If you've been following tech news, you know that one of the hottest topics of 2023 is the democratization of artificial intelligence, or AI. In just the past few months, AI has hit major strides in the consumer market: we've seen artificial intelligence paint pictures, chat with users, and even fully replace the voice of recorded actors with different actors' voices. Truly, the possibilities for creating with AI are limitless, but has the technology progressed to a point where we can rely on it for everything? 

Capabilities of Consumer-Aimed Artificial Intelligence

We spent some time around the TechnicalRS office experimenting with technologies like ChatGPT and DALL-E and were impressed with some of the capabilities. DALL-E is able to generate a work of art with just a simple prompt, ranging from photorealism to cubist paintings. ChatGPT was usable as a chat program, but it was also capable of generating guides and written content with a prompt. We asked it everything from how develop database connections in PHP to how to set specific settings in a video game, and it answered each question with confidence. 

The Issues with AI Generated Content

Unfortunately, the issue with these AI tools is that you will frequently receive a response expressed as completely factual (sometimes even including 'points' to validate the answer), even if the answer (and facts to 'validate' the answer) are completely wrong Several times during our evaluations, ChatGPT incorrectly answered questions we asked or provided incorrect solutions to problems. Without knowing beforehand that the answers were wrong, though, you wouldn't have any idea that the answers should even be questioned. Similarly, at least once when using an AI image generator to create an image, the generator actually added a garbled version of the Getty Images watermark to the generated image, signaling that the generator could inadvertently generate something that could lead to copyright concerns for someone who tries to market that generated image. 

Should I Use AI for My Business?

Artificial intelligence feedback can be a great addition to any business, so long as the data presented by the tool is applied in the correct ways. For sales teams, an AI program may be able to help sort through qualified candidates and assist in the sales process. AI can be used in accounting to perform repetitive tasks or can even be used to reduce the workload with complicated processed like payroll when appropriately supervised. AI can help you research topics and give you a good idea what people are searching for. In design, you can describe a general vibe to an AI and end up with a visual starting point for a designer to jump off from.

The key point, though, is that artificial intelligence is not at a place in many applications where a true start-to-finish process can be completed singlehandedly by a computer. And if it could, the end result may not be trustworthy. For things like publishing well-written blogs, beautifully generated graphic designs, and expertly configured email campaigns, it's still best to rely on a professional you trust.