AI - how do you utilise it to your advantage?
Discussion
This year, probably a little late to the party, I have started using AI to make some of my business-related tasks easier.
Running my own business, a one-man band, I like to be in control of what needs doing and how things get done. Have used numerous "experts" over the years - rarely with any success - usually just a LOT of wasted £££
On a slightly different note, I went to an ex-clients 70th birthday dinner 8 weeks ago and his young successor was there as MD and he told me that he uses AI every minute of every day while managing his team and workload for the £400m railway-related business he now runs - it was an interesting discussion and since then I have been inspired to do the same.
So far, I have used AI for FB ads, coding my website (the biggest win) and also completing repetitive drawing tasks, designs, CAD, Architectural designs and general discussions about new possibilities for my little business.
EXAMPLE 1 . . . I had an urgent order from a customer last week for 100 custom products - the same basic design, but each one numbered 1-100 . . . normally I would just create 200 drawings (one for the artwork + 1 for the engraver) I decided to ask ChatGPT to write me a script to do it all and in less than a minute - the script had created all the designs and engraver-ready drawings for me. It saved me at least 2 hours in drawing time AND I was able to get that customer order delivered next day - they were very happy.
EXAMPLE 2 - we have been using a custom 3D product visualisation plug-in for about 4 years - its clunky, customer service is woeful and the cost is insane - so we built our own, in less than 1/2 a day lol - it cost me nothing and works perfectly.
EXAMPLE 3 . . . since 2012, we have created over 50,000 unique custom designs for our customers. Until about a month ago, it had been absolutely impossible to showcase ALL our designs. We (ChatGPT and I) set about creating a searchable catalogue on our website - we used visual photo tagging and tagged ALL our images, we then created a cross-referenced database with some extra customer data and uploaded all the images to a dedicated CDN.
Throughout the design/coding/testing phase - the whole UI went from simple, to VERY complicated and confusing - to super-simple.
NOW a customer can search all 50,000 designs, using any search term and the results appear instantly under two simple headings . . . designs that can be ordered now and ones that can easily be modified by us - so two sets of results all in one simple results page.
I really am proud of the new catalogue and its ease of use - customers seem to like the simplicity and accuracy of it and we are getting more custom enquiries because of it.
Looking back, I have learned so much about how to manage ChatGPT, how to write effective instructions for it to work from, how to stay focused, how to dumb down complicated stuff down and also how to save a shizz load of £££ by DIY'ing my own code.
Next on my list is to create a simple app for our customers, something I have been quoted from £5k to £15k to complete, which I know I will complete for £0 utilising ChatGPT. I have already drawn up the simple story-boards - I will begin that task on monday.
I am really enjoying these tasks using AI - I don't understand any code, but now I know how to manage ChatGPT to get what is needed and I am slowly learning what types of code goes where on my website, which makes new tasks much easier.
Just a useless ramble from a solo business owner.
Running my own business, a one-man band, I like to be in control of what needs doing and how things get done. Have used numerous "experts" over the years - rarely with any success - usually just a LOT of wasted £££
On a slightly different note, I went to an ex-clients 70th birthday dinner 8 weeks ago and his young successor was there as MD and he told me that he uses AI every minute of every day while managing his team and workload for the £400m railway-related business he now runs - it was an interesting discussion and since then I have been inspired to do the same.
So far, I have used AI for FB ads, coding my website (the biggest win) and also completing repetitive drawing tasks, designs, CAD, Architectural designs and general discussions about new possibilities for my little business.
EXAMPLE 1 . . . I had an urgent order from a customer last week for 100 custom products - the same basic design, but each one numbered 1-100 . . . normally I would just create 200 drawings (one for the artwork + 1 for the engraver) I decided to ask ChatGPT to write me a script to do it all and in less than a minute - the script had created all the designs and engraver-ready drawings for me. It saved me at least 2 hours in drawing time AND I was able to get that customer order delivered next day - they were very happy.
