For small business owners, staying on top of all their administrative responsibilities can end up stretching what should be a 9-to-5 to an untenable degree. Thankfully with the rise of AI tools, small business owners can reclaim their time again – so long as they have the right systems in place.
AI isn’t a patch-all solution to business management. In fact, even AI systems themselves aren’t infallible, and automation isn’t a one and done process. Like all business management systems, AI tools and the processes they facilitate need to be revisited and optimised periodically. This approach can help ensure your AI tools consistently protect your brand reputation.
With AI also being used for customer- and public-facing processes like marketing, brand safety should naturally be of the utmost priority for any small business owner looking to implement AI processes and policies. Subsequently, AI software developers actually are taking this into consideration and asking themselves how their AI tools can also be more ‘brand-safe’.
So what ‘brand-safe’ qualities should small business owners be looking out for when finding the right AI tools and systems to support their business operations? We’ll be diving deeper into precisely this question below.
Allows Content Quality & Control
Generative AI has emerged as a crucial tool for content production for businesses – but with every generated output, businesses also need to make sure the assets are high-quality, not conflicting with copyright infringements, and aren’t misrepresenting any aspects of your business.
Adobe actually has considered all three of these qualities in the development of their AI platform, Firefly. When you create with Adobe Firefly, you’re using Adobe’s own internally trained LLM to ensure that all generated outputs are guaranteed not to infringe on the rights of other artists and creators.
And what if you’re using AI tools to produce web copy and written content over image and video assets? Even ChatGPT is taking quality control for copy outputs into consideration by accommodating more dynamic prompts relating to humanising content. With responsible AI user practices, ChatGPT-generated copy can still provide great benefits for small business owners who are looking to make speedy but secure and brand-safe tweaks to their website wherever they’re needed.
Ensures Transparency
As we’ve briefly touched upon, control is key when it comes to harnessing the power of an AI tool. This greater emphasis on giving AI users greater control is the defining principle behind XAI (Explainable AI) as a concept.
XAI is essentially a set of processes that can be used to make AI models and outputs more transparent and understandable to human users. With a transparent view of the data sources and the steps the AI solution takes, users can better understand the reasoning behind AI outputs, plus spot errors and recalibrate their own strategies from there. In short, XAI supports users in making data-driven decisions relating to their use of AI, which in turn helps make AI usage more responsible and thus, more ‘brand-safe’.
An e-commerce retailer, for example, could take advantage of XAI insights to optimise product recommendations, offering visitors more items they’re more likely to purchase. Relevancy, however, extends far beyond online stores. Any business, from marketing agency to mum-and-pop store in your neighborhood can benefit from the transparency of AI.
For business owners using XAI, you can cross-check the automated content suggestions and make absolutely sure your AI processes aren’t taking you in the wrong direction.
Supporting Focused Automation
It’s no secret that AI can handle repetitive tasks, thereby supporting small business owners and their teams in focusing on the bigger picture instead. For instance, chatbot integration has been one of the most helpful AI-powered tools for small businesses looking to maintain customer service systems that aren’t just supportive of customers, but also automate tickets and record-keeping.
Automation can help with many other similar administrative processes as well. Automating payment collection, invoice creation, and order management, for example, can help reduce paperwork, speed up transactions, and ensure consistency.
The key takeaway here is that business owners have options when it comes to investing in automation. So just as digital transformation strategising is unique to each and every business, business owners should also seek to make strategic investments into AI and automation, identifying the automation opportunities that are most likely to deliver a stronger ROI.
Establishes Data Privacy and Security
In Australia, data used by AI tools must adhere to privacy regulations (Privacy Act 1988) to ensure the safety of customer and business data. These legal requirements make it a little easier for small business owners to vet AI solutions before they consider investing in them.
Here, industry experts recommend that business owners look for current security badges and confirm that data usage policies outlined by software providers are compliant, and have put measures in place to prevent data breaches. This will safeguard your business against potential complaints or legal ramifications.
The AI tools you invest in must also ideally be capable of detecting and filtering harmful or offensive content while avoiding controversial or biased subjects that could harm your brand's reputation. Again, developers like Adobe who take measures to combat copyright infringement risks are actively working to combat these reputational risks for their commercial users. But there’s more to responsible data management than just using copyright-safe LLM training methods: there’s also data security considerations that need to be taken into account.
Remember too that AI is also being integrated into cybersecurity software. We’re now seeing AI anti-virus packages that use LLMs to combat AI malware, as hackers themselves are turning to AI-powered cyber attack strategies. As AI is being integrated into more and more digital spaces, the need for secure AI tools that inhibit data breaches caused by cyber attacks is growing. The best thing that small business owners can do for themselves and for their business is to be aware of the risks, and to make sure the tools they integrate into their own business operations are equipped to support data privacy and security over the long term.
Enables Reliable Decision-Making & Problem-Solving
AI has the capacity to evaluate extensive datasets and identify patterns to facilitate crucial business decisions. This capability has already proven to be very effective at identifying gaps in the market for product development and finding opportunities for industry expansion. Predictions regarding market behavior can help set sales targets and keep realistic profit margins in place.
Additionally, machine learning and computer ‘vision' are indispensable in training robots to ensure product quality. These AI capabilities can pinpoint subtle defects in manufacturing processes and ensure product uniformity.
And returning back to security applications now, AI-driven video surveillance can also analyse video footage in real time to help detect and prevent theft. These three examples are also just the tip of the iceberg too, and it’s highly likely we’ll only see more AI-powered analytics and monitoring technologies become available and accessible to small business owners in the near future.
Harness AI with Confidence
As you consider the many uses of AI in marketing, customer support, and more, start with the best practices and choose AI solutions that empower you with control over content, clarity and transparency of action, automation, data security, decision support, and scalability.
Try new tools and features with a mindset of experimentation. Track and measure results to determine what works and what needs fine-tuning. Make time for what matters most. Smart use of the right tools can free up time, reduce errors, and help you identify new opportunities for growth and revenue without damaging customer trust.
The right tools become even smarter the longer you work together. By choosing the right tools and using them strategically, you can begin to tap into the power of artificial intelligence to streamline your business operations without compromising on brand safety.
