How Small Businesses Are Caught in the Crossfire in the Battle of AI Giants

For many small businesses, the AI revolution is not a story of empowerment but of survival. But for freelancers and independent content creators, it tells different stories.

(Photo: iStock)

The air was thick with tension as the tech world watched an unprecedented battle unfold. On one side stood OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0, a formidable force in the artificial intelligence arena. On the other, Google’s Gemini is an advanced yet seemingly struggling contender in this high-stakes competition.

The echoes of this clash reverberated far beyond the corridors of Silicon Valley, reaching into the everyday lives of small businesses and startups. As these tech titans tussle for dominance, the collateral damage is already becoming apparent, with smaller players bearing the brunt of this seismic shift.

The story begins with the rapid rise of ChatGPT 4.0. OpenAI has consistently pushed the envelope, and this latest iteration of their AI is no exception. Launched on 14 March 2023, GPT-4 quickly made waves with its enhanced capabilities, including improved accuracy in logic and reasoning tasks and its ability to process both text and images.

Within two months, ChatGPT reached 100 million active users, setting a record for the fastest user growth in history. Capable of generating text that feels very human-like, ChatGPT 4.0 has become an indispensable tool for a variety of applications. From customer service to content creation, businesses have eagerly adopted this technology to streamline operations and cut costs. Its intuitive interface and impressive capabilities have set a new standard, one that Google’s Gemini is desperately trying to match.

Google, a giant that has long ruled the search and AI landscape, finds itself in unfamiliar territory. The launch of Google Gemini was meant to be a bold response to ChatGPT’s growing influence. However, the reception has been lukewarm at best. Yes, people are moving towards OpenAI’s marvel.

Critics argue that Gemini is more of a reactionary product, a mix of borrowed ideas rather than a groundbreaking innovation. This narrative is similar to the early 2000s when Yahoo, once a giant in the search engine world, faltered under the pressure of a rapidly evolving internet and the rise of Google. At its peak in 2000, Yahoo was valued at over $125 billion, but by 2017, it sold its core internet operations to Verizon for just $4.48 billion.

The implications of this struggle extend far beyond corporate boardrooms. Small businesses, often the first to adopt and innovate with new technologies, are caught in the crossfire. These enterprises, spanning industries from translation services to digital design, find themselves at a precarious juncture.

As giants like OpenAI and Google pour resources into outpacing each other, the tools that small businesses rely on become either prohibitively expensive or obsolete. Why? They are not funded; most of them are bootstrapped.

It’s like the quote, “When banks compete, the customers win.” If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and you want to start a tech business, you would think of numerous reasons to not start a new business today. Who knows? The core competition of your business will be a tech giant's side feature tomorrow.

Take, for instance, a small translation service company. Earlier, they might have had people to do translation, allowing human translators to focus on more complex, nuanced work. With the advent of ChatGPT 4.0, these tasks can now be handled with unprecedented accuracy and speed. Now, such tasks are done with a click. What about the whole translation business? Of course, we admit and know that those businesses won’t be wiped out completely but surely there will be layoffs and fewer and fewer requirements.

Google’s Gemini, while a potential alternative, does not yet offer the same level of sophistication, leaving these businesses in a technological limbo. What if it does in the next few months?

The design industry faces a similar predicament. Freelance graphic designers and small agencies have embraced AI-driven tools to enhance productivity and creativity. Tools like DALL-E are upgrading so fast that the small designing companies which relied on basic to mediocre designing with minimal efforts are in trouble.

This arms race results in frequent updates and changes, often without adequate support or documentation, leaving small businesses scrambling to keep up. The constant need to adapt is challenging.

Video production and content creation, too, are not spared. The allure of AI in automating tedious editing processes and generating compelling narratives is undeniable. ChatGPT’s 20$ subscription gives you access to the web, grammar check, high-quality blog creation and whatnot. Small content creators, who once thrived on the accessibility and simplicity of more gigs, now face a steep learning curve.

The broader economic landscape worsens these challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has already stretched small businesses to their limits. Just as they begin to recover, they are hit with another wave of disruption.

Amid this chaos among the tech giants, there is a growing sense of disillusionment in small and medium-sized technology businesses. These tools can code. Literally. In the blink of an eye.

The narrative of technological progress being a universally positive force is being questioned. The technology that once promised to be a great equaliser is increasingly becoming a barrier, reinforcing existing inequalities. And the bad news is that these tools and technologies are upgrading every second, leaving small businesses with limited cash flow and working capital to either downsize or shut down the whole business.

For many small businesses, the AI revolution is not a story of empowerment but of survival. But for freelancers and independent content creators, it tells different stories.

Pawan Chabra from Delhi sees AI enhancing content editing with polished drafts but believes it can't replace compelling content creation. It aids in research, outlining, and editing. Swapan Deep Kaur in Chandigarh notes a surge in AI-generated content for overseas education consultancies. Initially embraced for cost-cutting, companies faced penalties from Google for AI-generated content, resulting in more rejections than new cases.

Lavinia D’Souza, a travel blogger in London, struggles with AI's impact on SEO writing and blogging, citing increased plagiarism and decreased website traffic. Jennifer Willis in Portland lost a major client to AI, affecting her income. She's sceptical about AI's growing role in writing despite her 30 years of experience. Amanda Horiuchi in Tokyo finds AI beneficial for generating high-quality content, giving her a competitive edge with US clients while emphasising the importance of additional skills beyond writing.

As we watch this battle unfold, one cannot help but wonder if Google will find a way to reclaim its footing or if it will succumb to the relentless advance of OpenAI.

More importantly, what will be the fate of the small businesses caught in the crossfire? Will they adapt and thrive in this new world, or will they be pushed to the brink of extinction, their voices drowned out in the noise of technological progress?

Only time will tell, but one thing is clear: the AI revolution is here, and its ripple effects are just beginning to be felt.

(Bhavik Sarkhedi is a writer at Forbes India, a seasoned independent writer whose stories are published in The New York Times, Forbes US, YourStory, HuffPost, Elite Daily, Times of India, Entrepreneur US and more.)