At least once every week, IT departments experience this exchange: "Have you heard about the new AI tool that promises to revolutionise their work?"

As is often the case, the market is filled with noise and empty promises about Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to recent McKinsey research, 78% of businesses currently utilize AI technologies - and that figure continues to increase rapidly.

Software promises to automate tasks, reduce workloads and "future proof" teams; however, not all solutions deliver on this promise; rather some are released quickly to capitalize on hype. Being aware of this distinction for IT businesses is key in remaining relevant.

AI is nothing new, yet within the past two years there has been an evolution in its use: models have become better at understanding context, creating original content and even managing multiple formats simultaneously.

The three primary technologies driving this transition include:

• Machine Learning: These systems evolve with each dataset they access, eventually producing ever more accurate recommendation engines over time.


• Natural Language Processing: Natural Language Processing allows machines to understand your request for metrics related to that report, such as "Can you pull them up now?" instead of simply searching keywords.


• Generative AI : Generative AI is the creative side of artificial intelligence (AI), capable of crafting paragraphs or code snippets from scratch; images or videos may also be generated using this method.

Now, thanks to "multimodal" waves, this technology is being utilized regularly by operations managers - even those traditionally cautious with IT are beginning to explore this form of innovation.

Knowing Your Tool Categories Avoid becoming overwhelmed by tracking every AI launch - instead, it is best to consider broad categories, and select only some.

1. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants Gone are the days of one-question-at-a-time bots we remember from years past. Now there is an entirely new category of virtual assistants that are far superior in both performance and ease of use: Chatbots.

chatGPT manages images, audio files and real-time conversations seamlessly and remembers your preferences for future conversations.

Google Gemini is integrated directly into Gmail Sheets and Docs, making it an excellent complement if you are already using Google Workspace.

Grok AI is an AI problem-solving platform which relies heavily on data and logic for solution generation.

2. Content Creation

These tools can save hours of work when used for marketing, client proposals or documentation purposes.

JasperAI: Created specifically to meet the needs of marketers with SEO and formatting capabilities built-in.

Anyword: Used to adapt tone according to specific audiences.

Writer for enterprise-level branding voice consistency.

3. Image & Design

AI visuals have become ubiquitous, from campaign graphics to mockups; no longer do AI visuals stand out as being unique or unusual.

Midjourney boasts some of the finest visuals.

Stable Diffusion allows for maximum creativity if you possess the technical know-how.

DALL*E3 can be utilized within ChatGPT to make quick edits.

Google Imagen 3 can easily interpret prompts written in multiple languages.

Adobe Firefly makes sure that commercial projects comply with standards and can be imported directly into Photoshop for editing.

4. Video and Storytelling

No longer limited to just marketing purposes, video storytelling has become an effective tool for training, onboarding and client walksthroughs.

Runway integrates images created using artificial intelligence with video editing techniques.

Descript, Filmora and can handle editing, transcription and polishing without a professional studio.

5. Search & Research

It is more important to access relevant information than it is to create something entirely new.

Perplexity AI provides a combination of live search with AI summaries so you don't have to guess about accuracy.

Arc Search expedites web research by providing on-the-fly summaries.

6. Productivity and Collaboration

These are key pillars to business. These may include:

Notion and Mem: These tools help provide users with access to pertinent knowledge when it is needed.

Asana and BeeDone are project tools designed to help schedule and track tasks.

Fireflies & Avoma: Meeting assistants like these allow your team to speak freely during discussions while still taking notes for you.

Reclaim, Clockwise and These calendar organizers make meetings feel more like playing Tetris!

Shortwave and Gemini: Email Helpers for Gmail.

IT businesses can take advantage of AI to enhance their business or team's performance - be that by automating monitoring tasks, producing more concise reports for clients or speeding up proposal turnaround times.

Integration: Even the coolest tool will become ineffective if it can't connect with your stack.

Accuracy of Data: Even artificial intelligence makes mistakes; hence fact-checking cannot be taken for granted.

Security It is crucial that you are aware of how client data is stored and processed when sending it outside of your own environment. If using any tool that sends client information outside, be wary.

Adoption Curve: Even the best tools will fail if they aren't taken time and effort to learn properly.

Get Started Without Wasting Time Learn how to evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) for use in your IT business:

Just pick one issue that slows you down - perhaps your project documentation is always late or client Q&A takes too much of your time.

Explore two or three tools that may solve the issue, using trial or free tiers and applying real world scenarios as tests.

Check how they interact with your system; integration may be key.

Gradually implement your program: one team, one workflow and clear metrics of success will suffice at first. If it works out as planned, expand.

Downloading multiple tools with the hope they'll increase productivity can be alluring, but doing so often leads to chaos, redundant functions and dissatisfied employees.

One final thought (and word of caution)

Artificial Intelligence will not disappear, and businesses cannot ignore its influence to remain competitive. While current tools are powerful, they're still just tools; imagine them like employees: capable of great feats but need guidance, guardrails and clear job responsibilities in order to excel.

Start by assigning repetitive, but essential, jobs to AI. Let it handle first draft, first pass and heavy lifting duties while maintaining team oversight - that way the hype dies down and usefulness emerges.

If you're uncertain where to begin, try initiating one experiment within the next quarter. Small steps now will enable larger strides later.

If you need assistance in deciding which AI tools are appropriate for your business and which can be safely ignored, reach out. We have experts available.

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