EXAMPLE 2 - we have been using a custom 3D product visualisation plug-in for about 4 years - its clunky, customer service is woeful and the cost is insane - so we built our own, in less than 1/2 a day lol - it cost me nothing and works perfectly.
EXAMPLE 3 . . . since 2012, we have created over 50,000 unique custom designs for our customers. Until about a month ago, it had been absolutely impossible to showcase ALL our designs. We (ChatGPT and I) set about creating a searchable catalogue on our website - we used visual photo tagging and tagged ALL our images, we then created a cross-referenced database with some extra customer data and uploaded all the images to a dedicated CDN.
Throughout the design/coding/testing phase - the whole UI went from simple, to VERY complicated and confusing - to super-simple.
NOW a customer can search all 50,000 designs, using any search term and the results appear instantly under two simple headings . . . designs that can be ordered now and ones that can easily be modified by us - so two sets of results all in one simple results page.
I really am proud of the new catalogue and its ease of use - customers seem to like the simplicity and accuracy of it and we are getting more custom enquiries because of it.
Looking back, I have learned so much about how to manage ChatGPT, how to write effective instructions for it to work from, how to stay focused, how to dumb down complicated stuff down and also how to save a shizz load of £££ by DIY'ing my own code.
Next on my list is to create a simple app for our customers, something I have been quoted from £5k to £15k to complete, which I know I will complete for £0 utilising ChatGPT. I have already drawn up the simple story-boards - I will begin that task on monday.
I am really enjoying these tasks using AI - I don't understand any code, but now I know how to manage ChatGPT to get what is needed and I am slowly learning what types of code goes where on my website, which makes new tasks much easier.
Just a useless ramble from a solo business owner.
Edited by khushy on Wednesday 15th July 17:13
Not useless at all, interesting to hear real examples of how AI is being used.
A couple of questions from someone who just has the AI free apps and absolutely zero web/app/IT knowledge…………..
I assume you pay subs to ChatGPT, are there different levels or different costs for business/domestic users?
You say about developing an app and having storyboards, are they literally "drawn up" by hand? I have no clue as to how you make an app, will AI do the entire process? How is it registered/uploaded/hosted?
In your second example, you say you built the 3d visualisation tool in half a day, how does that process work? Do you just tell AI to look at what is there and write an equivalent thing with specific improvements? Does AI integrate it into your website or do you need some experience in doing this?
I understand the garbage in - garbage out principle of computers so I’m wondering how much understanding someone needs to be able to ask AI the correct questions when trying to do this stuff.
A couple of questions from someone who just has the AI free apps and absolutely zero web/app/IT knowledge…………..
I assume you pay subs to ChatGPT, are there different levels or different costs for business/domestic users?
You say about developing an app and having storyboards, are they literally "drawn up" by hand? I have no clue as to how you make an app, will AI do the entire process? How is it registered/uploaded/hosted?
In your second example, you say you built the 3d visualisation tool in half a day, how does that process work? Do you just tell AI to look at what is there and write an equivalent thing with specific improvements? Does AI integrate it into your website or do you need some experience in doing this?
I understand the garbage in - garbage out principle of computers so I’m wondering how much understanding someone needs to be able to ask AI the correct questions when trying to do this stuff.
I run a visual comms business.
Ai is proving exceptionally useful in taking a lot of the heavy lifting on production - things like captioning, green screening, music generation and the like.
Generative Ai has its uses too - but I find needs to be used sparingly. I had to make a series of tutorial videos on the exciting subject of landfill design in the global south. The client provided a bunch of photos to use, some of which were scans of prints, others just really poor quality. Ai tools upscaled and enhanced these and for a few, I even converted static images to moving scenes.
The knack is to use Gen' Ai to aid and enhance.
Admin wise, I find it very helpful when writing bids. I"m actually very good at bid writing but it takes a lot of time to do well and Ai streamlines the process. I write the bid and Ai sense checks, refines, etc..
Ai is proving exceptionally useful in taking a lot of the heavy lifting on production - things like captioning, green screening, music generation and the like.
