Small to medium-sized businesses can make their operations more efficient by using AI tools to attend to tasks they might not have the time or the resources for.
 

Why it matters:

• Small businesses usually have fewer resources than large enterprises, but they can use artificial intelligence to bulk up their operations.
• AI can help small businesses do more in less time at a lower cost or for free — from automating expense management to producing a sales pitch to generating creative imagery from text.
• We are at the early stages of adoption—an estimated 25% of small business respondents in a May 2023 survey said they are using or testing generative AI — so SMBs can outpace competitors by embracing the technology.

Ryan Stone sometimes lost business because Lambda Films, his small video production and animation studio, did not have a concept artist on board, someone who could translate vision to images for client approval.

But all that changed when Stone started using Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence (AI)-based program. Generative AI generates content—images or copy—from typed prompts. Midjourney delivers images from typed text, literally bringing Stone’s vision to life. “Working in a creative industry, we have ideas in our head, and we can see them. But being able to communicate those ideas to a client can be really difficult,” Stone said. Midjourney allows Stone to move those ideas from his head to a vision board.