ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, is all the rage, and its initial results are impressive. However, It’s not quite at the proverbial tipping point, but with a significant inflow of capital around its application, expect major breakthroughs over the coming years. AI, and not just ChatGPT, will be a crucial component of both competitive strategy and tactics. Still, it needs to be better understood and then applied internally and externally with oversight.
Context
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot that generates detailed, human-readable responses to a broad range of queries. OpenAI, a San Francisco-based AI research lab started in 2015, developed ChatGPT and several other AI applications, including DALL-E and DALL-E 2. Microsoft, an investor in the company, recently announced the incorporation of ChatGPT in a publicly-available beta version of its search engine, Bing.
What sets ChatGPT apart from other chatbots is the quality of its responses. For example, here at Business Catalytics, I work with companies that want to compete better, so I asked:
ChatGPT, “Why do companies fail?”
There are many reasons why companies fail, and it can be difficult to pinpoint a single cause. However, some common reasons why companies fail include:
- Poor management: This can include inexperienced or incompetent leadership, poor decision-making, lack of vision, or failure to adapt to changing market conditions.
- Inadequate financing: Companies that are undercapitalized may struggle to invest in the resources needed to grow and compete in their industry.
- Lack of innovation: Companies that fail to innovate and keep up with changing technology and consumer trends can quickly become obsolete.
- Ineffective marketing: Even the best products or services can fail if they are not effectively marketed and promoted to potential customers.
- Legal issues: Companies that fail to comply with regulations, face litigation or encounter other legal issues can experience significant financial setbacks.
- Competition: Companies that face intense competition may struggle to differentiate themselves and attract customers.
- Economic factors: Economic downturns or recessions can make it difficult for companies to survive, particularly if they rely on discretionary consumer spending.
- Misaligned incentives: When employees or managers are incentivized to prioritize their own interests over those of the company, it can lead to poor decision-making and ultimately, failure.
Impressive and not inaccurate. Will it replace the corporate strategy team? No, at least not yet, but even for someone like me who researches and trains companies on competition.
In his bestselling book, Malcolm Gladwell states, “The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” I’ll respectfully add technology to that list as well. Is ChatGPT at the tipping point? No, but it’s inevitable, and so is the unfortunate fate of companies who don’t board the AI train coming into the station.
The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.
Competitive Implications
- Improving the customer journey, from initial prospect interaction through business development representative (BDR) support to decision-making.
- Enhancing the customer experience by facilitating additional/upsell opportunities and reducing churn through faster and better support.
- Increasing product and service quality by mining internal and external sources for problems and usage gaps.
- Increasing (not replacing) content-generation capabilities and accuracy for sales, marketing, customer service, and more.
- Identifying and qualifying emerging marketplace competitors and other disruptive market actions.
Competitive Actions
- Select a cross-organizational team to understand the practical foundations of AI and for application and deployment in the organization. Although this group may start as part-time, it’s not ad hoc as it will become critical to increasing or establishing a company’s competitive advantage and position.
- Evaluate different types of AI solutions. ChatGPT may be the shining object right now, but other technologies are emerging, and they may be better for your company.
- Don’t be a perfectionist because AI is evolving, and your organization’s goal will be to continually test its application in different scenarios. It’s essential to validate internally, but don’t hesitate to offer external beta tests. Microsoft outcompeted Google with a public test of its ChatGPT-powered search engine, Bing.
- Continually review all AI-driven results for accuracy, and then you can use statistical sampling. In a previous post, I wrote about the legal risk and liabilities of user-generated content (UGC), but there’s also a risk to AI-generated content (AGC).
- Use AI to evaluate your AI (and your competitor’s). That’s neither a typo nor a reference to the recursive nature of the movie Inception. You must continuously apply this new technology for internal and external purposes.
Conclusion
The use of AI in your company is no longer a wait-and-see exercise. It’s now a cross-organizational initiative that starts today. Experiment both inside and outside the company regularly.
Interesting in learning a bit more? Check out the session I’m co-hosting with Pam Boiros and Will Robison, ChatGPT for Marketing and Sales: Friend or Foe? You can register for this free webinar here.