Entrepreneurs told to use AI to create new products, save time
FILIPINO micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline their business plans and product creation, according to a data analyst.
“It takes three to four months to create a good business plan,” data analyst and science specialist Eduardo Canela told a webinar hosted by the University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI) last week.
“There were a lot of consultants who profited in writing business plans that bankers will be able to understand,” he added.
AI tools can provide product descriptions, pictures and videos for advertising without music and a script, Mr. Canela said.
“Sora is a nice AI program to make movies, from zero to hero, all text,” he said, while noting that it can be a dangerous product.
Generative AI is a tool that allows users to generate content based on existing data. Some of the popular applications are OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI Sora, Gemini and DALL-E.
“Before, we were using mechanization processes such as time and motion studies, like method engineering to double an enterprise’s efficiency with the cost of buying machinery and equipment,” Mr. Canela said.
He added that years ago, the UP ISSI could do low-cost automation and increase productivity by 50-60%. Now, AI can do that 100% for free.
“AI provides you with scaffolding. It can do a lot of things — editing, criticizing and paraphrasing,” he said.
But entrepreneurs should review products created by AI. “AI is a machine that also commits mistakes. It has a defect called hallucinations when it is overwhelmed with data,” Mr. Canela said.
He said you will own the AI prompts — a form of interaction between the user and an AI tool that allows the model to generate the desired result — not by the AI company.
“Prompts enhance the efficiency of an AI platform, so it processes data more efficiently to derive valuable insights and generate engaging content. AI prompts are both an art and a science,” according to the SocialPilot website.
Entrepreneurs should take advantage of the program while there is still no Philippine law that regulates how businesses can use AI, while keeping everything above board.
The local statistics agency said the Southeast Asian nation had a million enterprises in 2023, 99.6% of which were MSMEs that employ 63% of the country’s workers. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
