NDTO News Article

Artificial Intelligence: Exporters’ Shiny New Tool?

Artificial intelligence is taking over! Well… somewhat. We haven’t gone full Wall-E yet. However, there’s been a lot of discussion in the past decade about the benefits of integrating AI into our everyday business operations. As a matter of fact, the process has already begun, with AI handling everything from analytics to physical manufacturing.¹

International trade has not been left unscathed by the AI revolution. Because importing and exporting are such complex processes, the occasional human error is inevitable, and they can cause a great deal of delays. Delays AI can effectively put an end to so we can go on trading without worry.

So, what does the state of global trade look like with artificial intelligence taking the lead?

AI in Action

According to Chief Technology Officer at Webb Fontaine, Ara Shamirzayan, AI is exactly what we need for trade facilitation. Especially for the more time-consuming tasks, such as documentation, classification, manual checks, risk management, and more.²Most would probably agree that these monotonous but necessary aspects of trade are best left to technology to sort.

Another such way that AI is being utilized is through supply chain optimization.³AI can predict what the supply chain will look like in days, months, years, and beyond, therefore allowing businesses to adapt accordingly and avoid the over- or under-production of goods. AI can also monitor minute-to-minute changes that affect the global supply chain and circumvent delays.

Another time-consuming part of the trade process is market entry and expansion research.³ Similar to how AI can offer suggestions when it comes to supply chain optimization, it can help a business decide the when, where, and how of successfully exporting their goods to a new country.

AI is a foe to frauds and scammers, too. There are a multitude of ways in which scammers can take advantage of the trade process to get rich—invoice fraud, document fraud, shipping fraud, collusion, contractual traps… The list could go on. Where it’s often too late by the time we realize we’re being scammed, AI can detect a scam early and fast. What if you could get an in-depth background check of a potential supplier done in minutes? What if you knew a buyer’s credit score and the likelihood of their repayment before you billed them? AI is capable of these things and more.

Potential Issues

Much of what is discussed above comes with the same major concern: Privacy breaches. Because we’re still working hard to understand AI and its repercussions, alongside fast-tracking its innovation, there has yet to be a firm set of federal regulations applied to its development.⁴ This has resulted in a number of high-profile lawsuits in recent weeks targeting AI companies for using individuals’ likeness, art, and private data without consent. For instance, a large group of famous authors are suing OpenAI—the creator of ChatGPT—for using their writing/manuscripts to train their system.⁵ One of these authors is George R.R. Martin. Yes, that George R.R. Martin, the mastermind behind A Game of Thrones. If he isn’t untouchable, who is?

Data leaks are no new thing, but the fact that at any time, our information could be accessed by a technologized algorithm of zeroes and ones and used without our knowledge is disconcerting. Even more disconcerting is the idea that AI could be using your business’s trade secrets to improve another business’s export experience. Competition is necessary to keep our economy afloat. If AI levels the playing field too much, we could see a serious decline in innovation.

AI & Your Business

Whether or not investing in AI would be helpful to your business is entirely dependent on your field of work—and whether you’re willing to take the risk. A study done by Forbes found that businesses in 2024 are mainly using AI for customer service (56% to be exact). This is followed by cybersecurity, digital personal assistants, customer relationship management, inventory management, and more from there.⁶ You may find it’s worth it, both financially and mentally, to take the human side out of customer relations. After all, robots know how to keep their cool when met with confrontation. For now.

You may also find it’s worth it to have AI take the reins where your cybersecurity is concerned. Artificial intelligence can monitor your technological assets 24/7—something humans can’t do because of our basic needs. Which, of course, is no fault of our own. But rather than miss a security breach because you were asleep or eating or using that PTO to spend a week offline in the Black Hills, why not leave AI to stop the threat directly in its tracks?

There’s far more to consider and more research to be done before making AI a fixture of your business, but these basics can really help.

North Dakota’s Stance

Speaking of AI cybersecurity, the department responsible for all state and municipal government cybersecurity in the state—the North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT)—implemented AI-powered cybersecurity software over a year ago. Michael Gregg, Chief Information Security Officer, says it relieves employees from having to constantly monitor the most tedious of cybersecurity tasks.⁷

Our state also has official guidelines that aid ND citizens and companies in using AI ethically. Many of these guidelines are applicable to exporting and should be considered if you’re deciding whether AI is the right tool for you.

Placing artificial intelligence within the vicinity of global trade is a bit like Schrödinger’s cat in that it is both helpful and destructive to our export practices, and we won’t know until we open the box—or in this case, give it a shot. Nonetheless, simply “giving it a shot” should perhaps, for all our sakes, wait until we see a serious shift in international regulatory guidelines.

Until then, staying up to date on AI experimentation and advancements in the export industry is an easy but valuable way to keep your business at the top of its game.

¹ How AI is Being Used in Business | CompTIA