The proliferation of AI tools has made it harder to identify what genuinely helps. Here is an honest assessment.
Writing and Documents
AI writing assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) are genuinely useful for drafting emails, summarising documents, structuring reports and generating first drafts. Treat output as a starting point, not a final product.
Overhyped: AI-generated blog posts without human editing. Readers and search engines increasingly identify and discount generic AI content.
Accounting and Finance
AI tools integrated into Xero, QuickBooks and Sage automate bank reconciliation, expense categorisation and invoice processing. Time savings for small businesses are substantial.
Customer Service
Conversational AI handles routine enquiries effectively. For complex complaints or sensitive situations, human handling remains essential.
Legal and Compliance
Contract review, due diligence and legal research can be significantly accelerated. Human review remains essential as AI makes errors in legal reasoning.
The Realistic Picture
Businesses getting real value from AI use it to make their best people more productive, not to replace adequate ones. The productivity gains are real. Mass replacement in the near term remains mostly hype.
