ISSUE #1 · SCEPTICAL ABOUT AI? SO ARE WE. · 3 MIN READ
Morning.
OpenAI launched an "always-on agent" this week. During setup you can give it a name and pick a character or a pet for it. If it fancies, it'll even generate a pet for you.
We've had a lot of colleagues over the years. Not one of them came with a pet. Let's see if this one earns its keep.
01 · THE BIG ONE
OpenAI's "dots": the colleague that never forgets
What happened: OpenAI launched "dots" on 29 September: AI assistants that plug into your apps and keep working in the background while you get on with your day.
The UK catch: the cheaper personal plan doesn't cover the UK. Here, the cheapest way in is a two-seat business account at £113 ($150) a month, or £91 ($120) if you sign up for a year. Plus VAT.
The bit nobody's reading: when you're not using it, your dot goes through your connected apps on its own and forms memories from what it finds. Disconnect an app later and it keeps what it already learned. The only way to wipe that is to delete the dot entirely. So connect your inbox on day one and it's read your inbox. Forever, or until you reset it.
THE SMALL PRINT VERDICT
Wait and see.
For a 10 or 20-person firm, this is a £1,100 ($1,500)+ a year experiment before VAT. Connecting apps, setting permission rules, checking what it's been up to in the background: a job for someone who enjoys tinkering, and that isn't most of us.
FAFF FACTOR: HIGH · COST: £££ · RISK: YOUR INBOX
Do this instead: if you're tempted, start with one boring app (your calendar, not your inbox or your bank), make it ask before it sends or buys anything, and check what it actually did after two weeks.
Our take: not near client emails. Not yet. If it can't forget what it's read, it doesn't get to read it. Calendar, maybe. Inbox, no chance.
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02 · HYPE WATCH
"Over half of UK small firms now use AI"
You'll see this one a lot. It comes from a British Chambers of Commerce survey, which put adoption at 54%. Meanwhile:
The ONS says 29% of businesses with 10+ staff.
The government's own research said 16%.
Another survey says 70%.
Same country, same year, wildly different answers, because everyone counts "using AI" differently. Asking ChatGPT for a birthday card message once counts in some surveys.
The number that matters: of the firms the ONS says use AI, only about one in ten use it extensively.
Do this instead: when a vendor says "everyone's doing it", ask who counted and what they counted. Then ignore it. The only useful question is: which job in this business would I happily pay to get rid of?
03 · MONDAY FIX · 15 MINUTES
Chase a late payer without the awkwardness
42% of small firms were paid late in the past year, up sharply on the last two years. Chasing is awkward, so it gets put off. Let AI write the awkward bit. Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot:
A business customer owes my UK company £[amount] for [what it was for].
Invoice [number] was due on [date]. Write three short emails to chase it:
1. A friendly nudge.
2. A firmer reminder a week later.
3. A final notice a week after that, mentioning our right to statutory
interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts
(Interest) Act 1998.
Each under 100 words. Polite but firm. Plain English, not robotic.Check the amounts and dates before you send, because AI will happily make them up. The late payment rules only cover business customers, not consumers. Then schedule all three now and stop thinking about it.
04 · QUICK BITS
Budget day is 28 October. The Chancellor is reportedly considering raising the small business rates relief threshold from £12,000 to £17,096. Reportedly. Don't spend it yet.
Growth's on hold. Enterprise Nation found 77% of high-street businesses have shelved growth plans, with VAT and wages the biggest cost pressures. Think about that when someone tells you everyone's splashing out on AI.
And the boss pays last. Three-quarters of small business owners pay themselves under £20,000. Which is worth remembering next time someone pitches you a £113-a-month robot.
ONE-CLICK POLL
Has anyone on your team used AI for work without asking you first?
And hit reply with the most overhyped AI thing you’ve seen. We read every one, and the best go in next week's issue (anonymously, obviously).
Read the small print. See you next Monday.
The Small Print team
