Introduction

2023 marked the renaissance of artificial intelligence. Initially, this technology was only accessible to large companies with data scientists. However, today, almost every business has access to AI. Artificial Intelligence helps them improve work quality, saves time, energy, and costs. It can generate amazing visuals, optimize content, and personalize user experience in just a few minutes.

Given AI’s capabilities, it’s revolutionizing operations for solopreneurs, small and medium business owners. As it continuously evolves, it’s important to keep track of current changes. In this blog, we’ll explore 2024 trends that will make AI more valuable and useful for small businesses.

1. Generative AI

This technology independently creates new ideas. You provide it with existing data (text, images, music, design), and it returns ideas developed based on them. Unlike older versions that could only modify received data, Generative AI creates original ideas. It’s ideal for various purposes:

• Creating unique business names
• Automating content creation for websites, email campaigns, and social media
• Optimizing blog content for search engines

Design platforms like Adobe Express and Firefly are integrating AI into their tools. Using AI, with simple text input, Firefly allows you to:

• Remove or replace any object or person from images
• Convert existing works into templates
• Make adjustments This ultimately saves tremendous time and energy in design development and editing.

2. Personalization

A significant portion of users want improved individual experiences from businesses. Regardless of company size, they expect more personalization. However, it’s almost impossible to manually offer tailored service to each customer. Many small and medium business representatives think they need large volumes of data and marketing operations to address this issue.

This is where AI steps in, creating personalization opportunities through:

• Customer segmentation based on existing data
• AI ad generation making individual offers based on viewed products
• Writing segment-specific emails

If your small business isn’t using personalization, now is a good time to implement this experience using AI tools. Adobe Firefly allows you to create personalized graphics for customers.

3. Microinteractions

AI involves simulating human intelligence through programmatically coded heuristics. Today, this code is prevalent in everything from enterprise applications to consumer apps and embedded software.

Microinteractions include small design details embedded in digital products or websites to improve user experience. Examples include:

• Confetti animation at order completion
• Embedded AI assistants for handling queries
• Features aimed at making user experience more pleasant and memorable

Microinteractions can:

• Increase user engagement
• Improve website usability and accessibility
• Showcase unique brand identity
• Encourage purchases through ‘softer’ methods by improving digital experience

4. Accessibility

It’s essential to consider people with disabilities. Brands must ensure their content is accessible to everyone. This requires implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards during website development. AI can help increase content accessibility through:

• Adding image descriptions: AI tools can automatically generate alternative text for images
• Video captioning and subtitles
• Accessibility checking
• Creating AI chatbots that make hard-to-find content more accessible

However, remember that not all user needs can be addressed without human intervention. AI-implemented changes should be verified to fully eliminate barriers for all types of users.

Implementation Recommendations

For businesses planning to use AI in design:

1. Start with basic AI tools like Adobe Express for visual content
2. Experiment with Adobe Firefly’s AI capabilities for brand-specific design
3. Focus on accessibility features
4. Implement personalization gradually
5. Test and verify AI-generated content

Conclusion

As you can see, AI in design can be used in multiple ways, saving time and energy while being more creative and customer-focused. This ultimately reflects in business success. Therefore, if you’re not yet using AI in your operations, it’s recommended to start 2024 by implementing it.