Latest / Money Matters with Greg / Episode 178: AI, Money, And Safer Choices

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Episode 178: AI, Money, And Safer Choices · Money Matters with Greg

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Money Matters with Greg, where we dive into the money conversations shaping your life.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: From investments to estate planning, insurance to taxes, we cover it all with a fresh perspective.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Join Greg and his guests each week to get inspired and take control of your financial future.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Securities and investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member PenReddet IPC.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right, welcome everybody.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: The show's money matters with Greg.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Greg Farrell, CEO and owner of Farrell Wealth.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's a wealth management firm in Valbrezo, Indiana, as you know.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have 178 episodes up, and we've been running a bunch of different episodes about money and how money matters to you and your life and how the value of money is really important to you and your family.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we've also been talking to a number of different people throughout the episodes.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: I always love to be able to have like a microphone on the wall of some of the conversations that we have in my line of work.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's why we get to have Deborah Smith here on today, uh, who we're really, really excited about.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um she and I met uh through the Goldman Sachs uh orientation that uh that I talked about in the past and I've uh talked about it in a couple different episodes.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: The show's Money Manager Greg.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're on WVLP103.1 FM that's locally uh broadcast uh Thursdays at uh uh one o'clock and Saturdays replayed at one o'clock, and then anywhere you pod, you can find us on Spotify, Apple, obviously all on our socials and as well as YouTube.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Deborah, welcome.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good to see you.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Greg, so much for having me.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is my pleasure and an honor to be here.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing great.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: The weather is just about turning, so I'm happy about that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: I am excited to be on your podcast.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've been catching up, listening to all of those amazing episodes that we've had, and I've been learning a lot about finance, and so I'm really, really excited, and I hope I can contribute and share some meaningful value to your podcast.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: So Father, thanks for being here.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in the balmy world of Columbus, Indiana, that it is.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm in Boston here, so it's a little colder.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, obviously, we're in the Bentley uh rep.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Our son plays basketball here, as many of you know on the audience.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so he's at Bentley University and uh just here for a couple games and had a chance to, so Deborah Petersmith is founder of uh Advanced Business Commuting Computing um with over 30 years of technology uh experience and being a veteran who really now serves as an AI strategist and implementation advisor.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, what exactly would that be?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like explain to everybody what that is.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, perfect.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, great.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for your intro.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, over the last 30 years in technology, I've seen several waves of innovation from early networking systems, the internet boom, cybersecurity transformation, cloud computing.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: And with each wave, it brought fear, excitement, and above all, confusion.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: So, what makes AI different for us is the speed.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: The adoption curve is unlike anything we've ever seen before.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: So, my role today is less about traditional IT.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's more about serving as that strategist, as that implementation provider.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: It means helping individuals or owners understand where AI fits.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Not every process we found needs to be automated, or not every decision involves AI.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: The key is identifying where it genuinely improves clarity, efficiency, or security.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what I've, you know, what we've gravitated to.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what we think that a lot of our business customers or clients or even our our cohorts, our friends, that's kind of what they need.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: They need that guidance to find out how to use AI, how to use it responsibly, responsibly, and how to strategically implement it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what our role is right now.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's certainly uh in our conversations that we've had just on the side and why I was so excited to have you on today.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, working with individuals, business owners to really kind of help them understand how AI fits as a business owner, as an individual.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can spend money on an AI solution, but then you're them don't really know how to use it, how it works, how it fits.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's kind of wasted money right now because you're just trying to figure out a secure, compliant environment that uh, you know, isn't gonna cost us a lot of money, but I don't really know what I'm doing.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how are you helping businesses that I don't know to kind of implement these things so they can actually not lose money and help them save some money?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what we do is we do like a business readiness assessment.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: We sit with you and really just go over what your operations are, how you do your work currently.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then we identify options or we then identify opportunities where you can automate certain tasks, identify opportunities where stuff can be just done a lot quicker or streamlined a little bit more, and where we can fit AI into that to free up your time.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a business owner, it helps you work on your business instead of spending all your time working in your business.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: So, first thing we do is really help you identify what the opportunities are and how you can benefit for automation.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Without even talking AI so much, we're talking automation.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of things can be done with just what you have there.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: We explain how it works and then kind of integrate AI on top of that to smooth the whole thing together.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: Most people don't need more tools.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: What they what we find that they need is a lot more clarity.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we help put that in there first.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's the basis of everything.