Page 24 - Masala Lite Issue 161 May 2024

24 SPILL THE CHAI

How have community members
used AI in their everyday lives for
everyday tasks?

BY AMORNRAT SIDHU

How AI Use It
rtificial Intelligence (AI) platforms have undoubtedly debuted with a bang,
sparking endless debates on their usefulness and convenience versus whether
• AI-powered Assistants: My mornings often involve sifting through mountains of
they will take away human jobs and kill creativity. Not to mention the ethical concerns sales data and competitor analyses. AI-powered tools like business intelligence
surrounding generated images and ‘deepfake’ videos. Nevertheless, AI is here to stay,
(BI) dashboards with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities come to the
seamlessly integrating itself into our work and personal lives. It’s helped countless rescue. I can ask questions in plain English, like, “What’s trending in the wireless
users, and the Thai-Indian community is no exception. Masala asked community
headphone market?” and get instant insights with visualisations. This saves me
members to give their insights. hours of manual report generation and lets me focus on strategic analysis.
• Predictive Analytics Platforms: Staying ahead of inventory fluctuations is crucial.
SONIA SIDHU I rely on AI-powered forecasting platforms that analyse historical sales data,
Managing Member, seasonal trends, and even social media buzz to predict future demand. This helps
Instant Value Investments me optimise stock levels, preventing stockouts that frustrate customers and
overstocking that ties up capital.
MAI Perspective
• AI-powered Negotiation Tools: Negotiating with suppliers is a key part of my
I am, personally, wary of AI. I suspect job. While AI can’t replace human interaction, it can provide valuable insights.
that dependence on AI can potentially AI negotiation tools can analyse past contracts, market pricing trends, and even
reduce creativity and eventually groom suggest negotiation strategies based on supplier behaviour patterns. This empowers
human beings into not vetting the me to approach negotiations with a stronger hand and secure better deals for the
information that is produced. With that company.
being said, I cannot deny the usefulness
AdvAIce
of AI and the convenience of it during
my day. Thus, I use it, but with caution. Overall, AI is a powerful tool that’s transforming the world. By using AI responsibly

and understanding its limitations, we can make better decisions, save time, and
How AI Use It
ultimately deliver more compelling results. However, there are certain downsides
• As marketing is not my area of associated with its usage. One of the primary challenges is the need for robust data
expertise, thinking of catchy phrases infrastructure and high-quality data inputs to ensure the reliability and effectiveness
would take up a lot of my time, therefore of AI algorithms.

ChatGPT has helped with productivity
Moreover, while AI excels at processing vast amounts of data and identifying patterns,
in that area.
it may sometimes lack the nuanced understanding and contextual insights that human
• I use Microsoft AI Meeting Assistant intuition provides. Therefore, striking the right balance between AI-driven automation
(Microsoft CoPilot) to help me record and human oversight is crucial to maximise the benefits while mitigating potential
and transcribe my meetings. It helps with recalling important discussion points, and drawbacks. Additionally, there are concerns related to data privacy and ethical
I simply need to refine the notes a little implications, necessitating stringent measures to ensure compliance with regulations
and ethical standards in AI deployment. Overall, while AI offers immense potential to
• I have Grammarly to help me catch errors with my business proposals and reports. revolutionise ecommerce operations, it requires careful consideration and strategic

implementation to harness its full capabilities while addressing inherent challenges.
AdvAIce
Follow GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out), which basically means that the more precise
your input, the more sophisticated your output. For example, a search of “write a business
retail proposal” vs “write a business IT retail proposal” would provide different results, AMIT SACHDEV
where the former would provide less refined information than the latter. Moreover, CEO and Founder, Stroll
whenever you use AI, always vet the information that is produced in order to make the
information relevant to you, while also keeping your personal touch. MAI Perspective
All my business tasks and processes involve AI
NANDINI SINGH SETHI these days, and my use of it is only increasing
Category Manager, eBrands over time. I also use AI for my personal life when
it comes to making decisions and weighing out
MAI Perspective pros and cons.

The decision to adopt AI apps and How AI Use It
platforms stemmed from the need ChatGPT is the AI module that I use the most,
to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and but I’ve also begun to use AI more in everyday
customer satisfaction in our operations apps such as Spotify, which now has a DJ feature
at work. As a category manager, AI plays that takes into account my past listening history.
a pivotal role in streamlining various Factoring that data also helps me discover new
tasks. We utilise AI primarily for demand music as well as new podcasts.
forecasting, trend analysis, customer
segmentation, and personalised AdvAIce
recommendations. Additionally, AI I turned to these apps to better streamline processes and be more efficient with time.
assists in optimising pricing strategies, The downfalls are losing the ability to really dive into tasks and processes. This can
identifying fraudulent activities, and result in a decline in both creativity and being less mindful with everyday tasks. Thus,
enhancing search and navigation be mindful when using AI. It is a tool, but at the end of the day, it’s not a replacement
experiences. to fully execute your tasks.

MASAL A LITE ISSUE 161 - MAY 2024