5 Myths Behind AI for Business

Common myths about Artificial Intelligence for Business

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most promising and disruptive technologies in the business world. But despite its remarkable capabilities, many are still concerned about adopting it into their everyday business operations. That’s why today, we will lay it all on the line and debunk some of the most common AI myths.

Watch to learn about the common myths in AI or keep reading below. (P.S. The video begins discussing common AI myths at the 20-minute mark!)

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5 common myths about AI

From getting restaurant recommendations from Alexa to receiving customer service help from AI chatbots, AI technology has demonstrated a wide range of seemingly magical capabilities. But why are businesses skeptical about the technology? Here are five of the most talked-about myths when it comes to AI to give you peace of mind if you are considering AI.

(1) AI can solve everything

The #1 thing to keep in mind when considering AI technology is the fact that AI can’t solve everything. To get the most use out of your AI system, you first need to have a sound AI strategy in place. Ask yourself what you need help with the most. 

Do you need help with customer service inquiries? Invoice processing? Marketing? Once you decide what you need help with, you can then find the right AI solution to assist you with that specific task.

Pro Tip: You may need multiple AI solutions to help you. At the same time, it would be ideal to have one AI system to help your business with everything. AI systems are often specialized to solve specific issues, such as invoice processing or audit and risk assessment (like our friends at Mindbridge). Therefore you may need to consider investing in multiple AI technologies.

(2) AI algorithms can magically make sense of all your messy data

AI isn’t a “load-and-go” application. Meaning that you can’t just give your AI a bunch of random data points, and expect it to make sense of it all. 

Data is king, but AI systems need to be given historical data specific to what it needs to solve for. If you overload it with too much unnecessary data, it will have issues doing the task it is meant to do. In order for AI and machine learning to work properly, these tools need to be trained by you - the human. If you were to load a bunch of invoices to the Vic.ai platform, the system doesn’t know how you want them to be coded, approved, or posted to the GL, unless you communicate this to the system.

(3) You need data scientists, machine learning experts, and a huge budget to use AI for your business

You don’t need data scientists, machine learning specialists, or Google size investments to begin using AI in your business. There are many simple, cost-effective AI solutions on the market that can help you with many of the tasks that bog down your current team members in the day-to-day. There will be a ramp-up period, while training the AI, but once the intelligence in trained on your historical data, costs will decrease by faster processing and less overtime hours paid to employees, as well as fewer errors.

(4) Machine learning means AI can learn the same way humans learn

AI can’t learn the same way that humans learn. The science fiction ideas of the Terminator’s human-like capabilities are still far from reality. . Humans acquire knowledge through direct experience or indirect experience shared by others. Machines acquire knowledge through past data, where the systems can be taught how to interpret or take action on that data. Through machine learning, AI can learn certain tasks with human interference and then become confident enough to operate with less human interference. 

Deep machine learning and neural networks are each a subset of artificial intelligence. These concepts take “normal” machine learning (which is also a subset of AI) to the next level. This concept, named with cognition in mind, is the closest technology to replicating human learning. It mimics the human brain through a set of algorithms. Though it can mimic the human brain, it still learns much differently than humans. The image below displays the structure of the ever-so-popular AI buzzwords.

(5) AI will automate everything and put people out of work

Having “AI steal your job” is one of the top fears associated with adopting AI. We are here to tell you that it’s just not true. 

AI will augment what you’re working on, but it won’t replace you. In fact, AI will still need your intervention to help out, train and review when there are exceptions. Imagine AI being your intelligent, digital assistant. It can do a lot of the heavy-lifting, but  it can’t function alone. 

In the end, AI gives you your time back from doing repetitive, mundane data entry to do better and more impactful things for your business. 

Stay Ahead with AI Technology

To stay ahead of the game, you have to be willing to adopt technology that you may not be used to. Think back to the industrial revolution. Prior to the assembly line, Ford could only manufacture a certain amount of Model T’s on a given day. After Henry Ford invented the assembly line, the company was able to sky rocket its production and revolutionize the manufacturing industry as we know it. 

The bottom line is this: you can’t keep doing things the way you always have in order to stay competitive. You have to be willing to pivot, and onboard new technology when necessary. That way, you can become better, faster, and more cost-effective in the long run. 

Are you ready to eliminate mundane tasks and expedite your invoice processing times with AI? Book a demo to see how our AI-based invoice processing system can help your business thrive!

Click the image below to download the "10 ways autonomous AP processing can drastically improve your workflow" E-book to learn how you can revolutionize your financial operations.
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