AI is Causing a Tidal Wave of Change: Time to Start Swimming

Courtesy of Byrnes Consulting

We are in the midst of an unprecedented wave of technological change. It is not a ripple; it is a tidal wave. Those who ride the wave will succeed. Those who ignore it, might get crushed.

The question is not whether artificial intelligence (AI) will impact our industry, but how fast will it completely turn our world upside down.

AI is Already Here. What is Coming Next?

Currently, we are seeing AI co-pilots and AI agents push forward rapid business advancements. An AI co-pilot has limited autonomy, while an AI agent is fully autonomous and can make independent decisions. To simplify things, let’s refer to them as AI tools.

These AI tools will replace a task or even a person’s job. Then we will see the rise of “intelligent digital workers.” Imagine an AI teammate that is just like an administrative assistant—it can proactively plan your calendar, reschedule meetings, send out emails to clients and much more. These AI teammates will be able to handle complex tasks with growing wisdom.

Rather than AI functioning in a silo, like many applications are doing now, AI will start orchestrating the army of AI tools that are presently being created. AI will permeate almost every technology, revolutionizing fintech (and every industry), as we know it.

Is There Proof the AI Revolution is Really Happening?

When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, it reached one million users in just five days. It is now approaching a billion weekly users, with over five billion a month. This is not just tech enthusiasts dabbling. AI is becoming mainstream, with ChatGPT ranking among the top 10 most-visited websites in the U.S., and is in the top five most-visited sites in the world.

Still not a believer? There is an AI arms race taking place. Follow the money. Tech companies are allocating hundreds of billions of dollars to be the first to reach AI superintelligence, the point at which AI surpasses all human cognitive abilities.

Are You Late to the AI Party?

The saying goes “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” at least for now. Like with social media, early adopters of AI tend to be younger.

Men are also currently much more likely to use ChatGPT than women. Lastly, most users still go through their desktop computer to utilize AI, but that might start to change as new smartphones come with “local” AI built in.

For now, most users are leveraging ChatGPT for research (generic, academic and commercial), email and marketing. Hallucination rates are plummeting to such low levels that we are beginning to trust that generative AI is accurate, fueling daily adoption and dependence.

Generative AI is now shaping how consumers and clients evaluate products and services, influencing purchase decisions.

Will AI Help or Hurt Humans?

As artificial intelligence has become more reliable, it will be utilized more and more. Almost nine out of 10 executives are already comfortable (some more than others) with letting AI agents make decisions that directly impact customers. Soon, that number will be close to 100 percent, as business leaders seem to always chase earnings. They will not be able to ignore these advancements or competitors will put them out of business.

Maybe AI replaces the need for workers, or maybe it creates even more jobs. Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, a computer scientist at the University of Louisville, cautions that 99% of jobs can be automated. First, anything with a computer, AI will be able to do better. Then robotics will allow for manual labor to be replaced. Even a profession like plumbers may be out of work.

For now, AI will help empower humans. AI is not only driving efficiency, but also enabling new business models, such as solopreneurs. One person can take an idea and run an entire business, making over $1 million in revenue without a single employee.

How to Get Started Using AI

One important step is to master the art of prompting. Results depend entirely on how you communicate with AI. Use these four principles when writing a prompt:

• Be specific and clear
• Provide context and constraints
• Specify your desired format
• Be prepared to revise and refine

The simplest way to get started using AI is to use a tool like ChatGPT to provide quicker search results, eliminating the need to bounce around several websites to get the needed information. Note that Google, the most visited website in the world, is no fool. To compete with the trend of chatbots stealing search traffic, Google has added “AI overviews” at the top of its search results.

Deeper research is possible with AI. For example, a book can be summarized, not just in a generic way, but in a way specific to the user’s needs. Eventually, a person might go beyond simple summarization to more complete synthesis. Imagine 10 lengthy reports and research papers uploaded onto an AI platform, and AI identifies common themes, highlights disagreements, recognizes gaps and makes recommendations in minutes. This could virtually eliminate the months of work a college senior would otherwise need to do on a final paper.

As businesses progress, they can save thousands of hours with an AI notetaker. These tools can improve email communications and save even more time. AI will even advance marketing campaigns by better understanding the target markets, implementing successful segmentation, creating better content and ultimately increasing new business.

Final AI Tips

• Develop an AI-first mindset. Integrate it everywhere.
• Document a list of everything the business needs help with, then ask “How can AI make improvements?”
• Generate content. GenAI is so powerful at creating text, images, videos, audio, software code and other forms of data.
• Learn about AI. Dedicate time each week to learn its new capabilities and get help to move forward. Avoid falling behind.

The choice is coming. Leverage AI’s capabilities or risk obsolescence as competitors achieve insurmountable gains. The wave of AI transformation is no longer far away … it is right outside your window. Ready to ride it?

Get up to speed on the AI revolution in our industry with the AI Readiness webinar series.

Session 1: Start Using Artificial Intelligence to Help Your Business

Session 2: Growing in the Artificial Intelligence Era, October 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET

Mike Byrnes
Owner & Consultant, Byrnes Consulting

With almost 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mike works with advisors to help them become even more successful. His expertise is in business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness.

Mike serves on the Financial Services Institute’s AI taskforce and has spoken at FSI events multiple times, including at OneVoice conferences. He is a highly rated, energetic speaker who has educated and motivated thousands of financial advisors all over the United States.

Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsulting.

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