Artificial Intelligence: What do you think of the technology?🤖

[AngelatSQ]

Hi everyone!

We’re here to provide you and your business with simple, powerful tools. We’ve been investing in artificial intelligence and curious to get your thoughts on the technology:

• What do you know about artificial intelligence? (Absolutely no right/wrong answer here!)
• What do you think of the technology?
• What are you excited about regarding AI? What are your worries and hesitation?

Looking forward to reading all your replies!

[Shameka]

I know a little bit about AI. My question would be what ideas does Square have? How would/can square use AI to improve or streamline processes?

[ElisabethB]

Love this question, @Shameka! 

[AngelatSQ]

Great question @Shameka! Based on what you know about AI, what are your concerns?

[DinaLRosenberg]

I've been watching a lot of AI tiktoks... I have been working with Chat GPT to ask questions about social media strategy, relevant hashtags, and blog generation.. it's actually amazing.

[AngelatSQ]

That's amazing @DinaLRosenberg. Do you have any concerns towards AI?

[DinaLRosenberg]

Not really at this point due to my lack of understanding of the entire tool. But I am sure as I learn more about it I wj

hVe some issues.  

[BrauHaus]

I've been using Bard to reply to reservation requests, respond to customer feedback, write grants and much more, actually, it wrote this...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the restaurant industry, from the way food is prepared to the way customers are served. Here are three ways AI can benefit restaurants:

1. Improved customer service. AI can be used to create personalized experiences for customers. For example, AI-powered chatbots can answer customer questions and make recommendations. AI can also be used to track customer preferences and tailor marketing campaigns accordingly.
2. Reduced costs. AI can help restaurants reduce costs in a number of ways. For example, AI can be used to optimize staffing levels and inventory management. AI can also be used to automate tasks such as scheduling and ordering supplies.
3. Increased efficiency. AI can help restaurants run more efficiently by automating tasks and optimizing operations. For example, AI can be used to automate tasks such as food preparation and order fulfillment. AI can also be used to optimize kitchen layout and design.

Here are some examples of how AI is being used in restaurants:

• Chatbots. Chatbots are computer programs that can simulate conversation with humans. They are often used in customer service applications, such as answering questions about menu items or taking orders.
• Personalized recommendations. AI can be used to track customer preferences and make recommendations based on past purchases. This can be done through loyalty programs or by analyzing customer reviews.
• Optimal staffing levels. AI can be used to analyze historical data to determine the optimal number of staff needed for a given day or time of day. This can help restaurants reduce costs and improve efficiency.
• Inventory management. AI can be used to track inventory levels and automatically order supplies when they are low. This can help restaurants avoid running out of stock and save money on wasted food.
• Order fulfillment. AI can be used to automate the process of fulfilling orders, from taking the order to preparing the food to delivering it to the customer. This can help restaurants speed up service and improve accuracy.
• Kitchen layout. AI can be used to optimize the layout of a kitchen to improve efficiency and safety. This can be done by analyzing the flow of traffic and the location of equipment.

AI is a powerful tool that can be used to improve the restaurant experience for both customers and staff. By automating tasks, optimizing operations, and personalizing experiences, AI can help restaurants reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction.

[AngelatSQ]

Love all the ideas! Fun fact: we're soon launching a inventory management feature powered by AI on Square for Retail - stay tuned!

Any concerns about the technology that's top of mind?

[Sparkslym]

I’m excited to see the capabilities! Very curious about AI specs to aid in running my small practice as owner/operator and the only employee. 

[punchyboutiqAZ]

I'll be interested to see the inventory management feature. 

[londontea]

I'm very excited about the potentials of AI. The cost of AI (both pricing and ease of access) is decreasing to a point where small businesses can afford these tools. I hope to have AI responding to customer contacts in the near future, if I can have the basic questions (I'd like to make a reservation, what are your hours, what's the difference between these teas, etc.) answered by AI then it frees up my time for more complex inquiries. 

I'd love to see Square integrate AI into its marketing software; writing newsletters, sale announcements, and more is very time consuming. It would be even better if customers could get automated emails based on their purchase history. 

My concerns are actually with human intelligence, though for the sake of the discussion I won't go into that. 

[PartyManiaMD]

I think without a UBI or heavy government Regulation AI is incredibly dangerous to the standard of living we've become accustomed to. Everyone in the pro AI camp that claims people will be freed to do other jobs ignores that eventually automation and AI replaces most of the jobs. That is not necessarily a bad thing IF there is a UBI or form of safety nets for people after said jobs are replaced. 

The problem is that government is typically slow to act and corporations will fight any attempt at regulation and or taxes to provide for said UBI. 

Without government AND corporations working together AI could be extremely dangerous to an already fragile global economy and my biggest worry is that there will be a significant disconnect between AI improvements and safety nets.

We already see it in the day to day reality of running a small business, getting banks to loan is like pulling teeth so you end up going to non-traditional lenders. Quite a few of the large corporate companies we order from have cut back on staffing (jobs) in favor of automated systems for ordering/processing. A few of my vendors I can't even reach out to anymore unless it's something serious, none of the corporations are sending samples of new products that they think will do well because they've gone from fighting for business to take it or leave it product releases. 

Automation in theory is great but a lot gets lost in the shuffle of things, **bleep**ed off customers don't want to deal with a ton of different chat prompts to get to someone or "something" that can resolve an issue. 

All this money spent on AI in my opinion could be better spent to stabilize industries, to make working conditions better so automation isn't necessary, etc.

I'm not a luddite when it comes to this stuff, I'm just cognitive of the fact that a lot of progress comes at some form of costs and you never know how companies will end up using said technology. It's really easy to say companies will just move people around but eventually the only place to move them is out the door and ironically that can even apply to the people developing said AI technology once the AI is strong enough to sustain itself...

[Spadoukie]

Agreed! Remember when "we" as in the world were told.."Oh, these new devices called computers will shorten our work week, give us more free time and create an environment where we can interact and work more efficiently!"  I would go on but it's 1:00 am on a Tuesday nite and I have to get this report done for the 8:00 am staff meeting! HAH. Your concerns are spot on. 

[JUYBoutique20]

I don't know much about this topic, so I guess I better get to researching.

[USATOYFACTORY]

I know little bit about AI through news, it’s developing fast and has great impact on current changing market trends. Definitely makes life easier as we don’t have to wait to resolve the issue. How about having support button so that human interaction be possible when needed. I strongly believe human support has big role to play side by side.

[AngelatSQ]

Great to know you're excited about it! Do you have any concerns that's top of mind?

[Manillagorilla]

Not up to speed with ai. But think our human intelligence needs to be fixed before trying artificial intelligence 

[bsantos]

Its great. I use it regularly for contracts, questions about my industry benchmarks and I ask it to summarize pdf documents as well as take summarized notes for my meetings. love it

[doc_choc]

I think AI has a great future and I’m really excited for the future. As a chemist we would to spend hours, day, weeks and months sifting through scientific journals trying to workout the best synthetic routes for active pharmaceutical compound synthesis to produce candidates for trial, we could only scratch the surface. Imagine the drug discovery possibilities and where this will take medicine when you have AI sifting through the millions of scientific papers published in a fraction of the time to find drug candidates for treating illnesses and finding safe synthetic routes to make the actives and so on. At the moment it will need the human eye to asses the candidates, but the leg work it will save and advances it will make is incomprehensible. Get ready for massive steps forward treating and even eliminating illnesses such as cancer and rare genetic diseases. 

[GourmetOnWheels]

Have not used AI waiting for it to see what is solid and trustworthy. It is all too young.

René