5 Ways AI Can Benefit You in Business and in Life
It really can.
That title may sound melodramatic, but I don’t think it is. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been with us for longer than most of us realize, yet the realization that it is here and the realization that it is playing and will play a large role in our lives caught many of us off-guard. But AI is a tool—a valuable tool.
A few weeks ago, I watched a TikTok video (yes, I’m one of those people). A successful businesswoman stated that AI was one of the three major economic opportunities in human history. She listed 1) farming, 2) the Industrial Revolution, and 3) AI as the three greatest economic opportunities in human history. I might list the invention of the printing press in there, but that was likely too expensive for most people at that time. AI isn’t too expensive. It can be free.
The point is: AI IS A BIG DEAL, AND WE NEED TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH IT.
AI is not a monster…
Don’t you love this image? I drew it and used AI to color it in more evenly than I did in my original drawing.
AI has many applications, but I want to discuss 5 ways it has benefited me both as a lawyer and as a person.
1) AI can help you plan things if you feed it information and ask it the right questions.
I don’t know about you, but my brain often feels like I have so many things I want to do that I don’t know where to start. AI can (and has) helped me with that. I list the things I need to do and the time I have to do them, and it tells me what to do when and how long I should take. Now, I could figure this out on my own (maybe eventually), but AI helps me save time. It’s a planner, and you feed it both information and questions (prompts).
In my opinion, your success using AI largely hinges on how you craft prompts. In other words, how clearly and precisely you write. Sound familiar?
Writing matters. It always has and always will, and learning to be a good writer is a lifelong process no matter the medium of written expression.
It’s a skill. This is why English majors have a huge leg up on the rest of us. Who would have ever thought English majors would be so coveted in the AI age?
2) AI can help you create things such as books and other digital products.
If you are on social media, you are likely bombarded with what I will call “get rich quick schemes” where people have utilized technologies to “scale” something. I know people do this, and it’s a skill. But you have something to scale first. In other words, you need to create. But I don’t think you want to create just to scale. Creating is fun.
For example, you can ask ChatGPT to help you design a cover for that eBook you’ve been wanting to write. It can do that very quickly.
I used it to take some of my drawings and turn them into a coloring book for kids that I put up on Amazon as more of an experiment than anything else. It was great fun to do and quite easy, and it got me thinking about other things I could use it for such as eBooks related to the law and other areas.
3) AI can help you streamline and automate processes.
AI can help you develop processes and automate rote tasks. For example, it can create fillable forms, which are invaluable for collecting information.
I use AI created forms all the time in different areas of the law such as personal injury litigation and Social Security disability. But it allows the potential client (or actual client) to fill in some of the information that is easier for them to do, or it allows a staff person to do it for you. It saves time regardless.
4) AI can analyze things.
Of course, you should use AI to analyze things (assuming you are protecting privilege and protecting private information). Why wouldn’t you use it for this? You use your computer to do research. Why not have it analyze a problem and possibly offer something you haven’t thought of?
5) AI can help you proofread, edit, revise, and format.
I believe in writing many drafts, carefully editing and proofreading, and revising. But you only have so much time in the day. And you use spell check and grammar check. Why wouldn’t you use AI in a similar capacity? That doesn’t mean you have AI write for you. It just means you are using it to streamline and make your life easier, which is why it is such a valuable tool.
While AI isn’t a panacea, it is a wonderful tool that we all need to become familiar with if we are going to thrive in the modern world. It’s here. It’s not going away, so we need to embrace it.
Please feel free to reach out to me at michael@wellslaw.us or call me at 336-793-1989. I’m always willing to answer questions about the law, technology, or other topics that I possess some useful knowledge.
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This publication is intended as a forum for information about the law and other topics of interest to the author and his readers, but is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion, or to establish an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship is intended to be formed, nor is it formed. The author’s statements are not attributable to Michael Wells, Wells Law PLLC, or any other person or entity not specified herein. The author’s statements may fail to represent the law or other topics of interest precisely or broadly.
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