Meet Carol, the 91-year-old wizard at a retirement community known as “Amazing Carol” to her fellow residents. Her neighbors were in awe of her ability to add color to old black-and-white photos, remove busy backgrounds, fix wardrobe problems, and even humorously put her face on Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The secret behind her magic is artificial intelligence. Carol uses artificial intelligence to create engaging newsletters and photo albums to help her residents remember each other, all from her iPhone.
Carroll’s story is part of a larger trend: the democratization of technology. What once required highly skilled professionals is now available to amateurs, small business owners, and everyday people. This AI-driven shift is not only changing how we edit photos and who has the ability to do so, but it’s reshaping many fields in ways we’re just beginning to understand.
Artificial intelligence opens the door to new capabilities
My co-founder Eliot and I started Photoroom to democratize photo editing. We want to bring the power of great images to more people, not just those with technical skills or expensive software.
What we didn’t fully anticipate was that artificial intelligence would change not only the “how” of photo editing, but also the “who.”
In the early days, we envisioned Photoroom as a tool for small business owners, resellers, and creators who needed stunning visuals but lacked the resources to hire professional photographers and designers. But as our user base grows, we see an increasingly diverse group embracing our technology. Carroll is just one of thousands of people embracing artificial intelligence.
With a human-centered approach, artificial intelligence not only makes photo editing easier; It opens doors for people who never thought they had the ability to create professional visual effects.
Empower small business owners
Sarah, now 19, started her own business, Cowgirl Clutch, in July 2020 when she was 16 years old. .
She started experimenting with Photoroom at the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey and now uses it to create professional visuals for newsletters and email marketing, and to quickly repurpose content by changing the background. Sarah told us that AI helps her express her creativity and that her AI imagery generates more sales than other product photography.
These small businesses are the backbone of many economies, and AI tools are driving a global shift to help foster innovation, job creation and economic growth.
The latest data from the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that 33 million businesses in the United States qualify as small businesses, accounting for 99.9% of the total number of businesses in the United States.
McKinsey’s Small Business Report confirms that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the lifeblood of the global economy. Across the 16 countries studied, MSMEs account for two-thirds of corporate employment in developed economies and nearly four-fifths of corporate employment in emerging economies, as well as half of all value added.
Whether it’s photo editing or other tasks, solopreneurs like Sarah need tools that increase creativity and productivity. High-quality visual effects, video editing, and even creating custom songs are no longer just for big companies with huge budgets. With the help of artificial intelligence tools, small businesses can now thrive alongside big enterprises.
Artificial Intelligence is a catalyst for change across industries
Photography is just one of the industries being democratized by artificial intelligence. You can now create and edit your own videos using tools like Mojo or CapCut, customize your own soundtrack using AI (like we recently did with OkCupid), and use voice AI tools like Talkio to present your videos in languages you’re unfamiliar with. The project does not speak.
ChatGPT helps people with zero coding experience, or create recipes based on what’s in their fridge, and more. Robo-advisors make it easier for individuals to manage their investment portfolios, which have previously been “guarded” by financial advisors.
This shift not only raises important questions about the future of work and the skills required, but also challenges and opportunities for businesses building AI tools as their audiences continue to change.
Most AI companies are building technology-first tools for experts, which creates a steep learning curve for everyone else. But by taking a human-centered approach and developing AI tools to solve problems people face in their daily lives, companies can reach a global audience with a wide range of demographics. Artificial intelligence is supposed to make complex things simple so that people like Carroll feel “magical.”
The future of artificial intelligence is people-centered
What excites me most about the future of artificial intelligence is its potential to facilitate new small business opportunities and provide creative and financial freedom to ordinary users around the world, especially those who enjoy using action-first technology.
No matter what field you’re in, “who” is behind the work is likely to change dramatically in the coming years, making human-centered AI that focuses on solving user problems rather than technical problems more important than ever. This could be the key to a company’s survival and growth.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to guide this transformation in a way that benefits everyone. The primary focus of AI should be to accelerate creativity or productivity, not to replace humans. Here are two simple ways to implement this change in your own business:
- Put users first. Starting from the pain points of users, develop artificial intelligence architecture to solve their specific problems. It also means creating a user-friendly, mobile-first interface that anyone can learn to use in minutes.
- Make artificial intelligence within reach. The biggest risk is the division of society between those empowered by artificial intelligence and those left behind. Making AI accessible to everyone means providing a free version, availability in multiple languages, and making it simple to use so that anyone from children to retirees can use it.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How can artificial intelligence enable more people to do things they couldn’t do before?
- How does artificial intelligence break down barriers and create new opportunities?
- How do we ensure our AI practices are ethical and inclusive?
The answer could reshape your industry.
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