Pure Imagination: Avoid AI Scams
AI can be a small business’ best friend. The increased efficiency, freed up cognitive space to focus on other tasks, and wider access to market research can accelerate your company’s growth.
AI support should enhance what you already do well, not create an illusion. The disastrous Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow shows the dangers of overselling your brand with AI. The website and promotional videos show AI-designed or - generated images that inspire feelings of whimsy, imagination, and childlike joy, similar to the original Willy Wonka film starring Gene Wilder. The reality was nothing like those images. The disappointment of the attendees, owner’s public embarrassment, and global mistrust of the event company highlights the potential costs of misusing AI.
How AI Helps
Responsible AI use benefits our business in three ways:
Saves on staffing costs - AI-centered apps for content creation, writing, or graphic design can save us thousands on hiring vendors who can produce consistent results.
Saves on time - All business owners have at least a few tasks that take more time than we’d like because we lack the competence to be efficient. AI-centered apps fill the gaps.
Saves on creative energy - AI-centered apps can be an ideation partner when we’re too overwhelmed from task completion or burned out from creating nonstop.
How to Use AI Responsibly
AI is best used as a supplement, not a substitute. AI cannot replace our ownership of cohesive brand design, smart operational workflows, or delightful customer experiences. It simply makes those KPIs easier to achieve.
Use these strategies:
Keep a journal of ideas for yourself to avoid ideation overwhelm. I have journals from years ago that I still use to create new services, content, and processes. Some of the journals’ content is long-form and fully-developed, but a lot of them contain words or short phrases, sketches, magazine cutouts, and screenshots. The archive of inspiration functions like AI but with the added bonus of being sustainable because it came from my own mind.
Build a brand kit including colors, shapes, keywords, and images to benchmark AI supplements. This is invaluable to avoiding brand creep based on ever-changing trends and AI-triggered design shifts. Certain elements of our brand should always be the exact same (e.g. brand color palettes) while others can have slight variations to match the tone of the platform or event (e.g. brand images like headshots).
Get comfortable with your brand voice to maintain consistency across customer touchpoints. AI-supplemented content creation is only helpful when it matches our voice. Text that’s too formal (or informal), images with widely varying styles, and robotic voices detach customers and brand fans from our magic. Finding, and loving, your brand voice makes for sustainable brand engagement.
Final Thoughts
Remember that AI is our helper, not our replacement. Being low-tech and consistent is better than being high-tech and unpredictable. Use AI to simplify the execution of the excellence you’ve already established.
Watch a BBC news report of the the risks of AI-based marketing that doesn’t match the IRL experience here: https://youtu.be/XBoighH04k0?si=ddhXWtZWCLqy9jWj&t=686.
