Automation may not be as problematic for working class jobs as previously thought. According to Forbes, automation may be the key to a small business renaissance in the near future.
What makes small businesses unique is that they provide their audience with a customer experience large businesses can’t replicate. Now that software automation is becoming less expensive, small business owners will be able to multiply their customer service efforts.
“We predict that AI and robotics will lead to some sort of productivity surge in 10 to 15 years,” said Mirko Draca, a professor at The London School of Economics, in an interview with The Register. There’s no clear evidence either, Draca says, that a new wave of technologies will threaten jobs.
For the 30 million small businesses in the U.S., automation may very well save jobs.
Although there are fears of AI and robotics taking over the American workplace, the intention behind automation is to benefit human innovation. For instance, heavy-duty forklifts can lift up to 50 tons and may be able to do even more when fully automated.
Robots can’t do what humans can do and humans aren’t always as efficient as robots. But working together, the opportunities for innovation are endless. And there’s nothing that embodies that mentality quite like small businesses.
Compared to big businesses that use automation as a way to standardize customer experiences, small businesses use automation as a way to personalize those experiences. Personalization, especially in today’s age of social media, is a major advantage.
In fact, with automation handling many of the day-to-day business tasks, small business owners are able to save more time and give customers a greater experience.
The time provided by automation would also give small businesses another leg up on their larger competitors. According to Gallup, small businesses rank just below the military in terms of the nation’s most trusted institutions. Large businesses are toward the bottom of that same list.
Because automation would free up time for small businesses to deliver to their customer expectations, the trust for their business would only increase.
“Small businesses can’t compete with larger ones on scale, efficiency, or sophistication,” said Cory Capoccia, president of Wombly. “But they can reap the rewards of a widening search for unique experiences among American consumers.”
