How are businesses actually using AI right now—and where do humans still need to stay involved? On this episode of Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable, Elizabeth Gearhart and Richard Gearhart talk with business leaders about practical, real-world ways they are using AI for work, productivity, research, content creation, learning, automation and decision-making.
TL;DR: AI can save businesses significant time, help employees learn new skills, improve writing and readability, assist with research, plan travel and even help manage complex business processes. But the conversation also highlights an important limitation: AI should not be trusted blindly. Human oversight is still critical when errors could have serious consequences, when accuracy matters, and when AI-generated content needs judgment, context and a human voice.
Dr. John La Puma explains how he uses AI to manage his farm, prepare for podcasts, organize research and stay on top of email. Michael Greenberg shares how AI helps him plan trips, train new employees and create skills maps for learning new disciplines. Bill Treloar discusses using AI for website and blog brainstorming, content structure and readability analysis—while warning against publishing low-quality “AI slop.” Richard Gearhart describes using AI as a sounding board for legal ideas and communications, while Elizabeth Gearhart explains how she used Claude and Perplexity to help plan a major software transition and prevent potential upgrade problems.
The discussion also tackles a bigger business question: When can an AI agent handle an entire process, and when does a human need to check its work? The answer may depend on how costly a mistake would be. A process that can tolerate a 95% success rate may be suitable for greater automation, while mission-critical tasks may still require human review.
The episode explores practical AI use cases including AI agents, AI automation, AI-assisted writing, research agents, NotebookLM, email management, employee training, skills mapping, business process improvement and human-in-the-loop AI.
FAQs:
How are businesses using AI right now?
Businesses are using AI for content brainstorming, research, employee training, process improvement, email management, readability analysis, travel planning, business planning, knowledge management and automation.
Should businesses let AI work without human oversight?
It depends on the consequences of an error. AI can potentially handle processes where mistakes are relatively low-risk, but humans should remain involved when accuracy is mission-critical or an error could cause significant harm.
What is human-in-the-loop AI?
Human-in-the-loop AI means AI performs part or most of a process while a person reviews, verifies or approves important outputs before they are acted upon.
How can businesses use AI without publishing low-quality content?
AI can be useful for brainstorming, research, outlining and improving readability, but businesses should have humans review and edit content for accuracy, originality, context, tone and quality before publishing it.
Can AI help employees learn new skills?
Yes. AI can create customized learning plans, recommend books, videos and articles, break larger skills into smaller components and help employees develop new areas of expertise.
How can AI help with business process improvement?
AI can analyze existing processes, identify potential problems, suggest improvements and create plans for reducing bottlenecks or preventing mistakes. Human judgment is still needed to determine which recommendations make sense for the business.
What are AI agents?
AI agents are AI systems that...
Chapters
- (00:00:00) - Introduction to the Roundtable
- (00:00:35) - Dr. John La Puma: AI for Farm Management
- (00:01:30) - Michael Greenberg: AI for Weekend Planning
- (00:02:06) - Bill Treloar: AI for Web and Blog Writing
- (00:02:39) - Richard Gearhart: AI as a Legal Sounding Board
- (00:03:28) - Elizabeth Gearhart: AI for Software Transition Planning
- (00:04:47) - Debate on Human Oversight vs AI Autonomy
- (00:05:43) - When to Trust AI vs Require Human Checks
- (00:07:23) - Dr. John La Puma: AI for Podcasts and Research
- (00:08:34) - More AI Uses: Readability and Emotional Emails
- (00:09:29) - Closing Thoughts and Sign-Off
