Pros and Cons of Using AI for Growing Your Online Business

Sarah Brumley

Sarah Brumley

Wondering if you should use AI for growing your online business? Today we’re chatting about the pros and cons of doing so as it relates to creating content and attracting your ideal clients. So, without further ado, let’s jump right in.

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Pros and Cons of Using AI for Growing Your Online Business

Well hey there and welcome to this episode of the Mama Business Podcast. I’m your host, Sarah Brumley, and today we have a doozy of a topic to dig into. And I say that because the concept of artificial intelligence is one that can be polarizing for a lot of people. We all come from different perspectives on the topic and there’s really so much unknown involved with it, that it can make for a difficult discussion.

But you know me – I don’t shy away from those difficult discussions because I believe that iron sharpens iron and the more we are challenged on the ways that we think and approach things – in our lives and our businesses – the more we will be confident in the decisions that we make. And that confidence is where we’re really going to see success.

LaDawn Hickman of the The Healthy Habits 180 Podcast asked me this question this last week. She said that she’s heard a lot about AI and she wanted to know my perspective on it and if and how I use it within my own business, specifically ChatGPT which we’ll definitely cover. So, in this two part series, I’m going to talk first about what I believe to be the pros and cons of AI for online businesses – specifically related to the content creation and client attraction end of things – and then I’ll elaborate on some of the ways that I, personally, use AI within my own business.

Sound like a plan? Okay, then let’s jump in.

What is AI?

First, let’s chat about what AI is.

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, which in the simplest form refers computer systems that were developed to perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence – you know, visual perception, speech and language capabilities, and decision making. These computer systems are given information, and they then use that information to recognize patterns and make decisions (or even predictions).

I do want to say that there are two different types of AI. And I have to say this because when we are talking about AI today, I’m not talking about the Terminator-type AI. You know, like the robots taking over the world. I’ve never seen those movies, but my husband and his friends bring them up all the time, so I feel like I need to add this disclaimer. Haha. That type of artificial intelligence is called general or strong AI and is designed to do anything that a human could reasonably do. We don’t have this type of AI at our disposal just yet. Okay? The type of AI I’m going to talk about today is called weak or narrow AI and it is designed to perform a specific task.

Some examples of this type of AI in our every day lives could include:

  • Facial detection and recognition programs – these are the ones that you use to unlock your phone, access your banking app, or whatever else it might be. Government surveillance can also use these as well.
  • Social media AI – that’s what’s responsible not only for identifying and taking down troublesome content, but also for giving you the suggestions that you think “Wow! How did they know that’s what I needed right now?” The same is true for streaming services that use AI to recommend shows and movies based on your viewing history.
  • Digital assistants like Alexa or Siri – you can ask them to call your mom, add things to the grocery list, play your favorite playlist, and manage those smart devices in your home.
  • Proofreading, transcription, and copywriting tools are all also forms of AI used to identify mistakes, suggest corrections, and create written content.

…even your financial institution uses AI to help identify fraud transactions and notify you and the bank that there’s a concern.

So, you can see that AI has played a role and will continue to play a role in our society going forward. And now that we know some of it’s functions, I want to turn our attention and our conversation to the implications of AI on creating content and attracting your ideal clients as you grow your online business.

And one of the tools that is used most commonly for this has become ChatGPT. And if you’ve never tried the program out, it’s fairly easy to Google it and then sign up and mess around with it. But ultimately, it’s a content creation “search” platform. I’m sure there’s a more official way to talk about it, but essentially you can ask it anything. So I could get into the platform and ask it to write me 50 words on boiling eggs or three paragraphs on how to buy a boat. And within seconds it’ll produce that result.

I did exactly that and got three pretty clear paragraphs on how to buy a boat.

If you choose, you could have it create entire blog posts, research papers, outlines, and whatever else you can think of related to content you might want to have for your business.

In fact, we even know someone who used it to produce a report for his job.

And while that might seem like a convenient piece of technology to have at your disposal, I want to take the time to talk about a few of the concerns I have around using this type of technology to attract your ideal clients and grow your online business before finishing with a few pros about using AI.

Concerns of AI for Online Business Growth

  • CONCERN #1: Using it for content you should be infusing with your own perspective and individuality. AI pulls from resources all over the web. Nothing it produces is 100% unique and none of it has your unique perspective. So, if YOU don’t show up in the content on YOUR website or long-form content, then how is your potential client actually going to relate with YOU. How are they going to connect with YOU? The answer to that – they aren’t. So, that’s definitely a huge concern for business owners who want to make that connection and stand out in their respective industries.
  • CONCERN #2: In addition to not having your own perspective woven through it, content created by AI lacks lacks the emotional appeal. AI doesn’t have emotional intelligence. Because of that, it’s not going to be able to understand situations that require empathy or sympathy. And that’s a huge part of making connections with potential clients. Without those connections, it’s going to be even harder to get them to say yes to whatever your offer is.
  • CONCERN #3: It can become a crutch. In business you need to know your stuff. It should be concerning to YOU and to any potential clients you have if you are supposed to be the expert on the topic, but then you’re relying on AI as a crutch. Additionally, we learn through creating, so if we eliminate that, you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be relegated to mediocre – your content, your execution, and your future performance in business.
  • CONCERN #4: Isn’t accurate 100% of the time. And you run the risk of the same content being duplicated elsewhere on the internet or in business. In fact, it might actually be plagiarized, as the result I got for my buying the boat query was. That can seriously reduce your credibility.

  • CONCERN #5: Research or information bias. Remember, AI has to learn from the content that it’s given. So, depending on what content the creators of the platform have offer it, you might end up producing content or ideas that don’t represent the full truth of the matter – or reflect a perspective only on one side of the argument. So just something to consider.

Pros of AI for Online Business Growth

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are definitely pros to the use of AI for business growth. Depending on what AI platform you are using, it can help you become more efficient, save you time and money (in some cases) and it can make tedious tasks seem more manageable.

When it comes to ChatGPT specifically, it can help you come up with topic ideas you might not have considered. It can even help you create summaries of content you’ve already created on your own and, as I’ll share this next week, it can even help you automate repetitive tasks within your business. I know, because I use it in mine.

And I’ll share all about that and other AI tools I use regularly in my next episode. Stay tuned for that.

Are You Using AI for Growing Your Online Business?

But in the meantime and out of respect for the time you’ve already spent with me today, I’m going to jump right into the action part of this episode. And we all know that action is where the dreams turn into the reality. And today’s action step is this:

Obviously, I’ve given you a lot to chew on today, but I don’t want to leave you thinking that AI or ChatGPT specifically is all bad. It’s not. I do really want you to consider, though, what your end goal is. When you use a system or strategy within your business to attract your ideal clients are you doing so authentically? Are you doing so in a way that shares YOU and YOUR special sauce with the people who need it most? Or are you just checking the “create content this week” box on your to-do list with no real long-term plan?

And if you aren’t sure where you sit in this OR you are worried that you don’t have a real plan in place, I’d like to offer you a Mama Business Strategy session. We’ll jump on a one-hour call and you’ll leave having clarity around what to do next and why so that you don’t have to guess how to get that next client through the door. If that sounds like something you need, I have a couple of spots left this month, so grab yours at sarahbrumley.com/strategy.

Whatever you decide, mama, just know that I’m cheering you on. Have an amazing day and I’ll chat with you next time.

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