Using AI to help businesses in the pandemic

by Ronald Wolf Business Consultant

No matter what your line of business happens to be, chances are – you probably see some decrease in your revenue due to the whole situation with the COVID 19 virus.

The governments worldwide have been taking strict measures of precaution intending to stop the virus from spreading further, but this also means that busy places such as schools, sporting events, and businesses also need to be closed down or their function severely limited.

As a result, commerce has been getting slower and slower to the point where businesses with no backup funds, so to speak, and which have been operating paycheck to paycheck are forced to close down and wait for better times.

That said, the silver lining in all of this mess is that the Internet and computers can alleviate the terrible symptoms of this pandemic, at least to an extent. Some of the business-related tasks such as communication with the dealers, business partners, and customers can be done over various social media platforms and other communication-facilitating online venues such as Discord.

In this article, we’re going to talk about certain ways in which modern AI-based online services and other programs have facilitated life and commerce for many of the businesses nowadays that are struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s the deal.

Keeping up with the Demand & Supply

Having access to analytical data regarding how much of the thing you have is currently needed on the market can mean the difference between saving money by producing a limited amount of products during this period, or squandering materials and straining your production lines all in vain.

The thing about learning about this precious data is that some of the best analytics about the question of supply and demand nowadays can be procured from AI sources. Perhaps there is no time in history where this sort of computer-based market research is more useful than today.

Of course, you should always take into consideration what your niche is and what sort of products you’re making. If you’re producing food or cleaning solutions, for example, you may not need to downscale your production lines.

If, on the other hand, you produce highly-specialized items or industrial materials, or luxury products, you may want to consult some of these AI sources to learn if you can save some money by down-scaling your production efforts, so to speak.

Document Verification

Although various verifications and paper-pushing tasks have been getting completed over the Internet for years now, more and more administrative company tasks are included in the list of duties that can be taken care of over the Internet.

For example, there are many online services in place that can help customers order products, cancel orders, ask questions about the products, and even receive quotations in case it’s some specialized purchase. If the nature of a problem the customer experiences is not soluble simply by using AI, you can get a real operator to tackle it.

That said, service desk automation can still take care of a large percentage of everyday interactions with your customers, which would certainly be a massive relief considering the virus’s current situation.

At any rate, making the process of verifying someone’s identity and other credentials online without an operator that needs to be there to check everything can make the sales process a lot easier.

Cushioned Blow to Health Services

One of the most immediate results of the COVID 19 pandemic would certainly be the way national health services are forced to stretch their capacities to their limits to meet all patients’ needs.

This is why any solution where people don’t have to come for their regular medicine receipts and other routine checkups can be of massive help to the hospitals across the world.

The thing is if a patient already has their diagnosis and they only need to visit a doctor to get the paperwork done, then completing this task over the Internet can be a great way to ease the pressure on the medical facilities by keeping the folks at home who don’t need to be physically present to get what they need in terms of medical help, so to speak.

This is where AI can truly showcase that it’s not merely a gimmick to make computer game NPC’s, but that it can help take care of people’s health under special circumstances, of course.

So, as terrible the situation we’re finding ourselves in these days, some good may ultimately come out of it all, in the sense that many of the tedious and repetitive medical processes can become automated and simplified.

All in all, the fact that many folks worldwide are forced to stay in their homes to prevent further spread of the coronavirus seems to be hampering the economy in a major way and making hard-working businesspeople pull their hair in frustration. That said, any help in this situation is welcome, so if AI can make our lives a little bit easier during these trying times, it seems as if we’re going to enter a new, even more, digitalized era whether we want it or not.