Nikolaus Kimla is CEO of Pipeliner CRM, an innovative sales CRM solution designed by sales professionals for sales professionals.
AI tools and functionalities have proliferated in recent years. However, many Americans feel intimidated by the technology. A recent survey found that 80% of Americans generally do not use AI at work, and those who do are not particularly impressed by its benefits. Many are also not optimistic about AI in their professional lives, with less than one-third of workers expressing excitement about using AI in future workplaces. Common concerns include the cost, complexity and time required to learn how to utilize AI tools. There are also fears that it may replace human talent in the workplace.
The reality is that AI isn’t going away. But it’s also not here to replace us. For most of us, AI can serve as a tool that augments our existing skillsets, helping us become more efficient and strategic in everything we do at work.
For those looking for an easy way to test the waters of AI, here are five common, easy-to-use AI capabilities that span industries and departments. Starting small with these functionalities can help you ease into the world of AI and use it to balance your workload.
1. Enhance reports without the headache.
No matter what you do in your day-to-day, it’s highly unlikely you’ve escaped the world of reporting. We all know that, while valuable for measuring outcomes and making strategic decisions, reporting can be an enormous time-suck.
With the right AI tools, however, reporting can become easier to navigate and less of a burden. AI can gather, analyze and visualize data faster than humans and in far more detail. This isn’t to knock human capabilities, but it’s worth noting that sometimes technology can be more efficient, and we can take advantage of that. AI also isn’t prone to the same fallacies of human error.
That said, AI reporting doesn’t eliminate human intervention in the process. By leveraging AI’s speed to build reports, you can spend more time analyzing the data to curate A/B tests, help conceptualize new campaigns, identify trends and insights that better inform strategies and/or streamline existing messaging.
2. Kickstart your brainstorm.
Lacking inspiration? It can be hard to start from a blank page. AI can help you ideate by acting as a starting point. For example, a home organization expert might feed AI a prompt like, “What are the trending topics people are talking about for spring cleaning right now, and how can a home organization expert make relevant social media content?”
In addition to assisting with social media content, AI can aid in campaign ideation, code development, product innovations, content writing, story prompts, business planning and more, providing a launchpad for deeper brainstorming. Even if you don’t like the results it offers, it may ignite a deeper understanding of what you seek. Utilizing AI for your brainstorming can inspire ideas you’ve never considered.
3. Reset your time management.
We’re busier than ever, but time stops for no one. According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans are usually trying to do two or more things at once. The more we take on, the more we have to balance. What does your schedule look like tomorrow? What are the top priorities you need to execute during your workday?
Smart assistants that leverage AI can help you manage all the moving pieces that make up your day, such as keeping track of your calendar, prioritizing tasks, summarizing your meetings and even reminding you to respond to that one email you’ve been putting off. Some tools can even be useful if you’re double-booked or need to take time away from work, sitting in on meetings for you and summarizing email threads you’re jumping back in on.
4. Summarize documents.
Staying informed on recent studies, global events, industry trends, sales materials and internal communications is important, but it can also interrupt your productivity. With AI, you can bypass the hours spent reading lengthy articles and reports. AI can swiftly “consume” content on your behalf to provide clear, condensed summaries with actionable next steps (if relevant to the situation). This can be great if you’re stepping into an ongoing project and need to quickly get up to speed, or if you need to become an expert on a new topic or evaluate resources for your next content piece, or even if you just want to get caught up on the latest news in less time.
5. Improve your communication.
On average, we spend more than one workday a week reading and writing emails. Eventually, even the best communicators can struggle to find the right words. AI can take a bulleted list, high-level prompt or even talk-to-text thoughts and compile them into a well-composed email in seconds.
If you’ve already composed an email but feel it’s not conveying your intended message or isn’t coming across the right way, there are AI tools that can assess tone, grammar and clarity and offer suggested edits based on your email’s objective, such as whether it needs to be friendlier, more professional or more succinct.
Conclusion
I recommend starting with one of the applications mentioned above as your introduction to AI tools. Once you understand how AI can enhance your day-to-day workload, it can feel much less overwhelming to leverage it to upskill your abilities. The next time you feel intimidated by using AI, remember it’s meant to serve as an enhancement, not a hindrance.
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