A practical guide to adopting AI for small business innovation

If you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ve probably noticed that artificial intelligence (AI) is having a moment.

Scratch that—AI is having several moments, all at once, and it’s enough to make your head spin.

One day, the headlines scream that AI will solve all our problems, and the next, they’re warning us about the robot apocalypse.

It’s like watching a soap opera but with more algorithms.

This article will explore how you can use AI to innovate and grow your business, without losing your way in the process.

The key to success is experimentation

It’s okay to be skeptical about AI.

It’s downright sensible considering the unknowable and potentially risky factors of a technology in its infancy.

Change is scary, and when that change involves trusting a computer to do tasks you regularly do yourself, or with sensitive client data, that’s enough to make anyone nervous.

But here’s a secret: the only way to truly understand AI is to roll up your sleeves and try it out.

As you explore AI tools, remember to protect your business’s sensitive information.

Never share proprietary data, trade secrets, or personally identifiable information about your customers or clients with AI systems.

At Camp Tech, we’ve been experimenting with various AI tools for a while now.

It took me a fair bit of trial and error to learn how to work effectively with generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude.

I discovered that giving the chatbot a role, providing context, and offering examples helps.

Having a well-crafted prompt is great, but it’s also important to continue the conversation after your first interaction.

Give feedback, point out what you like and what needs improvement, and give the tool a chance to get better. These are machine learning systems, after all—letting them learn will give you the best result.

Start small. Pick a task that you find repetitive and see if AI can help.

You might be surprised at what AI can (and can’t) do. For instance, I was surprised to discover that generative AI chatbots aren’t great at math. I thought, “Aren’t computers all about 1s and 0s?”

But then I remembered these systems are trained on language models—they’re pattern-recognition machines, not calculators.

Habits and risk

Building new habits takes time, so be patient with yourself. Try to make “How can AI assist with this?” your new mantra.

It might feel awkward at first, but stick with it.

As you build new AI habits at work, encourage your team to do the same.

AI innovation doesn’t have to come from the top down.

Some of the best AI solutions come from employees who are in the trenches, dealing with day-to-day challenges.

Create an environment where everyone feels empowered to experiment with AI and share their findings.

This might mean investing in some basic AI literacy training for your team, but trust me, it’s worth it.

Of course, working with AI isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There are a few things you need to watch out for:

Hallucinations

No, not the psychedelic kind.

AI hallucinations are when the system confidently spouts nonsense. Always fact-check AI-generated content.

Algorithmic bias

AI can perpetuate biases present in its training data.

Combat this by deliberately asking for diverse perspectives in your prompts.

Ethical considerations

Make sure your AI use aligns with your company’s values.

Create a clear, easy-to-understand AI use policy, and update it as the technology evolves.

Innovation is just the start

In my own work, I’ve found that using AI as a co-worker rather than outsourcing to it entirely leads to innovative outcomes.

For example, I use Claude as a co-writer because it matches my tone well and responds to feedback.

This approach combines human creativity with AI’s ability to process information and generate ideas.

Claude helped me brainstorm and refine parts of this very article, enhancing the creative process in ways I might not have achieved on my own.

I’ve also had success using ChatGPT for data analysis, which has proven to be another innovative application. We fed it over 3,000 pieces of anonymized feedback from a Camp Tech program.

ChatGPT quickly identified patterns and trends that might have been overlooked in a manual analysis.

These insights allowed us to create a more data-driven project proposal, improving our ability to meet our clients’ needs.

By using AI in this way, we’re not just working faster—we’re uncovering new opportunities for growth and improvement.

Ultimately, AI shouldn’t replace human creativity and decision-making.

Instead, use it to augment your skills and free up time for the things that matter—like coming up with the next big idea for your business, or finally taking that vacation you’ve been putting off.

Final thoughts

Start small, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

If you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of AI, there are a growing number of resources to draw on that will help you stay informed and inspired as you continue your AI journey.