Generative AI has been of great help to a growing number of business owners. While large companies tend to lead the pack in AI adoption, very small businesses – those with just 1-4 employees – are also using AI tools at relatively high rates , according to new analysis by the Census Bureau.
Antonette Vanasek runs a small insurance agency in Chico, California. His staff? Herself, two employees and AI.
“By creating emails, I can send them faster. When people have specific questions, I can give them almost like a treatise in the email on very specific things,” she said.
She also created chatbots to answer questions about health insurance.
“Instead of asking HR this, the bot could also answer this question, specific to the company’s group health plan, such as paying deductibles. How much does it cost to consult a specialist? Vanasek said.
She has become so good at AI that her insurance clients are asking her to help them create AI tools.
In Kansas City, Vanessa Jupe said her company, Leva, uses AI to support new working mothers. “All of our content within our platform is delivered via AI,” she said.
Jupe said AI helps it deliver more personalized content on a larger scale.
“So if you’re thinking about formula feeding, breastfeeding, if you’re going back to work, all the content is really personalized for you,” she said.
About 1 in 4 small businesses are implementing generative AI as a business toolaccording to payroll firm Gusto. Nich Tremper is an economist there.
“Everyone has parts of their job that just have to happen, right? But it may not be the thing they were hired to do, and Generation AI allows more time to do what the employee was hired to do,” he said.
And Amy Reid, of the Texas Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center, said she expects to see greater use of AI, especially for very small businesses.
“I think we’re just going to see them find that they’re creating better prompts, so they’re getting better results and using AI more regularly instead of, like, ‘Oh yeah, I can use AI “.,’” she said.
As business owners become more informed about AI, Reid said, they are moving past their skepticism and are poised to adopt these tools.
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