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then we build on that as a trust and advisor, as an implementation strategist, as someone that you know is knowledgeable in AI and how to get it working properly.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: We play that role, work alongside yourself and your team and help you streamline your process.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's fascinating.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much for like just realizing that a lot of stuff is already there.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what exactly what examples would that be?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where is it that I don't necessarily as a business owner have to spend extra money?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Or as an individual, I have to spend a bunch of money to have AI implemented into our daily life.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and a lot of times when we do our assessment, we find that a lot of people are using key tools to operate their business.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: Depends on, you know, what type of vertical they're in.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And in most cases, they have structure and they have um operations.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Let's say in between your CRM and your salespeople, there are already tools in there that are working.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of times it's not being exploited to its fullest.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so they're not taking, they're not making the most of it or they're not seeing the most benefit out of there.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of people think that they need something, AI is going to automatically just make stuff happen.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: And we found that we can just with a little bit of training or tweaking or even advising, you know, use the tools that you already invested in.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: There are a lot of um features put in there that 95% of the times are not fully utilized.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: And those can streamline your operations by more than 20, 25% without even adding any extra thing on top of that.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: After we get them to that point, then we can look at automating the rest of it.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure, there's going to be opportunity for us to use AI to link one platform to another, maybe smooth that out, streamline that.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: There's specific, you know, tasks and stuff that we can definitely put AI into.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I can give you some examples of that.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: But we're more about helping you understand what your process is, identifying some leaks or some pitfalls in your process, first looking at what you already have and what's key to your industry, what you already use, and making sure that that works to the best of its ability first.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of times there's automation in there that's not really being, you know, yeah.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: So some examples of that would be, I mean, multiple different companies have all been talking about how they're implementing AI into their overall, I mean, every, you know, even this Zoom call today that we do, um, you know, has AI, has an AI impersonator, has an AI persona that's recording or, you know, um whatever it might be.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the things that you're seeing that are already that most businesses are already using that have AI that they're not really implementing?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like what's available to them that they don't even know about?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as you had pointed out, in a lot of the platforms right now, they're integrating in AI.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, for example, um your CRM, that's one of them.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you're using a CRM, especially one of those um more popular, more popular versions CRM, you'll find that AI is in there already and already just needing to be implemented.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you're using uh simple as your PDF editor has now included AI in there, and you know, you're able to um manipulate your documents or get it to go straight into some of your other workflows and um utilize that.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Even as much as um even as much as Google right now, you have um AI mode in your search engines, you have AI mode, um, you have Google Gemini, they're all integrating on top of all of your workflows.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're a Google user, let's say you have your Gmail, all of that now has been integrated with um Coworker and with um Gemini, and everything's just already sitting there.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people disregard that, something, a platform that they're probably already paying for and it's included, and they go looking for some of the other more um popular LLMs like um Chat GPT and all of that.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: And what that does is you're having a whole lot of fragments.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: So now you have to copy something and paste it over to your email when you can, there's a AI already sitting there that needs that can just read everything and you know help you by streamlining into your information.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: Those are some of the tools that we see people are not taking advantage of.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it's productivity hacks or what you will that are already there, you're just not using them.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Is that yeah, correct.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's and you just don't know.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, in cases like that, you know, I think a lot of um benefits can be can come from just training, being aware of AI, where it is, and how to use it, how to recognize it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of opportunity as well for people to understand how to use the tools that are already available to them as far as AI is concerned.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, the show's Money Manager Greg.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Greg Furrow, CEO and owner of Ferrell Wealth.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's a uh show about money.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about the multiple different things on this show.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: We have Deborah Peters Smith, who's uh friend of mine I met here at uh at the Goldman Sachs uh 10KSB, which I'm a huge advocate of.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I know Deborah is as well.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking AI here and how she helps businesses save money and individuals save money on uh by utilizing the AI and kind of you know filling in uh just a couple different things that might actually help you in life now with uh you know artificial intelligence.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's been a trend that is been coming and it seems like it's moving faster and faster as we speak.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: One of the biggest things that we see, Devron, I know we even talked about this before, is obviously in our line of work with the SEC, with FENREA, with CIFIC, and all these other uh mandated uh compliance uh groups that we have to comply to.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's compliance, there's uh concern about uh PII personal information being leaked or transferred in some way.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: What are you seeing as far as like the protect the the practical protection strategies that families can implement and businesses can implement to make sure that their AI is safe?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um that's a great question.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Greg.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um the truth is AI is a very, very powerful tool.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: And as in any tool, it depends on the hands in which it's actually being used.