AI Training
Peter Gill
Managing Director
The Many Business Benefits of AI Training
Since 2017 the global management consultancy McKinsey has been conducting a global survey into the use of AI by businesses. The 2024 findings are the most significant because they reveal the differences between 2023 and 2024 - the first two years in which Generative AI was being used (November 2022 being the launch of ChatGPT). Previous iterations of the survey were largely restricted to focussing on the use of machine learning AI (ML).
The above comparison of the 2023 and the 2024 results show 44% of businesses using Generative AI reporting an increase in business revenue and 39% reported a reduction in costs. The mean averages amongst those companies were respectively revenue increases of 5% and cost reductions of 10%. It is important to note that this is still the very early days of the application of Generative AI.
The technologies are advancing at pace. Incredibly powerful features have been unveiled since November 2022 - many of which were wholly unachievable as recently as ten years ago. Big new players, not wanting to miss out in the AI goldrush have joined the race.
Generative AI and Business decision-making
You may be familiar with a notable study into farm profitability conducted by the AHDB with Andersons, the farm business consultants, and published in 2018.
The notable thing about the study was that it compared matched types of farms - with the difference being their profitability - to try and find reasons how some were succeeding in making profits and others not.
Thinking more widely, the same kind of study would be good if applied in other sectors of business: property developers, professional services agencies, garden centres, marketing agencies, hotels and so on - the reason it was possible for farming was largely because of the existence of ongoing govermental detailed farm business surveys.
A headline finding of the AHDB/Andersons study was remarkable: top 25% farms were making £100,000 more per year than those in the - matched farms, remember - bottom 50%.
The report also cites a figure of only 5% of factors affecting farm performance being out of the farmer's control. It would be contrary to imagine that business profitability in many other businesses outside agriculture is not likewise almost entirely down to management's business decision-making.
Stepping Up To Using Generative AI
The idea that Generative AI could autonomously largely manage a business or a farm isn't as crazy as it sounds (although getting the senior management on board is a foreseeable challenge).
What is already eminently do-able and almost certainly best business practice for every business is to start using Generative AI as management co-intelligence. The great likelihood is that the resulting 'joint decisions' would steer profitability upwards, particularly so for the least profitable businesses. At the least an input of fresh management thinking would be highly beneficial.
