The boss of an artificial intelligence start-up company in Tauranga says his small team completed two years’ worth of work in just a few months using AI.
Business experts say embracing artificial intelligence will improve productivity, assisting with staff schedules, data insights, customer trends, and cash flow analysis.
However, there are also fears jobs could be lost or change as businesses adapt to AI technologies - although it could be years before they can be used without human oversight.
Tim Boyne, chief executive officer at SmartSpace.ai, said his company aimed to provide tools for businesses to harness the power of AI and revolutionise the way they use data.
“Many large corporations possess extensive data, expertise, and insights stored on their servers, but often struggle to derive meaningful value from it. SmartSpace equips these companies with the necessary tools to unlock and consolidate their data,” he said.
“This process transforms their existing data into a significantly more valuable asset.”
Boyne said the SmartSpace team was made up of centaurs - people who use their knowledge and skills to use AI effectively.
They used Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) - a form of generative artificial intelligence - to enhance marketing, software development, customer engagement, and research.
GPT is capable of executing a wide array of tasks. It can be used to draft emails, create marketing copy, and generate data analyses.
An AI chatbot ChatGPT was developed by American company OpanAI in November 2022 and has since ignited enthusiasm in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Within a few years, you won’t have a knowledge or office job unless you’re a centaur,” Boyne predicted.
“Going forward I won’t hire anyone who can’t prove that they’re a centaur during the interview process.”
Boyne said they were trying to “democratise” access to AI for businesses and provide tools to use AI models like GPT securely.
With AI everything was happening faster, he said.
“Our small team has achieved more in a few months than we did in two years when starting LawVu in 2015, and we’ve done it with fewer people.”
This was mainly because the company did not need to hire more people to achieve forward momentum.
Before, he said, they had to hit milestones like securing new customers or generating a certain amount of revenue in order to outsource projects that founders could not do themselves, such as hiring experienced marketers, security experts, or more engineers.
“Now our engineers can do three times the work, at a higher standard than before ChatGPT came along, and I can work with my personal AI assistant to do the rest.
“It boils down to our ability to do specialised tasks without needing to hire people as well as the extra horsepower we get using AI.”
Boyne said the business launched just after ChatGPT was released in 2022 so “it’s been baked into every process since the beginning”.
“It used to be really hard being an entrepreneur. GPT has really changed that and I think that’s a great thing for New Zealand. There are so many nascent entrepreneurs here.”
Boyne said AI will impact businesses “profoundly” and would prove to be good for employers but less so for employees.
“For the first time ever, we could see GDP and unemployment both heading in the same direction - up.”
The way AI affected individual businesses would depend mainly on their willingness to embrace it.
“No one knows what’ll be possible next month, let alone next year, but you’ve got to be in the game. There’s gold in the streets if you aren’t afraid of it.”
Boyne said AI would be a “net positive” in the Bay of Plenty, where the economy was largely powered by primary industries, logistics, property, and other real-world industries, and could improve efficiency and add value to businesses.
But, he believed digital and knowledge-based industries such as web design, law, accounting, architecture, and marketing agencies would cease to provide enough value to stay viable if they did not find new models.
Boyne said AI could result in job losses or jobs would change so much that people who could not adapt would be replaced, however, that change was not going to happen overnight.
“GPT dropped with a bang, but applying it to the real world will take time. It’ll happen incrementally as the scaffolding and infrastructure required to make it stable and secure is built but make no mistake, the world will be a very different place in five years’ time.
“We’ll need to get better over time at distinguishing between the economic impacts of AI versus the human toll it’s taking.”
He said to expect the conversation around UBI (universal basic income) to reach a fever pitch in the next 12 to 24 months.
UBI is a system where everyone receives a guaranteed income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment without the need to work.
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister said the AI space was moving quickly and while he expected it to shake up some sectors, it would also have some benefits.
“I hear people can use it to do your homework, write anniversary cards to your spouse, or write a share market report for the day or week ahead,” he said.
“If the first run of it can do what it can do now, imagine what it can do in two or three years’ time.”
Lister said while it had the risk of replacing some jobs, it was not something to be afraid of.
“Before we panic, we have got to remember human history is littered with examples of technological advances that have disrupted the job market.”
He used examples such as when machines were introduced to the farming sector, and when computers and the internet were invented.
“While that was disruptful in the short-term, we found many other ways to put people to work.”
Lister said AI could also be a tool to increase productivity in the workplace.
“Used wisely and with human oversight, it could make some jobs easier and more efficient,” he said.
“We can’t get away from the cold hard reality we won’t need as many people in certain jobs.
“But we are a long way from a time when we won’t want some sort of human involvement.”
Lister said it could also help with staff shortages.
“Anything that can free up that scarce labour supply would be helpful.”
While Lister said the arrival of AI in the workspace felt inevitable, he said it was not something that would happen overnight and meant businesses had time to plan for change.
“It is something I can see happening over a decade,” he said. “I don’t think businesses are just going to lay off staff across the board and put ChatGPT to work.”
Tauranga Business Chamber boss Matt Cowley spoke about the impacts of AI on businesses in a recent column, saying history had shown the main way to combat inflation was to adopt technology and innovation.
Cowley said embracing digital tools, like artificial intelligence (AI) such as Chat GPT, will empower businesses and improve their productivity.
“Many people are scared of the unknown, and AI certainly provides a lot of unknown. There is fear of job losses, particularly in managerial and scheduling tasks,” he said.
“However, embracing AI can dramatically help your business - and your career - over time as it improves efficiency and productivity. I am excited about AI and its possibilities to make lives easier for small business owners.”
Chief executive of Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency Priority One, Nigel Tutt, said they had seen businesses slowly adapt to AI and other forms of automation over the past few years.
“But this will accelerate with the arrival of ChatGPT, other AI tools and the large amount of investment being poured into this area,” he said.
“Like before, jobs will change and industries will adapt, but the pace of change has quickened and the industries affected will be broader given how good these tools are. I would urge all businesses and people planning their career to consider what effect AI will have on them and put plans in place quickly.”
Business Mentors New Zealand chief executive Sarah Trotman said like any new technology, the trick was to see how it could positively impact business.
“With that in mind, I believe the impact will be focused on information and knowledge, most likely in the tourism sector.”
For example, Trotman said people could use ChatGPT to ask for recommendations, where to stay and go and to even plan their trips - this was called “generative search” and could be used by a business to curate its own library of content with the information they want to make available to ChatGPT, ensuring the information is assessable and accurate.
Trotman said anything that was a repetitive task was likely to be automated.
“It’s best not to think, ‘Will AI take my job’, it’s more like, “How can I use AI to do my job better’?”
The upside, she said, was it freed people up to do what people do best “and that’s personalise the service rather than being chained to repetitive tasks”.
Trotman encouraged all businesses not to regard AI as a threat but as an opportunity.
“Encourage your people to experiment with tools like ChatGPT to figure out to better leverage it.”
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.