2023 was the year that saw human ingenuity intertwine with artificial intelligence anew, reshaping our world at a pace never witnessed before. As an integral part of the AI ecosystem, it feels fitting to reflect on the transformative journey that was 2023 through the lens of AI advancements.
It’s been a year marked by breakthroughs, challenges, and the inexorable march towards a future where AI isn’t just a tool but has evolved to become an inherent part of the human experience. I have personally lost count of the number of webinars or presentations I attended that used the example of the technology adoption rate shrinking (or rather, disappearing) since the days of Netflix launch over two decades ago. The awe-inspiring feat of reaching ‘One Million Users’ in just 5 days has left every tech enthusiast both envious and hopeful. For the uninitiated (if there are any!!!), this is what I am referring to.
The sprint to the first ‘one million’ users and then the many millions after, making generative AI omnipresent in our lives today offers a remarkable reflection on how quickly new technologies can spread in this digital age. It’s wild how just months ago generative AI felt like uncharted territory prone to drama, when now asking ChatGPT for advice is as normal as scrolling Instagram. A typical case would be how rapidly ChatGPT infiltrated schools! Seriously, from the days of the incessant debate on whether to allow ChatGPT into classrooms to it now becoming a part of every home feels like a discussion from another era, when in reality, 2023 encapsulated both the ups and downs of it, all in a span of just a few months.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the generative AI and prompt engineering experts and content creators who made the knowledge ubiquitous, bringing access to everyone. The race for the finest content generation tool has commenced.
A personal fascination—and also a source of some well-meaning amusement—is detecting ‘AI’ in the many work emails I receive. Well done Grammarly for becoming the voice of many skilled peers limited by language capabilities! Who could break that barrier overnight!
Neuroscience principles that evolution had baked into the human psyche, and that the majority of us had managed to push into the abyss of our unused neural labyrinth, finally took center stage. For the first time in history, a significant number of us—mere mortals started talking about behavioral science more than ever and with unprecedented conviction and confidence!
Behavioral and persuasion frameworks that were once the hidden secrets of the coveted few, well-versed in their trade, are now the most shared ‘open secrets’ in LinkedIn posts.
SWOT*, PAS**, AIDA***, STAR**** have now transcended into the AI realm making us humans look more intelligent! Finally, we are able to structure and articulate our thoughts more precisely and bring outcomes to life. And it required some artificial intelligence to get us there in 2023.
Content writers and (business) storytellers are busier than ever with generative AI becoming a close writing companion, brainstorming content ideas, conducting research, creating outlines, and err… writing content!
Books authored by AI, a new citation in writing publications (sourced from ChatGPT), and a redefined meaning of plagiarism—2023 opened doors to a realm previously confined to science fiction. In one of the many firsts, a local news site named In Your Area had published a set of AI-written articles in the first quarter of ‘23, one of which was a nice, suggestive piece on things to do with visitors in Newport.
As the dust settles on the generative AI horizon, the significance of clean, comprehensive data is more paramount than ever. For thousands of generative AI-based technologies and tools that are trying to solve a plethora of use cases from sales analytics to writing compelling sales emails to customer service to perfecting marketing messages, one thing is clear—there is no substitute to clean, comprehensive data to train these tools and for them to deliver promising outputs… as says renowned AI entrepreneur and Stanford faculty member Raj Joshi, “AI models that train on proprietary data will provide a competitive advantage…”. In other words, companies that are built on a strong data foundation stand a better chance of riding this new wave of opportunity versus others that rely on public data.
Similar to many tech companies, BuzzBoard had a year brimming with action!
Remaining steadfast in the mission to assist enterprises in efficiently serving the local business and SMB market, we made a strong journey from providing data to offering wisdom — from being a data vendor to helping sellers build a hyper-personalized sales cadence for every local business prospect. At BuzzBoard, we embraced a new paradigm of sales personalization and we believe that technology has enabled us to create dynamic, responsive, and interactive experiences that are tailored to each individual local small business prospect. We find ourselves with a unique capability of allowing sellers and businesses to engage in more powerful ways than were ever possible before.
And we have had fun walking this new journey for ourselves. We saw our own naysayers become diehard converts and even excel in ramping up to the needed skills. What phenomenal personal growth stories this year has written for quite a few peers and colleagues who saw this as an opportunity for growth!
In yet another substantial leap, the startup landscape shifted from “growth at all costs” to prioritizing profitable growth, causing significant disruptions. In staying committed to helping sales organizations and revenue centers become efficient and improve overall profitability for their business, we are ready to help businesses write their own growth story.
Concluding with an oft-quoted phrase, “AI will not replace humans in the workplace, but humans equipped with AI will!” Here’s hoping that artificial intelligence, with its touch of superpower, makes us all more human in 2024 and beyond!
*Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat Analysis; **Problem, Agitation, Solution; ***Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action; ****Situation, Task, Action, and Result
