The AI Gap Isn't Technology. It's Hand-Holding.

This week a16z posted a clip of two OpenAI people, James Sun and Ari Weinstein, talking about something I see every day: the gap between how San Francisco thinks about AI and how the rest of us actually use it.

They said it plainly. In San Francisco, people think, "the labs can do everything, why doesn't everybody just install it and have it do stuff?" But for the average small business owner, they listed four hurdles:

Understanding what the tools can actually do.
Connecting them in a way that makes sense.
Deploying them.
Servicing them when something goes wrong.

They're right about all four. Their answer is "computer use," AI that runs your programs the way a person would, clicking and typing, so it works with any software without anyone building a special connection. That's a real step forward. I use an AI helper that works that way, and it saves me hours.

But it only solves one of the four

Computer use fixes hurdle number two, connecting. The other three are people problems.

The woman who runs the farm stand down the road doesn't need a universal agent. She needs someone to sit with her for an hour, figure out the three chores eating her week, set something up that handles them, and answer the phone when it breaks. Nobody in a lab can do that from three thousand miles away.

Most small business owners I talk to aren't asking, "Which model is best?" They're asking, "Is this worth the bother? Will it embarrass me? What happens when it gets something wrong?" Those are fair questions, and a smarter piece of software doesn't answer them. A patient person does.

Start with one chore

Here's what I've learned by trying things, breaking things, and keeping what worked:

Start with one chore, not ten. The one you dread every week.
Test it, then trust it. Watch it do the job a few times before you let it run on its own.
Nothing goes out in your name without your okay. A good AI helper asks first.
Know who to call. Tools break. Have someone who can fix it.

The technology is ready. What's missing is the hand-holding, and that's something a neighbor can do better than a lab.

If you run a small business in the Pioneer Valley and you've been wondering whether AI is worth it, that's exactly what I help with. The first conversation is free, no pressure, and no software to buy from me. Read more about my business advice here.

Adam Sweet, Verve, Granby, MA

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