Several florists shared their tips on leveraging artificial intelligence to save time, eliminate mundane tasks — and even boost creativity.
Florists are putting the power of artificial intelligence to work in their businesses, tasking it with a multitude of jobs from creating policies to editing photos — and saving time in the process. During the Society of American Florists’ recent virtual Idea Exchange, several florists shared how they are leveraging AI to help them accomplish tasks that are mundane, time consuming, or above their skill level.
1. Product Names and Descriptions
Product names and descriptions are a dreaded task for many florists who don’t count writing among their skillset.
“We all say product descriptions are the worst and will generate them within seconds,” says Jen Barnard, AAF, of Tillie’s Flower Shop in Wichita, Kansas. “It’s been a huge time saver.”
She and others advise giving AI the product name (or ask it to come up with one) and listing the flowers in the arrangement. It’s also important to ask it to limit the description to three sentences, otherwise, “it’ll write an essay about a product, and I just feel like it’s not necessary,” says Cameron Pappas, AAF, of Norton’s Florist in Birmingham, Alabama.
2. Policies and Procedures
After a driver was in an accident, Pappas asked ChatGPT to write an accident report policy. “The driver was fine, but he just didn’t take all the right pictures and do everything he needed to do,” Pappas said of the incident. He’s also leaned on AI to write policies on warehouse safety. “I had very little edits,” he said.
For policies and procedures, you’ll get the best result by providing AI with the parameters of what you need. Think: who, what, why, where and when. If the response needs to be refined, tell the AI platform what needs to change and ask it to try again.
3. Photo Creation and Editing
Have an almost-perfect photo that needs to be touched up? Can’t come up with the type of photo you need? A variety of AI tools can help. Shutterstock offers a generative AI option that creates photos in many styles (artistic, 3D, cartoon and more) based on a description. Other AI image programs include OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney, which also create images from descriptions.
Erin Bruno of McNamara Florist in Indianapolis has found Photoshop’s generative AI particularly helpful to alter and add backgrounds to photos. “If you are savvy in Photoshop, you can learn really easily,” Bruno said.
4. Brainstorming
In need of some inspiration? AI can help.
“I use ChatGPT to generate ideas when I am just in a brain fog,” said Barnard. She’s asked it for social media ideas, hashtags for social, email subject lines and blog topics. For instance, she recently asked it for social media ideas that include Barbie and flowers. “I use it more to generate ideas,” she said. “It gives my tired brain a boost.”
5. Content Creation
Chances are that you or someone in the business spends a lot of time creating blogs, emails and social posts. Florists are saving massive amounts of time by asking AI to come up with marketing ideas — or even map out months of marketing plans — and having it generate the content needed to execute the plan.
Many caution that they don’t use the AI content verbatim, but make changes so it reflects the business. “I never just copy and paste it,” Pappas said. “I always tweak it.”
“You really want to make sure you are putting your personality into it,” Barnard added. She likes to use Jasper’s content improver to enhance her writing.
“It just makes it sound better,” she says of the tool.
Looking for more guidance on using AI? Register for SAF Phoenix 2023, where an AI expert will show how floral professionals can harness the power of AI to improve customer experiences and enhance operations. And, check out “How Can AI Work For You,” in the July/August issue of Floral Management, which offers some guidance on how to use AI to assist with content creation and customer service.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF NOW.
