In today’s fast-paced world, staying ahead of the curve is essential, especially in the senior living business. AI is not just a buzzword; it’s a transformative tool that can significantly enhance your operations and improve the quality of life for your residents.
Here’s why you should care about artificial intelligence:
- It works. People who use AI report higher levels of happiness and productivity. Imagine having a tool that can handle repetitive tasks, organize your information and even help you brainstorm. AI can do all that and more, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: caring for your residents. A Harvard study found that knowledge workers who use AI can complete tasks 25% faster with a 40% quality improvement.
- The job market demands it. Employers are increasingly looking for candidates with AI skills. LinkedIn jobs data show that 66% of employers wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, and 71% will hire less experienced candidates with AI skills. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, having AI expertise can make you more marketable and open up new career opportunities. It’s hard to imagine a future where AI won’t be as integral as the internet, e-commerce or social media. Can you picture a company or an employee that doesn’t use these tools? Enough said.
Common use cases
- Content creation. AI can help you generate engaging content for your community newsletters, social media, and marketing materials. It can even assist in writing personalized messages to residents and their families.
- Brainstorming. Stuck on a problem? AI can offer fresh perspectives and ideas, helping you brainstorm solutions more effectively.
- Organizing your information. From managing reports, ensuring regulation compliance and employee onboarding, AI can streamline your administrative tasks, making your operations more efficient.
- Sharing your expertise. AI can help you create and distribute training materials, ensuring that your staff is always up-to-date with the latest best practices.
- Repetitive tasks. Whether it’s data entry or HR task backlog, AI can handle repetitive tasks with ease, reducing the risk of human error and saving you time.
How AI works
At its core, AI uses language and sequencing of words to understand your instructions and respond with well-structured communication based on your direction. It’s like having a highly skilled assistant who can understand and execute your commands. The key here is understanding your instructions, which requires asking good questions, also known as “prompts.”
Prompt advice
When using AI, clarity is key. Don’t be lazy with your instructions. Bad directions will result in poor outputs. Clear, concise directions will not only save you time but also yield better results.
Template for structuring an AI prompt
To help you get started, here’s a simple template you can use to structure your AI prompts effectively:
- Objective: Clearly state what you want to achieve.
- Example: “Generate a list of blog post ideas for our senior living community newsletter.”
- Context: Provide any necessary background information.
- Example: “Our community focuses on wellness, social activities and resident stories.”
- Specific Instructions: Give detailed directions on what you need.
- Example: “Include at least five ideas that cover wellness tips, upcoming events and resident interviews.”
- Format: Specify the format you want the output in.
- Example: “Present the ideas in a bullet-point list and create a place to insert a clear call to action link.”
Do’s and don’ts
Don’t
- Be afraid to paste in long text.
- AI can handle large amounts of information, so don’t hesitate to provide detailed context, even if it is not formatted very well.
- Give up.
- Often prompting an AI can take one to three different tries or rewrites. Persistence pays off.
- Feel bad about using AI for writing, brainstorming or giving you answers.
- AI is a tool designed to assist you, not replace you.
Do
- Be specific with your goals, audience and desired result.
- Clear objectives lead to better outputs.
- Generate new ideas and share them back with the team.
- Collaboration can enhance the quality of the results.
- Make it a habit.
- Regular use of AI can significantly boost your productivity.
Wrap up
The best way to understand the power of AI is to start using it. Experience is the most important thing. As you become more comfortable, try more advanced tools, such as creating a trained AI that knows more about you and your work.
Call to action
Set up a free account on WiseOx and start experimenting with creating your own trained AI. The future is here, and it’s time to embrace it.
Fritz Brumder is co-founder and CEO of WiseOx.
The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living marketplace column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.
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