Generative Ai has its uses too - but I find needs to be used sparingly. I had to make a series of tutorial videos on the exciting subject of landfill design in the global south. The client provided a bunch of photos to use, some of which were scans of prints, others just really poor quality. Ai tools upscaled and enhanced these and for a few, I even converted static images to moving scenes.
The knack is to use Gen' Ai to aid and enhance.
Admin wise, I find it very helpful when writing bids. I"m actually very good at bid writing but it takes a lot of time to do well and Ai streamlines the process. I write the bid and Ai sense checks, refines, etc..
Steve H said:
I assume you pay subs to ChatGPT, are there different levels or different costs for business/domestic users?
Good Ai costs money - either subscriptions or the purchase of credits. This, I think, is where many Ai novices struggle as they ask any of the free to access platforms to do something that they are not optimised to do. The good stuff costs money and sometimes the amount doesn't stack up as value. Quick example.....I needed to create a 60 second animation showing a complex flow-chart based operation. I looked at several options (Kling, Animator, Vyond, etc..) One of them - forget which - gave you some free credits to test them out with a five second animation. It took me at least two hours to tweak the prompt to get something approaching what was needed. I calculated that it would take me at least a day to write the prompt for the entire film and would need at least £600 in credits. I have a motion-graphics guy who quoted me £900 to create the animation from scratch. That's obviously more than Ai - but - I can scribble something out that he can work from and - and this is critical - he creates the original source animation meaning that if the client wanted changes, they're easy to make. With Ai, you don't get the source files so you have go back in an revised the prompt which takes more time and money.
Steve H said:
You say about developing an app and having storyboards, are they literally "drawn up" by hand?
Here's an example.I'd written a treatment and script for a short infomercial. I wouldn't normally create a visual story board for these types of films but ran it through the pro version of ChatGPT to see what it came up with. Just uploaded the script and treatment and asked it to create a story board. This is what it churned out:
Steve H said:
Not useless at all, interesting to hear real examples of how AI is being used.
A couple of questions from someone who just has the AI free apps and absolutely zero web/app/IT knowledge ..
I assume you pay subs to ChatGPT, are there different levels or different costs for business/domestic users?
You say about developing an app and having storyboards, are they literally "drawn up" by hand? I have no clue as to how you make an app, will AI do the entire process? How is it registered/uploaded/hosted?
In your second example, you say you built the 3d visualisation tool in half a day, how does that process work? Do you just tell AI to look at what is there and write an equivalent thing with specific improvements? Does AI integrate it into your website or do you need some experience in doing this?
I understand the garbage in - garbage out principle of computers so I m wondering how much understanding someone needs to be able to ask AI the correct questions when trying to do this stuff.
Hi - I use ChatGPT - and have a subscription = £20 a month . . . . I spend a LOT of time using Illustrator for my business - I drew the story-boards for the app using Illustrator about 6 years ago - a few tweaks and we are ready to get this moving now - its really simple and I have been discussing this with ChatGPT to nail down the process and the user interface.A couple of questions from someone who just has the AI free apps and absolutely zero web/app/IT knowledge ..
I assume you pay subs to ChatGPT, are there different levels or different costs for business/domestic users?
You say about developing an app and having storyboards, are they literally "drawn up" by hand? I have no clue as to how you make an app, will AI do the entire process? How is it registered/uploaded/hosted?
In your second example, you say you built the 3d visualisation tool in half a day, how does that process work? Do you just tell AI to look at what is there and write an equivalent thing with specific improvements? Does AI integrate it into your website or do you need some experience in doing this?
I understand the garbage in - garbage out principle of computers so I m wondering how much understanding someone needs to be able to ask AI the correct questions when trying to do this stuff.
The 3D product builder was really easy as we have already been using a paid-for version I had a clear direction in my head about what worked and what didnt - what I liked and what I didnt - its all about the customer experience for me - so we set to work on creating a simple, easy user interface and process - and thats what we did - I even got ChatGPT to create the 3D models for the 3D product builder too.
