I run a laser tag and arcade business. Like most operators, I can start the day with a perfectly reasonable plan and finish it wondering where the hours went. There's always something else that needs doing.
Over the past year I started embracing AI. Over the past three months, I've really got into using it in my working day. It helps me get the thoughts out of my head, organise what needs doing and work through ideas. I feel more organised and more productive because of it.
It can also be frustrating. Sometimes the tools won't connect, or a job needs another approach. There is still plenty for me to check.
But I'm not going to apologise for using something that helps me run my business. I would rather learn how to make AI a friend than spend all my time treating it as a foe.
We have learnt new tools before
In my lifetime I've seen the arrival of mobile phones, the internet and good old dial-up. Remember the arguments because someone wanted to use the phone while you were online?
Then there were fax machines, trips to the video shop and taking your photos somewhere to get them developed. Mention some of that to someone 20 years younger and watch the blank look.
I'm glad I grew up when I did. I'm also grateful nobody could afford to carry a video camera around to capture all the crazy stuff I did in my youth!
Technology has brought plenty of good things and a few things I could happily live without. I don't have to love every part of it to find something useful.
I often think about Kevvy and Jessie. Kevvy was quite possibly the fastest two-finger typist in the world. One day I walked into their house while Jessie was doing a crossword and heard her ask him to “check with Google” to see whether she had the answer right.
They were both in their late 80s. I loved it. They had a question and a tool that could help. So they used it.
Meet Ben
I use ChatGPT, and I've given my assistant a name. Originally it was Molly. These days it's Ben.
I've been telling my friends to give their AI a name too. Talk naturally, like you are talking to a friend. Explain what is going on, what you are trying to do and where you are stuck. You don't have to make every thought sound clever before you put it in.
For me, that makes it easier to start. I can dump the jumble in my head and then work through it, rather than trying to produce a perfectly organised request in the first place.
At the beginning of my day, I do a brain dump with Ben. I break my working day into focus sessions and work out what needs my attention. More things get added as the day goes on. Sometimes I put a few thoughts down before bed so I can come back to them.
I also throw in some fairly out-there ideas. Occasionally there is something worth exploring. Occasionally they are probably best left between Ben and me.
The jobs behind the fun
Anyone running a venue will recognise the number of hats we wear. Bookkeeping, HR, marketing, social media, administration, customer service and whatever else lands on the desk.
The customers come for a good time. Behind that is a business that needs organising, and a lot of that work lands with the owner.
That is where AI has been useful to me. Getting a messy list into something I can work with. Helping me think through an idea. Turning a rough explanation into a draft I can read, change and use.
I've also been working on practical things such as a weekly planner and a draft staff guide. They still need my input and checking. Having a draft to work on can be a useful place to start.
I pay for an AI subscription. I'm not turning this into an advertisement for it, and I'm not pretending that signing up suddenly takes care of running the business. I still have to decide what matters and whether the result is useful in our venue.
The thoughts are still mine
Take this article. I was really crap at English at school. I preferred maths, science and PE. Not that the PE part is particularly evident at the moment.
I can get my words and thoughts down as they come into my head, then use AI to help organise them, sort out the spelling and grammar, and make the whole thing easier to read.
I understand why people talk about “AI slop”. A page of tidy sentences does not automatically give you something worth saying. I want this to sound like me, talking to other operators about something I'm actually using.
These are my stories, opinions and experiences. AI did not live them. I did. It is my job to read the result and make sure it still says what I mean.
Checking our work
This is the other thing I've been saying to my friends. Of course you have to check each other's work. Just like a good friend.
I can ask Ben to check what I have written, question an idea or help me spot something I have missed. Then I need to check what comes back. Calling the assistant Ben makes the conversation feel natural. It does not make every answer right.
As an operator, I need to bring what I know about my business to that conversation. Does this make sense for our staff? Is the information correct? Does the wording match what we can actually deliver? Is this really what I asked for?
If a price or a detail is wrong, our customers still see it as coming from us. “The AI wrote it” is not much of an explanation.
There is a less glamorous side too. I've had frustrating moments when connections would not work and a task needed another approach. That takes patience, especially when you wanted to get on with the job.
So I'm learning to be clear about what I want and to look at what has actually been done. A useful draft still needs reading. A plan still needs putting into practice. I remain responsible for what goes out with our business name on it.
Our people still matter
What interests me is what any time or money saved could make room for. Our staff are the backbone of our businesses. We need bright, bubbly people looking after customers and making the venue a place people want to come back to.
I often tell people that 20 years ago I was probably the right person to be behind the counter. These days I have a face for radio.
Seriously though, think about the team member who welcomes a nervous child, remembers a regular or makes a birthday feel special. That is the experience families take home.
I want help with the work behind the scenes so I can put more attention into supporting those people and the business around them. That is the opportunity I see as an operator.
I understand the concerns about jobs. I cannot tell you what AI will mean for every role or every business. I can tell you where I'm finding it useful in mine.
Give it a name and have a go
I have some of the most awesome friends in the world, and so many of them have come through this industry. I love catching up with them. They also have their own businesses, families and things going on.
Having somewhere to sort out my to-do list and random thoughts is useful. It leaves me better organised when I do want to talk an idea through with a real person.
If you are curious, try it with one ordinary job. Give your AI a name, explain the job as you would to a friend, and see whether the result helps. Then check it.
I keep coming back to Kevvy and Jessie and that crossword. I want to keep that willingness to learn. The tools will keep changing, and I will keep figuring out which ones are useful to me.
And I'm definitely not going to apologise for using the tools of today.