Understanding AI
By PAUL SMART | Account Representative | Nex-Tech
Is Skynet coming for you? This question has been a running joke for my generation ever since Arnold promised “I’ll be back.” However, a lot of people don’t really understand AI and how it can be used to help businesses boost productivity and enhance the customer experience.
I will freely admit that I had a general lack of understanding of AI until recently. What I learned was both surprising and scary.
WHAT IS AI?
If you Google this question, the response you get is this: “Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI uses math and logic to simulate human reasoning.”
This, however, doesn’t really explain to most people what it is or how it affects them. For most of us, it invokes thoughts of a giant metal robot with half its face gone and glowing red eyes staring back at you. With that being said, let’s see if we can shed a little light on this subject and have some plain talk about what AI can do for your business.
AI IN PLAIN LANGUAGE
So, what is AI? Basically, it’s a machine that can “think” and adapt like a person does. To clarify, Alexa would be considered a form of AI. If you are a social media user, then AI has been directly influencing what you see when you open your app through a sophisticated series of beeps and boops. Just kidding, but it does analyze what you like and tries to tailor what you see to your preferences. AI is everywhere around us, and I doubt it’s leaving anytime soon. For stubborn old guys like me, it has been an adjustment, but now I understand how useful it can be.
CHATGPT VS. COPILOT
There are many AI assistants out there, but two that are widespread are Copilot and ChatGPT. So, what’s the difference between these two powerhouse programs?
Let’s start with ChatGPT. This program is great for creative projects and simple text creation. You can ask it to create responses to emails and even write entire papers (no, AI did not write this paper — my boss caught me and made me start over), but it does have its limitations. When you make an inquiry, it stores that information for later use so it can give better responses to others down the road. This means your information isn’t safely held away from prying eyes. As TechTarget explains, “the publicly available version of ChatGPT uses [information entered in prompts] to learn and respond to future requests.”
In other words, you should assume you have no privacy whatsoever when you type a prompt into ChatGPT. There is nothing wrong with this setup if you know that going in. Creating an image to use on social media or making a birthday card for grandma are good things to share with others. However, analyzing a spreadsheet with projections for market trends or an employee’s HR file may not be something you want everyone to know about.
Enter Copilot. Microsoft has designed this AI assistant to work within Microsoft Office 365 while making sure your business information stays yours. When the software is set up correctly, the information can be segregated to keep it safe and allow only the appropriate people within your company to see it. Prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft 365 and other Microsoft services aren’t used to train Copilot capabilities in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform for use by other customers.
In other words, Microsoft gets it. They respect your organization’s privacy, and your data isn’t going to leak into Copilot’s responses to other customers. Go ahead, analyze that spreadsheet and send that email with confidence.
IS AI YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND OR YOUR FRENEMY?
There you have it! AI isn’t just about killer robots and world domination (phew!). It’s about making our lives easier, our businesses more efficient and maybe even helping us remember our grandma’s birthday. Whether it’s ChatGPT crafting the perfect email or Copilot keeping your business data safe, AI is here to stay.
Embrace it, have fun with it and who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll be telling your grandkids about the time you read an article that made AI sound like your new best friend (or frenemy!).Stay curious, stay safe and may the force — err, I mean AI assistant — always be with you!
