By Gene Marks – September 2024 (appeared in Forbes)
According to a new study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, nearly every small business — 98 percent of us! — said they are “utilizing a tool that is enabled by AI” and of these tools 40 percent said they were “using generative AI tools like chatbots and image creation.” When one reads those numbers you immediately think wow! Small businesses are really leaning into AI, right?
Wrong.
There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. and I’m sure there are more than a few intrepid entrepreneurs that are leaning into AI apps and tools and platforms to help them run their businesses. They are pioneers. They’re probably solopreneurs or run very small companies, where there’s low risk if something doesn’t work or “hallucinates” (which is another word for AI not working.) They’re geeks and gamists and enjoy monkeying around with technology.
