There’s a fine line between using AI and allowing it to take over your company

I was pushing my kids on the swings in the park when my neighbor Shira sidled over, pushing a stroller. She looked like she needed to let off steam.

“I just needed to speak with a human!”  she said agitatedly. Shira is a small-business owner selling baby accessories and she’s troubleshooted with me about software issues before. “I’ve been using this platform for years and I’ve been very happy with their customer support — why did they have to go ruin everything by replacing their team with an AI bot?”

While this wasn’t the park small talk I expected, I totally understood. “Yeah, it’s a problem,” I commiserated. “Many software companies got a bit overexcited about AI. They’re really taking it a bit overboard.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?”  she asked. “There’s this software that I’ve been using for years. Occasionally I have a small issue and reach out for assistance, and they’re always super helpful. But when I tried the support center yesterday, instead of a human, I got an AI chatbot. I wrote my question, and it gave me a useless answer. Every time I tried explaining to the bot that its advice wasn’t working, it just repeated the same thing.”

“Ugh,” I sighed. “That’s so annoying! AI often does that.”

“Practically, what should I do?”  Shira asked. “It’s also gotten me thinking. Until this happened, I was actually very excited about AI. I got the all-clear from my rav and was hoping to integrate it into the system that we use in our company. But now I’m not sure. What do you think?”

I gave my toddler an under-doggy, and as he squealed with delight, I turned back to Shira.

“It’s a hard balance,” I agreed. “You want to stay current and incorporate AI while still making sure you’re not going overboard and expecting AI to be able to do everything perfectly.”

“How do I even start to find the balance?” Shira asked.