We aren't usually ones for these "HOT TRENDS IN 2025" type stories, but occasionally there are ones with good information.

While the referenced article does get into some things that aren't relevant to our clients, it does hit a few other areas that we need to stress before you dive headfirst into AI adoption.

Shadow AI: A Bigger Security Headache

Shadow AI, like Shadow IT, is the use of AI services outside the normally provided company tool set. Usually this happens because you aren't providing adequate tools to your staff or you haven't built adequate protections against rogue use.

Since this rogue use tends to be with general purpose and generally available services, your staff may be exposing your sensitive information to those models and, by extension, to other users of those services. We'd call this a data breach.

How do you prevent this? Make sure you are providing the tools your employees need to do their work efficiently and effectively. Communicate your desires (through policy and verbally) about which tools to use and which to avoid. Ensure that sanctions are designated for any employee who breaks policy.

AI Will Augment, Not Replace, Human Skills

This is a big one we are just starting to see. AI is great when it's used to "stand on the shoulders of giants" but terrible when it's used to replace high quality creative personnel. Use AI to grow. When you use it to replace, your customers know.

In the sense of creative work, giving your creative staff the tools to more efficiently create content that is catchy and unique is a great use of AI. Replacing your staff with AI generated by low-skilled button pushers, on the other hand, will give you garbage-quality content and kill any marketing, graphics, journalism, or other similar program. People are starting to wake up to the blandness of purely computer generated content. That honeymoon is over.

Verification, Human Oversight Will Be Critical

This is probably the widest impact prediction. With all the hallucinations, bias, and other imperfections in AI, human review is required. Users must understand the topics about which they are asking AI to generate content. Someone who has never written software doesn't just become a coding wizard because they got their hands on an AI tool. Your reporter doesn't suddenly become an expert on the California Condor because they asked ChatGPT about endangered animals.

And old Russian proverb says "trust, but verify" and that well applies here. Know enough about what you are asking to fact check the information before using the content publicly. Certainly don't go gluing cheese onto pizzas in your pizzeria or submitting false court cases in a legal brief.

Questions about using AI in your business? Give us a call.