Something weird happened on a client call last week. We were discussing a complex workflow, and the client leaned in and whispered, "Does any of this actually work yet, or are we all just pretending?"
It was a refreshing bit of honesty in a week that has felt like one giant, shiny distraction. While the big tech players are busy releasing new "reasoning" models and threatening to replace half the workforce, most of us are just trying to get a chatbot to stop hallucinating about garden gnomes.
If you feel like you’re falling behind, I’ll let you in on a secret. You aren’t. Most of the "revolution" is still just people shouting in a very expensive echo chamber. Here is what actually happened this week, and more importantly, what it means for those of us actually trying to run a business.
The Problem with New AI Model Releases
Every time a new model drops, the internet loses its collective mind for forty-eight hours. We’re told this new version "reasons like a human" or "solves PhD-level physics."
That’s lovely if you happen to be a physicist. If you’re trying to automate a customer service desk, however, you probably noticed that the basic plumbing is still a bit leaky.
In my post earlier this week, Weekly AI News Roundup: Why Real Productivity is Found in the Gaps, we looked at why rushing to adopt every new model is a fool’s errand. The smart move isn't staying on the "modern" — it's finding the quiet spots where the current tech actually works.
The reality is that business logic doesn't move as fast as a silicon chip. You can have the smartest model in the world, but if your internal data is a mess, the AI will just find new and creative ways to be wrong.
Practical AI Implementation Strategies for Real People
If you've been following the news, you probably saw the terrifying headlines about AI being cited as a reason for 55,000 job cuts. It makes for great clickbait, but it misses the point for smaller agencies and businesses.
We aren't seeing a mass replacement of humans. We're seeing a mass replacement of boring tasks.
I spent some time this week looking at Practical AI Tools for Productivity and a Smarter Work Week. The goal isn't to build a Skynet; it's to stop doing the data entry that makes you want to stare into a dark room for three hours every Friday.
Here is the truth nobody tells you about AI productivity:
- Most "productivity" tools are just extra work disguised as a dashboard.
- The best automation is the one you don't have to "manage."
- If a tool takes more than ten minutes to explain to your nan, it's probably too complicated for your daily workflow.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, book a consultation and we can figure out which parts of your business actually need a robot and which parts just need a better spreadsheet.
Why AI Sales Outreach is Feeling a Bit... Robotic
We’ve all received those LinkedIn messages. You know the ones. They start with a weirdly specific compliment about a post you wrote in 2019 and end with a "quick call" that you'd rather walk into the sea than take.
This week, I touched on Why Your AI Sales Outreach is Failing and How to Fix It. The problem isn't the AI. The problem is that people are using AI to be obnoxious at scale.
They are using tools to mimic human connection, and we’ve all developed a "spam radar" that makes us immune to it. If you want to use AI in sales, use it to do the homework, not to write the script. Use it to find out who actually needs help, rather than blasting a thousand people who don't care.
If you want to see how to actually handle the "messy" parts of sales automation properly, take a look at SalesM8. It’s built for people who want to start conversations, not just hit "send" and hope for the best.
The Absurdity of Context and GPT Hallucinations
There is a funny side to all this. This week we explored The Absurd Reality of AI Implementation and Why Context is King.
Large Language Models are like very eager interns who have read every book in the library but have never actually stepped outside. If you don't give them context, they make it up. One client found their AI bot telling prospective customers that they provided "artisanal cheese" alongside their cyber-security packages.
It’s a laugh, until it's your brand on the line. This is why the industry is shifting away from "general" AI and moving toward highly specific, context-rich applications.
Updates for the Agency Owners
For those of you running agencies, the GoHighLevel (GHL) updates this week were actually quite significant. But as I noted in GoHighLevel (GHL) New Features: What Actually Matters for Agency Growth, most of them are noise.
The key is identifying which features solve a client’s problem today, rather than what might be cool next year. I also wrote about How to Position AI Services to Existing Clients Without Being a Nuisance. Hint: it’s not about an "upsell." It’s about being the person who notices their house is on fire before they do.
What’s the Overall Trajectory?
If I had to sum up this week, it would be this: The "Magic" phase of AI is ending, and the "Utility" phase is beginning.
People are getting bored of chat windows. They want results. They want to know how many hours they’ll save, not how many parameters the model has.
We wrapped up the week with a bit of a Reality Check on New AI Productivity Tools. The takeaway remains the same: the quiet ones who are actually implementing this stuff in boring ways are the ones who will win.
If you want to read more about how to navigate this without the corporate fluff, you can find more articles on AI on the blog.
The world isn't ending, and the robots aren't coming for your job tomorrow. They’re just coming for the bits of your job that you probably hated doing anyway. Which, between us, is a pretty good deal.
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I publish a weekly roundup every Saturday at steventann.com. If you found this useful, there's plenty more where this came from.
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About the Author
Steven Tann is an AI consultant, author of "You're Selling AI Wrong", and founder of SalesM8. He writes about AI, sales, and running a business from a narrowboat on the English canals. Connect with him at steventann.com.