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: The onset of AI has dramatically increased the sophistication of the scams that people are experiencing right now.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: Five years ago, a fishing email was easy to spot because it would be like poor grammar or maybe some sort of awkward phrasing.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: Now they can use AI to generate perfectly written emails that sound legitimate.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: They reference personal details and they mimic trusted institutions.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: We're also seeing stuff like voice cloning scams, AI-generated impersonations, and even deep fake videos.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um, there's fraudulent financial instructions that look authentic, like it's coming from your financial institution.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Imagine someone can receive a phone call that sounds exactly like your child and saying they're in trouble and they need money urgently.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's happening.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's happening right now.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm sure if you look around, you'll see people that actually have experienced stuff like that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um AI in itself now, it's don't get me wrong, AI isn't malicious.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's neutral, but the capability has increased dramatically.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: So what we need to do is to be aware.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: We definitely have to be aware of all of that.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think some of the most um beneficial advice I would give to someone out there is do things like slow down your financial decisions.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: A scammer would rely on urgency.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: If someone is pressuring you to move money immediately, you want to pause and see how you can legitimize that that whole scenario.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I would call the institution directly.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: If you get a call saying that you need to transfer the money to a bank or you need to transfer money to pay for something, you want to hang up off of that call and try to reach out to the person yourself directly.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: You want to validate the actual scenario before you think about moving money.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: You want to then create a verification protocol within your family.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: You want to have an agreed-upon process, a safe word maybe, or a secondary verification method.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe send a text or you know, something else, an email to establish that it's the actual person before you issue money or before you send money, because it's very believable.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: You're hearing your kid's voice or you're hearing your parents' voice, you're hearing somebody on the line that you're familiar with and they're asking you for money.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: Your knee-jerk reaction is going to be to send that.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: So you want to have that protocol in place before the emergency happens so that you can, you know, realistically um mitigate any type of loss before that happens.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's scary too, right?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: It is very scary.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Very scary when clients go through it, um, you know, friends and family for sure.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the other thing, too, that we're recommending that just a suggestion to businesses have a have a uh safe word as well.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I love the fact that you have safe words for families, um, or a phrase or something that everyone in the family would know is this is uh, you know, this is not true, this is not a situation that is real.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh only the family would know that.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the same with the business, the business owners, to be able to do the same sort of thing, to have a phrase or a code um could only help, you know, those that might be in trouble in regards to the urgency that's going on in the business as well.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, be creative.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: What I've seen a lot in the businesses is they would get an email from an existing vendor, um, somebody that they're doing business with, or even a client or something, and it would be like, okay, hey, um, I have your your product ready.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: Can you go ahead and send us to this um new bank account?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Or we've just changed our financial institution.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: Can you send us to here instead?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: And in some cases, like I said, if you act really quickly, you don't double check on that.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: What we advise in every case is to hang that phone up or ignore that email, pick the phone up and call your institution.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, hey, I'm talking to Sarah.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is this Sarah, Sarah?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Did you just send me this email or whatever the case may be?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Verify, verify, verify before transferring any money.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: We had an example, we have an uh insurance group we work with on the 401k side.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd only manage the 401k, don't have anything to do with premiums or anything else in regards to what their daily business is.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but they had uh a yearly premium come in from the school system, and the school system was contacted by a vendor to say, hey, look, we changed our uh our payment structure, and the school system set a half a million dollars in premium uh to this false situation.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Here's an insurance company that has cyber attack risk insurance and all these other things.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and still to this day, they've had to fight to get that premium back.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah um just because it wasn't them that instructed, it was the the customer.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it it it is it's scary, and you're absolutely right.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Verify, verify, verify.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like the whole real estate world like location and location, location.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Location, location, location, you know, verify, verify, verify.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Just pick up the phone.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Are you did you change this?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, whatever it might be.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: So and then that the old the old scam is still out there, you're using the internet, and something flashes across saying your computer has been hacked or your computer has a virus, call this number now, and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna help you.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Or it's Microsoft, don't call the number.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Microsoft is don't call the number, Microsoft's not calling.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: The IRS is not calling.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I can go on and on and on.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: There are the things like, no, they're not.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, don't please don't dial up phone number.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I get like 20 emails every month from my clients, and they just double check.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Is this really you USPS?
