The rise of artificial content and the forgotten truth.
The world is mesmerized by the possibility of artificial intelligence commanding every little aspect of their lives, from telling the time, to running searches in seconds, to creating content and potentially becoming a passive income source. It looks so fantastic, right? But what lies beneath the surface may shock you.
Recent studies have shown a terrifying decline in human development that is not only affecting the younger generation but also users from all ages all over the world. Like a bad premonition, now we see people unable to read and write long texts, with no ability to interpret context by themselves, relying solely on clarification from machines. Human interaction is failing on astonishing levels. Apathy, submission, lack of creativity, lack of initiative and total absence of motivation. But how does all of this impact your business?
The entire market is pushing the AI agenda as if it is a mandatory rule for all businesses. Entrepreneurs are spending all their money on promises of multiplying their revenue by adopting these measures. Automation, AI implementation in all fronts with a promise of reduction on labor costs and higher profit margins. So are those all lies? What is the real price that we are paying for these options?
Let's break this down on important topics:
Businesses are now relying on AI to write content for their websites - that means the information about their ideas, their history and their core values are no longer organic, but artificial. You as a customer or consumer are now a target of serious manipulation to convince you to buy - regardless of real value. It's not about originality anymore, but volume of content. It's not about reflecting your company values and principles anymore, it's about bombarding you with information that you want to read and hear so you can open your wallet and pay.
In businesses that control your health, your finances and important life decisions, the content delivered to you is no longer created by professionals that spent a lifetime perfecting their craft, but from machines that only gather information from the internet and turn it into a marketing tool. There is no commitment to deliver valuable content, instead it is all about content that sells.
When was the last time you have actually spoken to a company representative that is a human? Are you satisfied with a chat bot customer support? Would you consult with an AI lawyer before making a decision? How about your health? Would you be ok with an online exam? What if your doctor is actually consulting with AI before making a decision that may affect your life? Would you follow instructions based on a company's article written by AI?
Moreover, on the operations level, would you hire a new employee based on analysis done solely by AI? Would you evaluate the staff's performance based on that? Would you rely on AI to run all your crucial operations tasks instead of humans, just to secure a higher profit margin?
Let's talk about the real costs.
The more you automate your business the less you learn about it. Automation may save you time but it costs you knowledge and knowledge is the ability to progress, fix errors and evolve. Automation also relies on access and access is the security risk. The more you delegate the less you control. Small business owners are being told to automate processes that involve transferring simple data from one place to another, which sounds great, however, with every automation applied the open door becomes more dangerous. All of a sudden your company becomes hostage to a plethora of applications that need access to all your credentials, internal information, customer data etc. Is that a fair price to pay? Have you thought about the consequences long term?
Here's what most people don't understand about automation and AI.
Every platform is run by a team of people that manually analyze and control your data. AI models are trained by humans to interpret and give you a tailored answer based on what it was programmed to do. The market strategy is very simple. To produce results based on a target goal. Who defines the goal? Whoever is charging you for that model. You, as a consumer, may think you can define your own rules on your designed bots, but it is not that simple. For most small businesses owners, the models are pre-determined to produce texts, calculations and answers based on marketing analysis. That is highly influenced by players outside of your view and knowledge. On top of that the models you are currently using are gathering all your data for internal analysis and to make it a product for the next customer.
As a company relies more and more on data produced by AI, they become comfortable with it and stop reviewing the data. That is when content corruption becomes the norm. Here's a simple example:
A healthcare practice starts using an AI bot to produce articles for their website. The purpose is to drive online traffic and attract more patients. The bot is given instructions for research based on prompts related to the specialty. In the first 30 days someone manually reviews the articles for accuracy and reliability. Everything looks good and then the reviewer is moved away to more pressing matters. Now the AI bot has free rein and can write and publish articles without any supervision. The business gets the online traffic and is satisfied. The possibility of wrong or harmful information being published on their website is now open, which can lead to lawsuits and even worse consequences. All because trust was given to a non-human entity that cannot be held accountable for any wrong doing.
The same can happen in any category of business that does not understand how automation and AI work and how important it is to monitor and review its activities at all times. But nobody is going to tell you this but it defeats the purpose of saving time and money. Reviewers cost money but they are the gatekeepers of your company's safety. For some this can mean the life or death of your endeavor.
Now let's talk about the drop in human efficiency, productivity, creativity and problem solving skills as well as critical thinking.
The average human today is unable to read a text longer than 100 characters, let alone a 500 page book. The average human can no longer write a 2 page essay on any basic subject. That in it of itself is alarming but on the business level is even more dangerous. Not being able to read and write long texts directly affects one's ability to critically think and analyze information. When you bring this into the perspective of relying on AI, the door is wide open for manipulations and deceit. Simple tasks such as writing an article can be easily turned into a manipulation marketing machine. The business becomes a tool of deception at the hands of AI models that eventually control the trajectory of the profession.
My advice to all small business owners is simple. Try your best to build a business that reflects who you are and what you can do to contribute to society, in your own words. Do not rely solely on automation and AI to do the work for you. There are ways to use some automation and AI to help processes but never, under any circumstances, rely on it for crucial tasks without supervision. The world is craving for human interaction, especially in business. A warm voice on the other side of the phone can do wonders for your business. A person that connects with your clients on a human level is still the best asset any company can have. A manual process might take longer, but it will be custom made, and designed for a true purpose. That carries more value than any volume without meaning.
Society and consumers in general still value custom interaction and a personalized process made for them. That goes for a business that operates in person as well as online. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to automate everything. The forgotten truth is still the most valuable one, people appreciate things made from people, to the people. And that will never change. Value has no price and business success is always going to be value translated into client and consumer perception. That is your real and untouchable profit margin. And for that people will always pay.
