Can AI help small businesses without us having to pretend that everything about it is positive?
For me, the strongest argument for AI is what it can offer very small businesses.
As an individual building Basic Computing, AI has helped me produce things that previously sat just beyond the edge of my technical knowledge.
Coding support for our website is one of the clearest examples. It has allowed me to build and improve parts of the business that could otherwise have required expensive outside support.
For a small operation, that matters.
Used properly, AI can help level the playing field. It can allow a sole trader or small team to compete in areas where they may previously have been priced out.
But that does not mean we should ignore the much bigger questions surrounding it.
There are legitimate concerns about job losses, businesses replacing people simply to reduce costs, our growing reliance on automated answers, the effect on our ability to think and research independently, and the environmental impact of the infrastructure needed to support AI.
That last point feels particularly close to home.
Here in Larbert, we are facing a proposed hyperscale AI data centre that I believe would be entirely wrong for our community.
I understand that AI is not going away and that digital infrastructure will be required. However, that cannot mean placing enormous developments beside homes, public services and established communities without a proper long-term national strategy.
Supporting the responsible use of AI and opposing an inappropriate data centre are not contradictory positions.
In fact, I think they are part of the same conversation.
We need to become better at deciding where AI is genuinely useful, where it causes harm, and where firm limits are needed.
We also need to learn how to use it correctly.
AI should not be treated as the definitive answer to every question. It can make mistakes, overlook important context and produce convincing information that is simply wrong.
It is much better used as a starting point, a second pair of eyes, a source of ideas or a companion to the skills and knowledge we already possess.
It can help us draft, explore, organise, code and think through a problem. It should not replace our judgement, creativity or willingness to question what we are being told.
At Basic Computing, that is the type of AI understanding we want to help people develop. Not simply how to enter a prompt, but how to use the response safely, thoughtfully and productively.
