11 Pros and Cons of AI for Businesses

Some businesses still believe AI is something they can work without. But if you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to consider AI as a crucial element of business.

In this article, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of AI and its ability to improve business.

Boosting business: 6 benefits of AI

Let’s talk about the advantages first as some could drastically change how your business functions.

1. Real-time analytics

Data analysis is among the most important factors that can affect the way a business functions. Today, the amount of data companies have to work with is overwhelming. Gathering and analyzing it could take days. Meanwhile, businesses may need the results to make immediate and strategic decisions.

AI allows you to gather formidable amounts of data in real-time and provide high-quality analysis when you need it the most. The ability to make timely decisions based on the right analysis could put you ahead of the competition.

2. Business process automation

How many employees spend their time on repetitive tasks?

Do they have to enter information manually into different programs?

How much time do they waste on actions that have little to do with their specialization?

AI enables business process automation which delegates the repetitive manual tasks to the machine, thus helping you save time and money. Staff could start doing what they do best, without wasting time on simple tasks.

3. Improved customer experience

Do you have a customer support department? Does it work 24/7?

For many companies, regular interaction with clients is what drives their revenue. As a result, they’re forced to spend large amounts on salaries to staff members, who are offering round the clock assistance.

AI can take a big load off these employees’ shoulders as chatbots are becoming more and more sophisticated every year. They can interact with people and solve complex problems but also put less strain on IT resources to maintain and manage a large contact center, meaning a more seamless experience for the customer.

4. Cutting costs

Considering all the above pros, it’s easy to see how much money AI can help your company earn while cutting costs. Automation is not just a way to fight repetitive actions, it allows you to give people more time to start working on more complex tasks.

AI can also help you monitor the work process 24/7 while gathering important information for analysis. It can remind you of regular machine maintenance and updates to avoid breakdowns and downtime, and because the computer doesn’t need breaks, it can help you round the clock. This is especially useful for companies with branches in different time zones.

5. Improved data security

The fewer people have access to sensitive data, the more secure it is, and AI can provide better security options. Meanwhile, it can also detect fraud attempts. Even though AI software may have certain loopholes, overall, it can provide additional security precautions to prevent a data breach.

If you want to boost data security, software experts at Tricension say it’s vital to invest in custom software development; such programs minimize the threat to the data they work with.

6. Predictive analytics

The ability to make predictions about the success of a certain project or the condition of the market is priceless. AI can handle and analyze a vast variety of data, allowing the program to make a high-quality predictive analysis.

AI has excellent self-learning skills. It can learn to identify important points inside the data and come up with relevant conclusions. This analysis can help business owners make correct decisions to gain a competitive advantage in their niche.

Words of warning: 5 AI disadvantages

Even though the variety of advantages is impressive, AI does come with a couple of challenges:

1. Cost

To be truly effective, AI should be custom built software but the cost of custom software development can be high. Even though the ROI is huge, not all companies are ready to make such an investment. For example, a small business may have a tough time finding funds to incorporate AI into the work process.

2. Lack of creativity

No matter how intelligent the program is, it lacks creativity. In reality, an AI machine has the creativity of its creator. When it learns, it doesn’t become more creative. So, it’s hard to delegate creativity-demanding tasks to the program. 

3. Problems with accuracy

Just like humans, programs can make errors, and this can largely depend on how they’re programmed. Unlike humans, they usually don’t see them in time. This means it’s still important to check an AI’s results to make sure no mistakes have been made.

4. Security

As we mentioned earlier, programs may have loopholes. This could compromise the safety of data entrusted to the AI so it’s important to pay special attention to the security of such software.

5. Dependency

As you implement AI into your work process, you become dependent on the program and build your operations around it. In cases where it malfunctions, it will be hard to deal with the consequences.

Final thoughts

The benefits of implementing AI into business operations are overwhelming. But it's important to weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. As AI technology continues to evolve, developing a robust AI strategy is crucial.