For example, startups can use ChatGPT to:

• Streamline 24/7 customer service

• Auto-generate content for different areas (marketing, onboarding)

• Personalize user experiences

• Brainstorm new business ideas

• Analyze and forecast data

• Conduct market research

• Make team workflows more efficient 

In turn, automating these tasks frees up valuable time for team members, which can increase productivity overall and lead to reduced costs. And in today’s day and age, saving resources is essential for startups to achieve a competitive edge. 

The Risks of AI Tools for Emerging Startups

While AI tools can bring numerous benefits, they also come with potential risks. It’s important that you’re not blindly adopting AI, or your brand reputation may suffer in the long run. 

1. Be Aware of Ethical Concerns

To start, AI tools like ChatGPT put several ethical dilemmas into the spotlight. While AI may be right for low-hanging fruit actions (such as creating internal onboarding copy or providing 24/7 chatbot responses), more complex tasks should be handled by a human. 

At TECLA, for example, we utilize AI-powered technology to match companies with top tech talent in Latin America. Yet, these results are always curated by our human talent specialists, who add critical value to this matching process. In this way, the use of AI should always align with your team’s expertise and company values. 

Misinformation

If you’re keen on automating via AI, you should also be aware of its quality problems. In recent months, for example, we’ve seen AI tools create content that’s:

• Inaccurate (i.e. misinformation)

• Harmful or biased

• Lacking citations and sources

Already there are reports of ChatGPT writing highly convincing, false articles that include fake quotes and incorrect responses. Startups should proceed with caution to ensure that these humanlike language models aren’t generating misinformation. 

Intellectual Property

In addition, AI-generated content is muddying the waters of intellectual property. Who owns AI-written content? Recently, artists have filed a lawsuit against AI-generated art tools for violating copyright, stating that these algorithms scraped their artistic work from the web. 

Sensitive Data

Startups should also be cautious about what information they share with AI tools. Team members could accidentally reveal sensitive company information to an AI tool while utilizing its features. Microsoft has already warned employees about this when using ChatGPT. 

2. Choose Your AI Tools Wisely

What’s more, not all AI is created equal. While ChatGPT is one of the most popular AI-driven tools today, with about 5 million visits daily, it’s certainly not the only one. 

Your company should research which AI tools will be useful and practical for your needs. Perhaps your teams could benefit from using Textio to better wordsmith open job descriptions, or Fireflies for automatic note-taking during meetings. 

There’s a wealth of AI-powered tools today, so check them out before committing. The market is also highly dynamic, so you’ll want to be on the lookout for new tools coming onto the scene as well.

3. Replace Specific Tasks, Not Jobs

Some naysayers are already condemning AI for stealing jobs. Yet, AI tools like ChatGPT are hardly perfect and still churn out inaccurate and sometimes nonsensical results. It’s unlikely to take over human jobs anytime soon – and may even create job growth over time. 

Ultimately, I don’t think of AI as human versus machine. Instead, I’m convinced that AI enhances, not replaces humans. In practice, this means that AI may take over low-level tasks, but not entire jobs. For example, your marketing team isn’t going to be swapped out by AI tools for content writing and SEO. Instead, these professionals can more effectively do their jobs by utilizing these tools. 

In addition, the potential for AI to fuel innovation is vast, and it may not only transform existing industries but also pave the way for the emergence of new ones. As a result, there’s a possibility of generating more employment opportunities in new areas.

AI and the Future of Work

AI is already becoming mainstream across different industries, not just tech. According to studies, 35% of companies actively use AI in daily operations. Not to mention that AI growth has spiked to 270% in the past four years.

It’s clear that the integration of AI tools into the workplace isn’t a passing trend, but rather a significant shift in the way we work. Like the remote work revolution, companies can either get onboard and reap the benefits – or stay behind their peers and lose out on the competitive edge.

Getting Started With AI Tools for Startups

As AI technology continues to evolve, startups must adapt to stay competitive in the market. If you’re ready to get started with AI tools, here are a few first steps:

• Create an AI-specific strategy. Make a plan before you start adopting AI left and right. Do your homework on the right AI tools and get it approved by all your startup’s stakeholders. 

• Leverage AI developers for your business. You may need experts to help your startup navigate AI in your products and business processes. Hire elite AI specialists to shepherd your company through these changes. 

• Scale up AI usage and track results. Finally, you should track results with AI, so that you can better implement it into the future. With this knowledge, you can more effectively scale up usage.

Keep in mind that every startup’s AI strategy will be unique to their company values and KPIs. Don’t just follow the crowd – determine what’s best for your teams.

The Future of Work Is AI-Powered

It’s easy to lose your bearings in the ever-changing work landscape today. Since AI is predicted to play an even larger role in the workplace, startups must prepare to harness this technology ASAP. 

My hope is that this overview of AI will help your company responsibly embrace the potential of tools like ChatGPT, while minimizing the potential risks. After all, there’s no doubt that the future of work is AI-powered!
AI is here to stay, which is why your company will need high-quality AI developers in the long term. Learn more about hiring top AI developers via TECLA!