I have access to all the code on my website - we have been with shopwired for over 10 years who are 10/10 - the code is easily accessible and pretty simple to understand the structure of what goes where - I directed chatGPT to the coding instructions and now it knows what we need and what goes where - I dont need to explain it to ChatGPT again and again - it's learn't!
We have even integrated some of the API's into the work process - which makes things even easier.
My part in this process is knowing WHAT I want to achieve and keeping ChatGPT on that path - it's very VERY easy to deviate and become distracted - ChatGPT keeps coming up with new directions and new ideas, I think that our success has been our complete focus on the tasks and steps in hand and NOT getting excited by new shiny stuff that it keeps wanting to chat about - it's learn't to stay on-task!
I also try to ALWAYS look at all functionality from a customer perspective and that really helps to simplify what we build together - that's the key for me!
As far as understanding computers and code, I guess I understand the principles to a degree - but I am not a coder!
AI makes this REALLY easy - we build test pages before going live.
Edited by khushy on Thursday 16th July 08:13
Steve H said:
Interesting, and not cheap in some cases it seems! It s inevitable that this stuff has to make money somewhere and businesses are probably the easy target compared to retail punters.
I would be curious to know what kind of subs the OP is paying for this web assistance.
£20 a month for ChatGPTI would be curious to know what kind of subs the OP is paying for this web assistance.
It sounds like the OP is doing a great job, for me it's like having the colleague I'd always wished I'd had as someone that tends to be quite isolated on a day to day basis.
I've used it as an enhanced search tool and helper with scripting, text editing and general tomfoolery for a while but in the past year or so access to agentic AI in my endpoint management systems has meant I can automate a lot of the day to day grind I've had to rely on disinterested colleagues to pick up or offshore to free me up.
It still has flaws and needs someone with relevant knowledge to oversee big decisions and properly process things through change control but it's great for doing the chores while you concentrate on the human stuff.
I don't leverage it but there's systems now that are so integrated that an end user can log a ticket and it can be resolved without anyone in the support team getting involved.
It's just a shame "AI" is such a generic term and that extremely clever stuff is grouped in with mental Maggie pasting company secrets into the cloud to be processed and kept by a LLM and then proudly telling everyone that they are an AI expert
I've used it as an enhanced search tool and helper with scripting, text editing and general tomfoolery for a while but in the past year or so access to agentic AI in my endpoint management systems has meant I can automate a lot of the day to day grind I've had to rely on disinterested colleagues to pick up or offshore to free me up.
It still has flaws and needs someone with relevant knowledge to oversee big decisions and properly process things through change control but it's great for doing the chores while you concentrate on the human stuff.
I don't leverage it but there's systems now that are so integrated that an end user can log a ticket and it can be resolved without anyone in the support team getting involved.
It's just a shame "AI" is such a generic term and that extremely clever stuff is grouped in with mental Maggie pasting company secrets into the cloud to be processed and kept by a LLM and then proudly telling everyone that they are an AI expert
The problem with offloading some of these technical implementations onto AI is that you don't know what you don't know, so you could have specced it badly, or missed something obvious, or it could have missed something obvious, or there could be some horrible flaw and you just wouldn't know. And that might be technical or it might be compatibility or accessibility - things you don't even know you need to care about. Like what's your test strategy, or your update process, or your data migration process?
Just because it works doesn't mean it works.
And now you've got something where no one can maintain it - and *everything* needs maintaining - and if it goes tits up the only person responsible is you.
It's not like apps, databases, CDNs, browser plugins or any of that might cause problems for you or for users if it gets cocked up but how do you know?
It's a powerful tool but it's imperfect so just because it creates a result that looks good, if its for something you don't properly understand enough to check it then don't trust it.
The result *can* be good but people like to jump in with both feet because they don't know better and just see a shiny result.
I use the stuff a lot but I cringe when I see some of the enthusiastic uptake from people taking a powerful tool and blindly trusting it because they just know any better.
At least get someone else to check it and run it through another tool or two to validate it. Passing AI generated stuff through other tools, or to another AI, can be eye opening.
