Which (AI) Technology to Use?

I was recently at one of my professional associations, the National Speakers Association of Hawaii membership meeting, and I, of course, use my AI note taker because it allows me to be focused on my stakeholders and those present, without worrying about missing items or having to write down an action item. And it's really helpful, because then it actually gives me a summary of the meeting I can place on the website and share with other members.

An interesting observation is that in seeing my technology, members ask if it's AI. Yes, and the topic of AI slowly takes over the conversation. And someone asked the question, so what app should I use? Of course, being a good business analyst, you know the proper answer then is:

it depends.

My next question is, what are you trying to do? And I think that's so important, because, like all our business analysis work and more, our questions are more important than the answer. Going beyond just what are we talking about? But then it's all the follow-on questions in knowing what the business goal is. What business outcome are you hoping to achieve? And why is that so important to you? Then that makes the technology selection SO easy.

And so in our discussion, there was simply a quote at one point of:

I need to use AI because that's what you do now.

Well, it's like you need to use technology because that's what people are doing now. That's not really helpful, though. So having to be a good analyst, you have to dig deeper. And I asked "Why?" (of course!) Why are you worried that you need to use AI? And then the comments started come out about efficiency and being able to do more with less effort. Okay, great. Now we're starting to get a definition of what our goals are. What do you hope to accomplish using this particular technology? Of course, we need to dig deeper, because AI comes in many forms and flavors for our end users wanting to research and learn more. Members brought up one of my favorite, Perplexity. That's where I go to learn to explore a topic. Why? Because it not only gives me the research summary it can pull together, it gives me sources that are easily clickable that I can pursue and learn more about what is and is not happening about the topic in question.

The discussion turned to talk about how there's no more "writer's block" because you have a tool you can go to that will generate some ideas and starting points that even if you don't like what AI puts out, you don't have to use it. However, you can leverage its capabilities to give you that starting point in ideas that does get your own personal creative juices flowing. And in this discussion, of course, the stakeholder asked me, what else do you use, and I could tell her the apps that are my favorite, because she of course asked, "What's your favorite?"

Well, I have favorites, but for different things. I love otter.ai for taking my notes so I can engage in personal conversations. Great for networking, by the way, but I don't like Otter the same for my meetings as much as I like my Fathom AI note taker for the engagement and participation and interaction to help me with those notes I like to take. But then again, for meeting tools I love Zoom's AI companion that will real time allow me to ask questions for when I miss something in a meeting, shamelessly multitasking. But see, here's three apps that are in the same category, but even then, I get value in different purposes for each. That's the important part you need to define. Not just WHAT but WHY you use which technology for which situations.

So asking someone,what AI do they use? It's like asking a person, what tech do you use? Sure, I use an Apple MacBook, but that might now be very helpful...unless you're researching laptops (but even then WHY a Mac? What do I use it for? Where do I use it? Did I consider other options?). Rather, try turning the conversation around.

What tech can you not live without AND WHY?

If you're a marketer, what tech helps you with your marketing (and why)? If you're a project manager, what helps you manage a project (and why)? And so if you're a speaker, what helps you be a better speaker or run a better speaking business (and why)? Or a business analyst, what helps you elicit, capture, analyze requirements (and why)? I always smile in enjoyment that no matter what we do or where we go with our analysis work is that it is always about our good questions. Don't worry about the answer. Simply worry about the best questions you can ask to explore, elicit, and learn about what is possible both today and tomorrow! Keep asking good questions beyond the "hype." Don't worry what others are doing as they may be trying to solve a different problem than you or have a different perspective than what you're trying to accomplish. It's not a matter of what technology others are using, but WHY they are using which technology and what BUSINESS OUTCOMES they are trying to deliver. Those are the questions you worry about the answers to!

Leave a comment perhaps not just what your favorite AI tools are, but more importantly what questions you asked to determine the best AI tool to use!