Why A.I. is "The Fifth Commodity" every smart business needs

How A.I. Transforms Time, Money And People In Your Dental Practice

Back in 1970, when I started my first job, a wise thought leader advised us that we needed three commodities to make a business work:

1. Time;

2. Money;

3. People.

   
   

In 1975, someone from Head Office arrived to show us - a computer. So now, to make that business a success, we needed four commodities:

1. Time;

2. Money;

3. People;

4. Technology

Nothing much changed after that, you might say, other than the technology getting faster and smarter.

Fast forward to 2025, 50 years on from that first beige box, black screen, glowing green cursor and chunky keyboard, and we have another quantum leap forward:

1. Time;

2. Money;

3. People;

4. Technology;

5. A.I.

I love the take on A.I. that Colin Campbell has expressed in his blog - and I paraphrase - that A.I. allows our PEOPLE to spend more time being HUMAN.

I've arrived at exactly the same conclusion, with a slight difference in language - that A.I. allows our PEOPLE to spend more time delivering HOSPITALITY (the way we make other people feel).

Hospitality isn't just about patients, it's also they way we make our colleagues, our suppliers, our boss feel. Even family and friends.

What better way to live could we imagine, than being hospitable to everyone that we meet?

A.I. isn't going to take away jobs - it is going to allow people with jobs to use their time more efficiently (doing things right) and effectively (doing the right things right).

And people with businesses to use their time, money, people and technology in more profitable ways.

And let's make no bones about it - HOSPITALITY will be your competitive advantage in a crowded and competitive market for the attention of patients.

Every team member should have an A.I. audit, to agree how you can use automation, delegation and elimination (via A.I.) to make their job more fulfilling and allow them the time to make those around them feel appreciated.

Photo by Omar Lopez-Rincon on Unsplash