Using AI smartly without getting lost in the hype

Right now there are three camps:

The over-exuberant: signing up for every subscription, trying to automate everything. Full FOMO mode.

The frozen: doing nothing at all, either sceptical, overwhelmed or completely uninterested.

The middle ground: experimenting carefully, testing a few tools, and involving their staff.

The first group will burn cash. The second will get left behind. The third group will quietly move ahead.

It helps if first we’re clear what we’re talking about when we say “AI”.

Most of what small businesses are using today are generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. They’re easy to log into, subscription-based, and good for things like drafting emails, summarising meetings, or generating first drafts of content.

Then there’s applied AI which is about using models for specific jobs like vision, machine learning or automation. That’s where you see systems predicting customer behaviour, scanning thousands of invoices, or automating entire workflows. These can be powerful, but they’re more complex, risky and carry hidden costs.

For most SMEs, the real value right now is in the first camp: learning how to use generative tools well across the business, and introducing lightweight automation where it makes sense.

Most businesses fall into two very different strategies:

• Improving operations. This is about efficiency. Using generative AI to speed up admin, transcription to capture meeting notes, or simple tools like n8n to automate repetitive tasks.
• Creating new propositions. This is about innovation. Using AI to design new products or services, deliver personalised experiences, or even launch entirely new offers. More exciting but harder to sustain without a strong business case.

Both approaches can work well, but it pays to be cautious when generative AI is still in its relative infancy with some unsolved limitations in accuracy and potentially large maintenance overheads when customised.

The biggest misconception I see is that simply paying for a tool means you’re “doing AI.” It doesn’t. You can have the best software in the world, but if your staff don’t know how to use it properly, or when not to use it, it won’t deliver the intended value.

The real benefit comes from education. Helping employees understand where generative AI can make their day easier, and where it has limits. That awareness is worth far more than the tool itself, because it stops you wasting time in the wrong places and helps you find the right ones.

One of the best uses of generative AI is education itself. Previously we would “google” a question and have to search for an answer. Now you can interrogate the world’s knowledge to find the best relevant contextual answer. Additionally, if you don’t understand the explanation, you can ask it to reframe in a way that you do understand. It can be truly transformative in upskilling your workforce.

It’s also worth grounding expectations. Generative AI, the tools most of us are experimenting with today, aren't going to become Artificial General Intelligence. It doesn’t understand, reason or think like a person. It’s good at pattern-matching, prediction and generating outputs, but it has limits and lacks the technological breakthroughs required to achieve AGI. We’ll get there, but not yet and not with the technology that drives today’s gen AI.

That’s good news for small businesses. It means you don’t need to panic about being replaced overnight. You’ve got time to experiment, learn, and prepare for what comes next. You must prepare.

AI is only as good as the information you feed it. ‘Poop in, poop out’ is the saying. If your customer records are inaccurate, if sales data is scattered across spreadsheets, or if files are inconsistent, AI will just speed up the chaos and spit out nonsense.

The smartest investment you can make today isn’t another subscription to a tool that aims to force your future reliance, it’s cleaning up your data. Accurate, structured information makes every tool more useful, now and in the future. 

AI isn’t about jumping on every new tool, and it’s not about sitting it out. The businesses that thrive will be the ones in the middle:

• Educating their people.
• Starting small, with safe experiments.
• Knowing the difference between efficiency plays and risky new propositions.
• Getting their data in order.

Generative AI won’t change everything overnight. That gives small businesses the one thing they rarely have: time. Use it wisely.

With thanks to Dan Apps and the team at Arcaned. Check out more on their website. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk