AI In Business: How To Use Artificial Intelligence As a Freelancer

Different AI Models To Choose From

Many different models now exist in the field of artificial intelligence:

• Machine Learning: AI learns independently from data, recognises patterns, makes predictions and decisions without being explicitly programmed.
• Neural Networks: AI is modelled after the human brain and recognises complex patterns in large amounts of data.
• Generative Models: The AI generates data in different variants, for example in image and text form.

These are just three exciting possibilities from a whole range of approaches. Each of them is already in use, but is also constantly being researched and further developed. The individual models have different strengths and weaknesses. You should therefore stick to the technology that best suits your industry. If you work in web development, for example, AI tools such as Genius by Diagram are suitable for creating initial website designs. The tool offers many functions to customise a design to individual requirements. This allows you to quickly obtain an initial draft that you can refine manually using your expertise. If, on the other hand, you work as a copywriter, generators such as ChatGPT make your work much easier.

Take Stock Of Your Current Situation

We live in a world of rapid digital change. As a self-employed person, freelancer and company in the IT, media and consulting industry, it is therefore extremely important to take a close look at new technologies such as AI and determine the right approach for your business. You should ask yourself the following questions about your IT infrastructure:

• What resources and systems are available to you?
• Can your favourite tool be integrated directly?
• Are there any security gaps that you need to close in advance?
• Is the use of your tool compliant with data protection regulations?

Don't be afraid to call on the expertise of a consultant for these questions. This will increase the likelihood that all the prerequisites for the successful integration of your AI tool are in place.

Identify the Right AI For Your Business

Think about how you can use artificial intelligence profitably in your business. For example, are there time wasters or repetitive tasks that you can solve using AI? For example, if you spend too much time answering the same customer enquiries over and over again, an AI-based chatbot can help. For inspiration, also look at best practices from colleagues in your industry. Looking at successful examples can provide helpful suggestions. You can also back up the importance of your project with figures if, for example, your customers have doubts about the use of AI.

You should therefore not view the introduction of artificial intelligence into your business as an isolated project. The opposite is true: make AI part of your business strategy. To do this, you need a well-structured approach so that the new tool can be optimally integrated into your daily work.

How to Implement AI

The introduction of an AI tool is not an end in itself. It should make your work easier and give you more flexibility. If this is supposed to work, you need to consider not only the technical aspect but also the human component and think about the processes within your business.

Involving All Stakeholders

If you want the successful use of AI to become part of your daily work, you need to create a culture that does not shy away from such innovations. Talk to colleagues, your customers and (if available) employees. Exchange wishes and expectations. Give your counterparts space to talk about their concerns and fears regarding the topic of AI. This will get everyone on board. It also increases the chance that your chosen AI tool will become part of your business in the long term and provide added value.

Don't Rush Things

The introduction of an AI tool is not done in a week. So don't fall into blind actionism out of sheer anticipation. It makes much more sense to start in small steps. It is best to start with a pilot project. In this way, you can explore in a safe environment whether the new tool delivers what it promises and increase customer acceptance.

To do this, you need to train your AI model by enriching it with the appropriate test data. Ideally, this should not only be diverse, but also as relevant, comprehensive and high quality as possible. This is followed by training: the AI draws conclusions from the test data you have provided. Once you have completed this step, it is time for an initial test phase. Staying with our chatbot example, you now feed the AI with simulated customer enquiries and see how accurately it responds. Depending on the results, you may need to improve the training data and carry out further tests until the results meet your expectations.

Acquire and Develop Skills

You need to actively learn how to use new technology. You should therefore attend training sessions, complete courses and familiarise yourself intensively with this new and exciting subject matter. In this way, you can fully utilise the potential of AI and discover new application possibilities. You will also create real added value for your customers. Furthermore, the use of AI is then not "incidental", but in line with your values.

Evaluate Results

Everyone involved is on board, you are familiar with the implemented tool and the pilot project seems promising - so far, so good. But the work doesn't end there. We recommend that you regularly measure the performance of your AI tool. Define metrics that you can use to evaluate precision, speed and reliability. In relation to our chatbot project, you can ask these questions:

• How many questions did the chatbot answer?
• How many customers found it helpful to interact with the chatbot?
• Which queries caused it difficulties (where does it still need to learn more)?

Record and analyse this important data carefully so that improvements can be made if necessary.

Risks Associated With the Use Of Artificial Intelligence

If you want to optimise the use of artificial intelligence for your business, you also need to know what risks you are dealing with.

Cybercrime

With the advance of AI, cyber criminals have also identified many opportunities to make their work easier. For example, artificial intelligence can be manipulated in such a way that it requests sensitive data from visitors to your website or reveals confidential email content. It is even capable of generating phishing emails that mimic the writing style of a specific person.

Measures against cybercrime are therefore more important than ever if you want to integrate AI securely into your business. Here's what you can do:

• Keep your antivirus software up to date.
• Fix security gaps with regular system updates.
• Do not simply open unknown emails or click on links.
• Introduce a "four-eyes principle" or rights management with authorisation routines for all critical processes.
• Use two-factor authentication for external accounts (e.g. social media).
• Create regular and comprehensive backups.
• Use secure passwords.
• Keep up to date with the latest scams.

False/Untrue Results

If you let ChatGPT help you with text creation, you should check the results for their truthfulness. The results in the output are based on probability and it can happen that the AI "invents" facts (the AI "hallucinates") if it gets stuck. This is especially true if the training data fed in is not up to date. You should therefore rely on the results provided, but do not simply accept them one-to-one. Instead, scrutinise the results and make sure that the training data you feed in is up-to-date and of high quality. This way, ChatGPT and co. can provide you with valuable support when creating content.

Copyright Infringements

The output of an AI is based on its training data. This data is man-made and can therefore be protected by copyright. This raises the question of whether the use of AI-generated content constitutes copyright infringement. The question here is to what extent the original work can still be recognised in the output of the AI. So check the results for originality. Otherwise, in the worst case scenario, you could face written warnings and expensive cease-and-desist declarations if original authors want to assert their rights.

Tip: The topic of AI and copyright repeatedly raises questions. We clarify some of them in the article ChatGPT: Do AI-based Texts Violate Copyright?

Data Protection

Even if you use artificial intelligence, you must comply with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is particularly important if you process personal data. Here is a selection of the obligations that apply to you. Which regulations specifically apply to your situation always depends on the individual case.

• Conclude an order processing contract with the provider of the AI.
• Ensure that there is a legal basis for the processing of personal data (the consent of the data subjects).
• Fulfil your information obligations and respect the rights of data subjects.
• Adhere to important principles such as purpose limitation and data minimisation.
• A data protection impact assessment may be necessary.

You can at least simplify the issue to some extent if you minimise the use of personal data. The topic of AI and data protection is quite new, so there are still some unanswered questions. Make sure you handle information responsibly and keep the amount of sensitive data as small as possible. This will already significantly reduce the risk of data protection offences.

You can find important developments in the area of GDPR in our GDPR Fact Check.

Utilise the Potential of AI Safely

AI is increasingly becoming part of our working world. This not only raises many difficult questions, but also opens up a wide range of possibilities. That's why it's important to get to grips with it and explore how you can utilise AI for your business. If you follow a structured approach and consider ethical/legal aspects, your business will benefit immensely from the new technology. Be aware of the risks and protect yourself against them with foresight - then you can embark on the "AI adventure" with complete peace of mind. After all, new technologies will only become a threat to your existence if you close your mind to them.