Marketing content shared with Michigan Business Network by:

Bonnie J. Knutson, PhD

The School of Hospitality Business

Broad College of Business

Michigan State University

Think back to the April 18th, 2023 episode of the 60 Minutes segment showing how Google’s AI lab in London got robots to play soccer. While this scientific advancement was overwhelming enough, it is more astonishing is that humans did not program the robots to play the game. All they were “instructed” to do was score goals In other words, the robots taught themselves how to score the goal, i.e. how to win.

Think about TGL, the newly announced indoor golf league that is combining live golf and AI technology to launch an innovative fan experience built on the likes of basketball, football, and yes, soccer. To be launched in 2024, the new league will play a 15-game season in prime TV time, complete with playoffs and a championship. And they will be played in a “state-of-the-art short game complex…[offering]…a high-tech, high-energy fan experience with fans sitting greenside.” i

Welcome to AI technology and the potential new world of business.

Your company is probably already using some AI. You analyze customer datasets to develop innovative ideas for products, services, marketing, and staffing levels. Revenue management teams examine demand patterns to adjust product pricing and service fees, Marketing teams use data to develop targeted promotional campaigns. And, yes, you may even use ChatGPT to get the ball for a newsletter or social media posting.

But these applications are just the beginning of how AI will impact businesses everywhere and in every field. It is as if we are in kindergarten,and need to skip grades to get to graduate AI school fast. This may seem insurmountable given that its potential seems unlimited. For fun, when starting to draft this article I Googled Definition of Artificial Intelligence and got 199 billion hits. In its simplest form, though, AI simply combines strong data sets with computer science to help solve problems. For a fresh perspective about how and where you might use AI, look outside your industry for ideas that you might adapt. For example…

What may have started as funny little round robots to clean floors and cut lawns has morphed into self-driving agricultural “farmbots” that uses lasers to kill more 100,000 weeds

each hour. This is all accomplished without harmful pesticides to humans, plants, or the soil. Can you see the possibility for lawns and landscaping surrounding your buildings? Would you like to have AI data from sensors embedded in landscaping equipment to monitor performance, predict maintenance, and automatically initiate ordering of needed materials and repairs, thus reducing downtime?

Would your purchasing office not like to have “smart shelving” in all the storage areas, from warehouse inventory to office supplies in the business office? These AI enabled shelving units sense the weight of every item and can notify you when you are running low or even automatically place an order for more for you. It not only helps keep track of inventory, but it can help reduce waste, manage costs, and provide additional insights into customers’ purchase/use patterns, leading to new opportunities to enhance their service experiences.

Will the new staff uniforms you order have microchips embedded in shirts, shoes or hats? With longevity trends and the skyrocketing cost of health insurance, there is a growing interest among businesses in integrating wearable AI into employees’ wellness programs, task efficiency, and performance. One company used AI armbands to track employees’ movements during several tasks, identifying completion time, process, and fatigue. From the data, management discovered the times when employees were most alert and productive, allowing them to design new procedures and processes as well as more flexible work schedules.

Can AI-powered security systems be a part of your next capital improvement plan? CLEAR, the facial recognition technology, is already starting to morph from just airports to sports venues such as Oracle Park in San Francisco and Yankee Stadium in New York. Some stadiums even have CLEAR concession stands, allowing the guest to use biometrics to purchase food and drinks without having to pull out cash or sign a credit card. Does this mean that employees will soon be able to say goodbye to using credit cards or cash in vending machines and your cafeteria?

Then, of course, there also may be autonomous vehicles in your delivery fleet’s future, a redesign of your parking areas to incorporate charging stations for the growing number of electric vehicles, and more robotics doing mundane and repetitive tasks such as washing floors, filling containers, and even repairing equipment.

And, of course, AI can become an indispensable tool in your training programs. As pointed out in Forbes, “… we could use AI-powered gamification to create an interactive, immersive experience by transforming work-related content into adaptive learning

experiences. Chatbots or learning scenarios can be tailored to a learner’s experience level, career level and competency to provide real-time, intelligent feedback. More importantly, the conversations between learners and chatbots can provide companies with useful data that can be used to gauge their employees’ needs and competencies.” ii This sounds like a winner to me.

The speed at which information doubles is getting faster and faster; it is now between one and two years. This means that what first-year college students learn is out of date by the time they are juniors. This means that the information on which you based your strategies in 2022 will be out of date in 2024. This also means that we all need new and more efficient tools to collect, understand, and manage information. Those tools are embedded in AI.

But it is not about technology alone; it is how you use that technology to unleash innovation to ensure that your brand thrives, not just survives. AI-powered systems can help personalize consumer services, target communication, and ensure customers feel valued and engaged. It can also help you analyze vast amounts of data to optimize your operations and enhance security. And by embracing AI in your future, you will also unlock innovative strategies to enhance the work experience for employees. And we all know that happy employees are needed to make happy customers.

Your bottom line will thank you! i http://tglgolf.com.  ii https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2023/03/28/how-to-incorporate- artificial-intelligence-into-learning-and-development/?sh=4e07dab235d0