Getting started with Generative AI: from hype to business value

Generative AI is undoubtedly the biggest hype word of 2024, with consulting firms predicting that generative AI will generate billions, if not trillions, for the global economy in the coming years. Names like ChatGPT and Copilot are dominating the conversations, but many companies still don't know where to start. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you get started with generative AI.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to systems that can generate images, videos, and other forms of content based on a text input, a prompt. While this creativity is impressive, the real business value of generative AI lies in language models. Language models understand and process human language, which is essential for collaboration, problem solving, communication, and decision-making within companies.

The power of language models

Language models such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Anthropic's Cloud, and Google's Gemini have learned to understand human language. This enables them to understand contracts, employee handbooks, invoices, and other business documents. In addition to answering questions, these models can make decisions and take actions, depending on how they were trained. This makes them powerful for automating cognitive processes within a company.

Generative AI for individual employees

One of the first steps to taking advantage of generative AI is to let individual team members do their jobs better and smarter. This can be easily achieved by using major language models such as ChatGPT or Copilot. These tools can help prepare emails, summarize reports, make contract proposals, contribute ideas about presentations, and review business plans.

To do this, it is recommended that you subscribe to one of these platforms. Paying for these services reduces the risk of your data leaking into a large model and provides access to the latest models. This can provide a significant productivity boost for your team.

The importance of prompt writing

To get the most out of generative AI, employees need to understand how to use these models effectively. This field of study is called Prompt Writing. A good prompt can make the difference between a useful response and a useless one. That's why it's important to train your team to write effective prompts. This can be done through online training courses or workshops, for example provided by AI.nl.

Generative AI for teams

In addition to individual productivity improvements, generative AI can also help teams work smarter. However, this requires a more technical approach and the integration of AI into existing business processes. This can be done by integrating language models via APIs, language model fine-tuning, and retrieval augmented generation. By incorporating AI into processes, many tasks that are normally performed by humans can be automated.

Examples of AI integration

Here are some examples of how generative AI can be integrated into different business departments:

• Procurement: AI can analyze and review contracts.
• HR: AI can help quickly identify suitable candidates for a position.
• Sales: AI can write personalized outreach emails.
• Marketing: AI can help with rapid AB testing of marketing texts.

Where to begin?

Getting started with generative AI within your organization starts with identifying the processes that can benefit from automation. Consider where you're experiencing the biggest issues in scalability, consistency, and output quality. Start with a proof of concept or proof of value to determine how AI can improve these processes.

Conclusion

Generative AI offers enormous opportunities for both individual employees and teams within companies. It can increase efficiency, reduce workload and increase job satisfaction. To get started, choose a tool, subscribe, and train your employees how to use this technology. For more advanced applications, consider integrating AI into your business processes.

Want to know more about how to implement generative AI in your organization? Please contact AI.nl or The Automation Group. They can tell you all about the benefits and applications of this groundbreaking technology.

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