The Local Test. Hector, the Wall Builder

Sep 28

A strategic way to think about artificial intelligence and human creativity

The next decade will not be human versus machine. It will be human taste paired with machine range. New tools widen the search for ideas. People decide which ideas matter. If you want proof, start on your own street.

Most people fear artificial intelligence. Hector does not. He just filled his calendar.

This weekend Hector installed wall panels in my home. Here is how he gets clients.
Prospects text two photos of their room. He uses Google Gemini and ChatGPT to turn the photos into a few wall designs and replies by text with a clear price and a start date.
People decide in minutes. He is taking on more work than he has time for.
See his work: https://www.instagram.com/popwalldesigns/

This is not an edge case. Almost six in ten small businesses already use generative tools, and the ones that do are more likely to be hiring. In measured settings these tools speed real work. Customer support agents handled about fifteen percent more issues per hour, and professional writers finished tasks about forty percent faster with higher judged quality

Why this story matters beyond one contractor

First, small business adoption is rising. A recent report from the United States Chamber of Commerce found that about fifty eight percent of small businesses say they use generative artificial intelligence in their operations, up from forty percent the prior year. Among those that use artificial intelligence, eighty two percent increased their workforce over the past year.
Second, productivity gains are not a myth. In a large field study of customer support agents, access to a conversational assistant increased issues resolved per hour by about fifteen percent on average, with the largest gains for newer workers. In a controlled experiment on professional writing tasks, time to complete work fell by about forty percent while judged quality rose. These are practical lifts.

Third, the channel Hector chose matters. People answer text messages. Industry studies show strong engagement and wide consumer opt in to receive texts from businesses, and marketers report higher engagement and higher click through rates for texting.
Fourth, the visual part is not just for big brands. Major retailers already let a homeowner scan a room or upload a photo and see new designs placed into a real image in seconds. That shortens the leap from idea to yes for local services too.

The risk and how to avoid it

There is one risk we should expect. When many people use the same public tools in the same way, ideas can drift toward the same answers. Recent research shows that these tools can raise judged creativity for individuals while reducing the variety of ideas across a group. The fix is design, not fear. Force variety in your inputs. Bring your own references. Raise the bar with human taste.(Source:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn5290)

A better story for the future

The camera did not end painting. The synthesizer did not end music. The spreadsheet did not end thinking. Each tool changed the work and expanded the stage. Hector, the wall builder, just showed us the next chapter. He used simple tools to widen the search for ideas, used his taste to select, and used text to sell. That is the point. The machine expands reach while us humans set meaning.

The model: range, taste, proof

Hector’s weekend workflow shows a simple model any team can use.

Range
Use the tool to generate many directions from a simple input like a photo or a short brief. Force variety. Ask for very different styles and references so the first set does not look the same.

Taste
Decide what good means before you look at options. For example, does this idea make a buyer feel safer, or smarter, or faster. Keep only what clears the bar.

Proof
Turn one option into a small proof someone can try or approve in minutes. Save a clear log of what was decided and why. These trust features help a buyer defend the choice, which speeds the decision.

A one week plan any small business can run

Day one
Write a one page taste manual. Five sentences that define what good looks like for your service, and three screenshots that show it.

Day two
Ask three past customers for photos of the space you worked on. Generate three new design ideas for each. Send one set as a thank you and ask for a short review. Keep the other sets for your next round of ads.

Day three
Publish a short text friendly offer. Example. Send me two photos of the room you want to improve, tell me your style and budget, and I will text back three concepts and a simple price.

Day four
Use a room design tool to create concept visuals from client photos. You can do this free with retailers that already let people scan rooms or upload a photo and place items into the image in a believable way.
Links: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/home-design/ and https://www.lowes.com/room-visualizer

Day five
Close one job over text. Send two options, one base and one premium, and include a simple calendar link. Ask for a deposit to hold the date. Your phone is now a storefront.

Every week after
Keep a simple evidence file. Time saved. Messages that led to a yes. Photos that moved a client to decide. Share this with your team so they see real progress.