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Is this really UPS?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Is this really um Microsoft?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, no, no, check the email.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Check the email, you check that email, you know, drop down and make sure, and you'll see that there's a difference in the email address.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we even had a scam here locally where the sheriff was calling saying that you uh missed uh jury duty.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um and they needed$3,200 for whatever, three grand for that or whatever it might be, what's going on all over the uh all over the county.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: And this is just little old, you know, Indiana.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's real.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um tell me, like, what are the fun things that you're doing that are kind of just you know, helping out, saving some people money?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: What's what's out there that you're like, hey, I just love talking about this.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think everybody should know.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, that's great.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: Now, not so much fun, but it is really, really important to mention.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now we talked about how scary and the scams and how how they're using AI.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we got to remember AI isn't just changing risk exposure, it is changing productivity.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now we have um tools and tasks that help people complete their job faster.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: We have tasks that um increases efficiency, adaptability, earning potential, and financial resilience.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: So let's think about it.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: If you're in your career, AI can help you advance.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: People can feel encouraged here and not threatened.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's not eliminating their profession, it's reshaping the skills demand.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: And employees who know how to use AI tools to enhance productivity, they're the ones that are becoming more valuable inside their organizations.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: Even if you're not technical, understanding AI makes you adaptable.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: And adaptability is what protects your income.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: So think about this.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Imagine an administrative assistant who likes they do reports, they summarize meetings.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: That takes them probably 45 minutes to do.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Using AI, it can be done in probably five minutes.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Allowing them to elevate their roles or, you know, contribute to the to the business in some other way.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you're an HR, I mean, and this is one a lot of our clients um we see really helping out in this area.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: You have over 200 resumes to re to to review.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: AI can identify your skill patterns, they can help you structure interview questions, um, they can help you streamline your requirements.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, we still need humans to make the decision.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not that AI is changing your work, it's changing the way that we work.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: For families or for people listening, I would definitely encourage them to make sure that children understand AI, not just how to use it, but how it works and how to prompt and how to question it.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: So right now we're only seeing like new roles being spun up in terms like AI compliance specialists, AI risk manager, AI operation coordinators.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: So all sorts of different opportunities are coming up and it's evolving.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that is what you want to look at.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: You want to be able to position yourself into one of those available roles that are, you know, that are being created just by the use of AI.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not going to replace people, it's going to amplify them, that those that are capable.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really the skill demand and the opportunity, kind of recognizing that as an employee or as an owner of a business, you're like, okay, where can we use this to actually enhance and help people produce at a at a faster rate?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: And not have to waste time.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And on the flip side of that, or on the complimentary side of that, if you're a business owner, this is where, you know, there's a lot of misunderstanding there.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: Many business owners think that AI means just installing a chat bot.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's like just the surface of what we can do with AI.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if we're implementing AI strategically, we can look for AI to do three things in a business.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: AI can protect your revenue, it can reduce your operational friction, and it definitely creates scalability.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: So, for example, um, if you're running um a service-based business and you're missing calls after hours, an AI voice system can answer that and capture information and book appointments.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: We see that instantly within less than 30 days, increasing somebody's revenue booking, you know, billings by in the range of about 15 to 20% just from capturing those calls.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: If you're uh if somebody's visiting your website and they're leaving without engagement, you can have a chat bot or you can have um someone on there, even a call out voice agent on the website that actually can call people, qualify leads, schedule consultations, and then send a detailed email back to the business, letting them know that the opportunity exists.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: We also have seen them in you know, increased flow, the traffic.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody knows that.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, before you go out to a business, you jump on Google still and you check the reviews.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of time businesses, they know they're busy doing the task, they're interacting with customers, they're doing all of that.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, if you're not asking that customer to give you that review in a timely manner, it slips through the cracks, you forget, and there's no record of your great work.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: Now you can use automation and AI to actually streamline that process.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have that automatic request go out to the customer in a way that they're able to quickly and easily give you that five-star review.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we've even had um processes to where if the customer is unhappy and the review does not come back as a five-star review, instead of it hitting Google first, it goes to the manager or to someone that's assigned, that they can actually address that with the client and find out where they were unhappy and get a chance to fix that before they get onto Google and you know, send down their Google rates.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: So those are some of the things that we can actually do with AI that immediately benefits businesses.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: It helps miss follow-ups, it you know, streamlines manual processing, and definitely where you know it the owner bottlenecks everything thinking that they need to do everything.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sometimes guilty of that.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: But AI can definitely prevent burnout.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're not doing that at all.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: None of us do that, right?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, not at all.