AI announcements can make it difficult to decide what deserves attention. A useful way to assess a new tool is to connect it to a task in your business and ask what would change for the person doing the work.
Automation, analysis, creative tools and education offer different uses for AI. Each needs to be assessed against the work it is intended to support.
Separate an announcement from a tested use
A launch may introduce a new capability, a demonstration or a feature available only to certain users. Check the provider’s documentation for access, limits, cost and the systems it can work with.
For historical context, Google’s May 2025 announcements covered AI in search, its Gemini app, marketing and filmmaking tools. They show the breadth of product development at that time. The original announcement is a dated reference rather than a list of today’s product specifications. Read Google’s May 2025 recap.
Connect the capability to actual work
For a retailer, a useful question may concern product information, stock records or customer enquiries. For a manufacturer, it may concern inspection or scheduling. A creative team may be interested in preparing variations of an image or organising production material.
Write down the existing task, the proposed change and the result you expect. That gives you something to test. Broad promises about an industry are much harder to evaluate.
Examine the evidence in context
Check who reported a result, what was measured and whether the conditions resemble your business. A demonstration with selected examples may not include the incomplete records and unusual requests your staff encounter.
Applications in healthcare, finance, education, transport and environmental management also have different consequences when something goes wrong. A result in one setting should not be assumed to transfer to another.
Ask about the information and decisions involved
Identify what data the tool uses, whether you have permission to provide it and who can access the result. Work out how a person can question or correct an output.
For an analysis tool, check the source material and any important omissions. For a creative tool, review accuracy, permissions and whether the output represents the business properly. For a customer-facing system, define the point at which a person takes over.
Learn through a manageable pilot
Give a small group of staff a defined task and a way to record the result. Include training, review effort and operating costs in the assessment. A useful pilot helps the team understand both where the tool helps and where it needs support.
Keep learning through documentation, practical workshops and discussion with the people using the system. News is useful for discovering possibilities; testing tells you whether they fit your work.
If you have a process in mind, bring it to a conversation with BMI. We can help assess the work and plan a practical first version.
References and further reading
Research, commentary and industry examples for further reading. Read findings in the context of their dates, methods and settings.
