How AI is Boosting Small Business Success

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in the media, with many claiming it will soon surpass human intelligence. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

In fact, human intelligence is the secret ingredient that makes AI so effective. As humans become increasingly creative and intelligent, AI becomes the ultimate performance enhancer for our own cognitive abilities.

In November 2020, McKinsey reported that companies investing in AI are pulling ahead of those that are not.

This is especially important for small businesses, as the right tools can help them compete in a crowded market, improve profits, and work more efficiently.

Have you ever struggled with writer's block or felt uninspired? Enter AI-powered tools, which can help you overcome creative obstacles and jumpstart your imagination.

By embracing these tools, entrepreneurs can do more with less and unlock new opportunities for their small businesses.

In 2022, we had the pleasure of speaking with Anna Wang, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Copysmith.ai, and Lucie Baratte, Co-Founder and Art Director at Logology, about the impact of AI on small businesses.

We've compiled the highlights of our conversation for you to read through quickly.

So if you missed the chat, keep reading for the notes 📝...

Inspiration Space: Anna, please explain to the room what GPT-3 is, how it works in its broadest sense, and then Copysmith.ai.

Anna Wang: GPT-3 is an AI model OpenAI released in 2020. It’s one of the best language AI models I've ever seen. The researchers are focused on making GPT-3 aware of the context in which a particular sentence is set.

So, if I say, “The sky is blue today,” or “There are many clouds in the sky,” GPT-3 knows each element in the sentence, how to rearrange them and how that process can change the sentence meaning.

Because it’s also a generative model, it can create unique content for you, character by character. I could send a prompt to GPT-3 to say, “The sky is blue today,” and GPT-3 can continue that train of thought and add, “It is a beautiful day to go to the beach,” creating that content for you. It’s incredible how good GPT-3 is at mimicking human language.

Copysmith.ai uses GPT-3 to help businesses create ads for Google, Facebook, Instagram, product taglines and descriptions, blog posts, and so much more with AI's help.

We can ensure that everything we generate is unique so that you can ‘use it out of the box immediately.

IS: Lucie, What inspired you to create Logology?

Lucie Baratte: Logology uses technology to generate a designer-quality logo for your startup in less than five minutes. I wanted to create a solution for entrepreneurs who don’t have the money for bespoke logo design.

I was working as a freelance designer, so in a way, I used technology to innovate and robotics myself.

When I do custom logo design, we have a workshop where I help clients define their values, the message they want to convey and their goals.

With Logology, we’ve invented a five-minute questionnaire that can do that AND show them bespoke pre-designed solutions that match.

IS: What role does Human Intelligence play in the creation of your products?

That is to say; I assume you don’t just input code and then out comes a design or copy? There must be people involved in the actual creation of the tools.

AW: 100% - this is the foundation that Copysmith is built on. We do not want to replace copywriters. What we want to do is augment human creativity.

My thesis is that the human aspect makes your (the individual) writing interesting. This makes books so attractive to us and why we love reading.

So after Copysmith generates foundational copy for you, please edit it and add your tweaks.

Make it fit your brand voice and add all of the human aspects of it.

LB: As a designer, I must teach the machine good design rules, concepts and ideas.

Of course, it cannot be very comforting because we can feel that the device will be better than us or get out of control. But AI is only a tool to help.

Design is about beauty, yes. But it’s also about function, utility and resolving problems.

So all of these creative AI solutions are about solving problems differently.

IS: How can technology help spread joy and fight against exploitation in the creative industries?

LB: [Technology] is a way to democratise design. In the case of Logology, we can create more affordable logos and, simultaneously, high quality.

This is important to me because I think this is good for design in general. People ask, “Isn’t what you’re doing bad for graphic designers?

They won’t have jobs.” But the fact is, there are websites where you can hire a graphic designer for very little money.

Logology ensures that every designer is paid fairly for each job. We’re using technology as an unorthodox approach to the ‘Uberisation’ world.

AW: This is a perfect point. For a freelance writer, Copysmith can help you work much faster and for many more people.

Therefore, you can earn a much higher income. There's a flip side to it, where tools like this can result in a much higher competition.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as people at the frontier of [A.I], it is essential that we consider what impact we’re having on our users and always take responsibility to ensure we’re not hurting the industry.

This technology helps anyone launch a business and allows many more people to change their lifestyles and lives.

So rather than take away jobs, we want to make writing easily distributable and democratised for everyone.

IS: What opportunities do you see on the horizon for creatives thanks to the democratisation of this technology?

AW: I built a Shopify store a couple of years ago. It failed miserably. A big part of my problem was not knowing how to market myself and my products.

If I had a tool like Copysmith or GPT-3, in general, to play around with to generate copy, that would have been life-changing at the time.

LB: Seeing things change is very interesting for me as a creative. Twenty years ago, I was just a student in graphic design, and most students didn’t have a computer at home, so we were still experimenting by drawing by hand.

I remember talking with a friend and professional graphic designer who only worked on the computer.

My friend asked, “How can you prefer working on Illustrator because the drawing is so perfect and if it’s perfect, you won’t have the human feeling or as many ideas compared to drawing by hand.”

I remember he said to her, “When you try, you will see that when you work on the computer, you are helped by the tool. You have more and different ideas that you would not have the opportunity to test with the pen in your hand.”

So it’s not this or that. It’s PLUS. Because of all these solutions, it’s a way to gain autonomy and time.

It’s fascinating.

As the technology landscape continues to evolve, there is no denying that AI is playing an increasingly important role in the world of business.

But what does this mean for creative industries? Many fear that AI-powered solutions will replace human creativity, leaving little room for originality and expression. However, the truth is quite the opposite.

The Inspiration Space Take...

AI-powered tools are not here to replace human creativity, but to augment and enhance it. And the benefits for small businesses are immense.

By democratising design and enhancing creativity for everyone, these tools make it possible for even the smallest of businesses to have professional branding without breaking the bank.

While some may worry that AI-powered solutions will take jobs away from graphic designers, the reality is that these tools are helping to democratise the industry and ensure that designers are paid fairly for their work.

The future is bright for creatives, and with AI as a powerful tool in their arsenal, the possibilities are endless.