Q: What AI application(s) have you adopted into your business operations over the past year? What are some of its benefits and/or what are some challenges you encountered?
Dr. Tricia Loscher
Chief Curator
Desert Caballeros Western Museum
Sector: Arts & Culture
I have utilized tools such as ChatGPT and Grammarly.com as a museum curator and author for my professional and personal projects. I view AI platforms as collaboration partners to help me with the challenges I face in my work as a chief curator for museums. I am also writing a book in my spare time, which adds another layer to my work. AI platforms can enhance my research and writing overall, often improving the quality of my projects. When I don’t have an editor available to double-check my graphics, labels or chapters, the platforms can serve as a second pair of eyes for my work.
AI also generates suggestions, calling out any gaps in my work and proposing questions that can help me think about a subject matter differently and possibly more creatively. These platforms also present challenges, such as a reliance on technology and the complexities of creative expression. Sometimes it’s unreliable because it will subtly change the meaning of what I have written, so I double-check my work thoroughly to make sure it still makes my intended points. There are times I seek out human input rather than AI, especially if I need to consult with scholars or artists and the subject matter is highly unique or imbued with a great deal of self-expression.
Tricia Loscher, Ph.D., is the chief curator and curator for The Dita and John Daub Western Women’s Art Collection at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg.
Johnathan Meade
Chief Executive Officer
Meade Engineering
Sector: Engineering
Meade Engineering is leveraging AI for the automation of consistently repeatable tasks within the organization. We view AI as a collaborator and are focused on opportunities to increase efficiency without sacrificing quality. As AI continues to become more accessible, it’s important we continuously evaluate new tools and give AI the opportunity to improve our business in ways that align with our core values, strategic goals and regulatory landscape.
When approaching AI use cases, we recognize the importance of our input and what impact it will have on the results. Low-quality input results in low-quality output. We remain conscious of dependency on AI and regularly communicate — internally with the Meade team, during internal meetings as well as via email — about the impact to our business model, our day-to-day operations and long-term vision to ensure we strike the appropriate balance of AI usage in our company and industry.
Arizona native Johnathan Meade, MBA, CEO of Phoenix-based Meade Engineering, carries extensive corporate finance, strategy development, digital product management and early set, hands-on industry experience under his father, Meade Engineering’s original owner. Initially drawn to economics at Arizona State University, he redirected his educational path to business and finance. Meade then achieved his MBA at Pepperdine University and honed his financial expertise during his tenure at Charles Schwab.
Sam Saks
Partner
Guidant Law
Sector: Law
Guidant Law attorneys are exploring how we can smartly and ethically use artificial intelligence solutions like Microsoft Copilot to create internal workflow efficiencies. This includes simplifying templates, consolidating large amounts of information, and quickly extracting data from spreadsheets, among other tasks.
In the legal field, the potential benefits of AI adoption are immense. Attorneys and legal professionals are not strangers to complex, lengthy documentation, so the opportunity to handle once hours-long tasks — like summarizing 50 pages of complex material — within a matter of minutes allows us to more effectively serve our clients’ needs.
The greatest challenges posed by AI are clear: These tools are fallible, requiring human piloting to ensure conscientious and accurate use. Additionally, privacy is a chief concern. Our firm navigates both by strictly adhering to established internal standards around input information and only using these tools as a preliminary step in any process rather than relying on AI for a final product.
Sam Saks has decades of experience in all phases of personal injury litigation and commercial litigation, including discovery, motion practice, trial, mediation and appeal. In addition to his legal practice, Saks volunteers to conduct numerous settlement conferences in civil cases. He is the president-elect of the State Bar of Arizona and has been appointed by the Maricopa County Superior Court to conduct settlement conferences.
