Businesses were encouraged to explore what makes their brand stand out as the adoption of generative AI is leaving information, flyers and business models looking the same.
Managing partner of EY-Parthenon Maria Daniel raised the challenge during Day Two of yesterday’s Global Business Conference held at the Wyndham Hotel in St Philip.
Daniel noted that where the presence of artificial intelligence has made access to data more readily available, it has also equipped several businesses with similar tools, thereby creating a market where they need to look for the differentiating factor.
“When we talk about ideas and innovation, if we have an assumption that the ideas and innovation have reached the peak, the real story is the impact. When everybody has access to this and it’s becoming cheaper you have to ask the question, if my business model was built on . . . ‘I could deliver faster than everybody else, I could get access to information faster than everybody else,’ what happens now when a new person comes in with that same knowledge today?” she asked.
With this abundance of information, Daniel noted a significant reduction in the barrier of entry for entrepreneurs and small businesses, while also leading to a reduction in the operating costs and necessary resources.
“When you think about overheads and if there are accountants in the room, your allocation of it is based on, I need volumes to bring down my costs, would that make my product more competitive? I don’t need an accountant anymore, and I don’t need a marketing person anymore in a small business.
“What it means is if you keep holding on to the business model that existed five years ago, somebody young, somebody new is going to compete with you. So you have to start thinking about what changes do I need to make,” she added.
Daniel emphasised that the ease of entry into the business space will call for greater focus on the value of human experience and critical thinking where the customer’s voice and interpersonal trust become the differentiated factor.
“Self-employment is going to go on the rise. You’re going to have a lot of young people coming out of university that I’m sorry to say, because of AI, are not going to get jobs. Our education system is on regurgitating data, not critical thinking, so if we don’t bring new critical thinkers in the world, we’re going to have a generation that’s going to suffer.
“What the AI doesn’t have is the experience to look at what is being churned out, is this making sense or not? Critical thinking and showing that you are thinking critically is going to matter,” she said. (JRN)