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Not at all.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: What you're saying, though, is like in a soft way, you're actually saying you can use AI to lessen the temperature, lower the temperature of someone that is already like frustrated with the service, about ready to eviscerate you on Google reviews or whatever.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And AI can kind of calmly say, look, is there anything else I can do ahead of time before you, you know, blow me up and give me a you know one star or whatever?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: Who is gonna be able to add his special touch?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, Greg, I know that we might have dropped the ball here on that last um service that we performed to you, but here's a free coupon for the next time you come through.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how can you agree with that?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Again, it turns down the temperature in the room, which is not really, really nice.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then that ultimately saves the business owner money because of visits and less bad reviews and all of that above and beyond.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Could certainly be helpful in Airbnbs and stays like that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Again, lots of different restaurants.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for sure.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, great.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the show's money manager, Greg.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very furrow, CEO and owner of Ferrell Wealth, it's a wealth management firm.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: We talked money on this show.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can get us anywhere to obviously WDLP103.1 FM, which will be broadcast on Thursdays at one o'clock, uh, Central Time, and then uh replayed at noon or no, one o'clock on Saturdays.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're talking with Deborah Peters Smith.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: She is a founder of Advanced Business Computing with over 30 years of technology veteran experience.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, she works with individuals, business owners to kind of help them understand where AI fits, how to use it responsibly, how to strategically implement and just be secure with things.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: We talked a little bit about that as far as the current environments and where we see sort of like how opportunities for you to be able to use AI in your future.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Bever, is there anything you want to leave the audience with here today?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Just to kind of like some things that they should maybe think about.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, as Tommy, we talked about a little about the overall risk of things, but as far as like using AI to improve your lives, to be a little bit more productive, to make things a little easier.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: I guess anything you want to leave the audience with today to kind of like talk about.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, for sure.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: First thing I want to say is before if you're you're gonna go into AI, I mean that's the next natural step for your business.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um try to figure out where it's gonna fit.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: First thing first, don't buy anything.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Don't buy the shiny thing that pops across your social media page or your email.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: Start by mapping your bottlenecks.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Ask yourself, where are we losing time?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Where are we losing consistency?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Where are we losing clarity?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: AI should only be introduced to solve a real friction point.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: If it feels stressful, then you're moving too fast.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: If it feels relieving, then you're on the right track.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: We've always said technology should simplify your life, not complicated.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something that we stand by.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: As a matter of fact, our tagline is we make IT easy.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: And now we've rolled that over to we make AI easy.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: We're not here to complicate anything.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: AI is not something to fear, it's not something to ignore, it's something that you need to understand.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: For the people out there that are looking at it, AI will not replace you.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: But the people who understand it, they're gonna move faster than you.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: You want to start with awareness, move with strategy, protect your finances, and strengthen your position.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: And that's how you can have AI become an asset instead of a liability.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: And if anybody needs any help with their journey, uh they want to find out some more, or they, you know, they just have questions.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure Greg can share my information.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Feel free to well, that was my my next question.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Where does everyone find you?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, where do we find you?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: You can find me if you want to jump online.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's at easy asabc.com.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: And that's e-a-z y asabc.com.
• 30:34
  unknown: Okay.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: Something, get in touch with you.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: I will kind of just usher you straight through.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: You'll end up on my desk, and I will have be happy to, you know, schedule some time and really kind of discuss with you what your process looks like.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Our implementation, our sorry, our AI assessment for businesses.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, we're offering it free of charge.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: You get a 15-minute um process where we kind of go through your business, understand that, and then we we give you a roadmap.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's nothing that you have to commit to, but at least you walk away with some understanding of where you are and how AI can help you in your business.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something that you can put into action, or you can at least have a plan to get to it, you know, when you when you got time because you're a busy business owner.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for being on today.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Really appreciate it.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much again, Craig.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's been my absolute pleasure.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um as usual.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's so great seeing you.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, everybody out there, it's the Deborah Peters Smith from ABC or Advanced Business Commute Computing um uh here in Columbus, Indiana.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's been an absolute joy.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for so much for being on, and uh, we'll see you soon.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Greg.
• 31:50
  unknown: Yeah.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in to Money Matters with Greg.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you gained some valuable insights today.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, your financial journey is personal, but you don't have to go it alone.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and share.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, here's the making your money work for you.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Securities and investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA SIPC.