Just because it works doesn't mean it works.
And now you've got something where no one can maintain it - and *everything* needs maintaining - and if it goes tits up the only person responsible is you.
It's not like apps, databases, CDNs, browser plugins or any of that might cause problems for you or for users if it gets cocked up but how do you know?
It's a powerful tool but it's imperfect so just because it creates a result that looks good, if its for something you don't properly understand enough to check it then don't trust it.
The result *can* be good but people like to jump in with both feet because they don't know better and just see a shiny result.
I use the stuff a lot but I cringe when I see some of the enthusiastic uptake from people taking a powerful tool and blindly trusting it because they just know any better.
At least get someone else to check it and run it through another tool or two to validate it. Passing AI generated stuff through other tools, or to another AI, can be eye opening.
It does amuse me to give ChatGPT output to gemini and say look they did it better and vice versa...
I've been using it quote a bit recently, the problem I have is I then lose understanding of how the solution works so I end up tearing it apart to gain that understanding and lose the advantage of time that I gained in the first place. However my overall understanding of some of the tools is going up, the stuff I can do with excel now is way beyond where I was and I would have classed myself as an expert user
I've been using it quote a bit recently, the problem I have is I then lose understanding of how the solution works so I end up tearing it apart to gain that understanding and lose the advantage of time that I gained in the first place. However my overall understanding of some of the tools is going up, the stuff I can do with excel now is way beyond where I was and I would have classed myself as an expert user
Couldn't agree more, the data you're feeding it has to be audited, accurate and trustworthy but you need people with enough knowledge to oversee things to ensure the machines aren't going wild.
I'm constantly hearing stories of people not reading the warning prompts and then suddenly finding the incredibly powerful tool they probably shouldn't have access to has written a new agent, deployed it to every endpoint and blocked application access for all because it helps resolve security concerns
Governance is incredibly important, Q-Day could be nothing to worry about if untrained human idiots destroy the world first.
I'm constantly hearing stories of people not reading the warning prompts and then suddenly finding the incredibly powerful tool they probably shouldn't have access to has written a new agent, deployed it to every endpoint and blocked application access for all because it helps resolve security concerns
Governance is incredibly important, Q-Day could be nothing to worry about if untrained human idiots destroy the world first.
If you are moving into using AI for building websites and apps, please please please properly address the security issues that can come with "vibe coded" applications.
I say this as someone who is also heavily into web-app and website development using Claude Code and Codex, its an amazing tool but has to be used properly and with understanding of its limitations.
I say this as someone who is also heavily into web-app and website development using Claude Code and Codex, its an amazing tool but has to be used properly and with understanding of its limitations.
I use AI almost daily. No more struggling with syntax for Python or VBA scripts (I gave up development years ago). Give AI the instructions, check the results and you’re good to go.
My role is now in governance of technical design. Feed AI the design and a set of principles and it will highlight any discrepancies. This saves so much time.
I treat it as a virtual assistant that is good but not good enough that you can trust it 100%.
My role is now in governance of technical design. Feed AI the design and a set of principles and it will highlight any discrepancies. This saves so much time.
I treat it as a virtual assistant that is good but not good enough that you can trust it 100%.
khushy said:
£20 a month for ChatGPT
Most people I know are using Claude for their work these days. Not sure how or why it became the AI of choice.I don't know how all the different AI systems rank for performance, and I guess it depends on what you are doing, but I've seen Claude get used for some pretty heavy-duty projects and the stuff it has churned out has been extremely impressive.
Stuff like doing the quantity surveying and cost estimating for housebuilding projects. Just feed in all the plans and details and it came out with a build cost, which the developer told us was only 2.8% out by almost the end of the project. Frankly that is astonishing and more accurate than using a professional firm of QS and estimators.
Other friends of mine use it for writing entire bids/tenders, running procurement projects, crunching large spreadsheets looking for patterns that can drive efficiency and so on.
Edited by Renegade Master on Thursday 16th July 09:35
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