Revolutionizing Business: Assessing the Benefits and Risks of ChatGPT, Nocode, and Lowcode for Entrepreneurs
Assessing the Impact of Innovative Technology on Your Bottom Line.
In the business world a wave of new technologies just crash landed on our shores.
ChatGPT, Nocode, and Lowcode are new tools that speed up product building.
They’re designed to streamline operations and simplify tasks. We can build products now in weeks, but not without some risk.
The world is constantly shocked by innovation. It changes things faster than we can imagine. Every few years, what we once deemed impossible becomes reality.
Now, it's the turn of AI and non-developer developers.
Some embrace this evolution, while others fear job loss to robots for a good reason.
ChatGPT can replace junior developers and copywriters and does your kids' homework. Inquire, and be amazed by the outcome.
Now anyone can write a good essay. It takes seconds. Create business plans. Make schedules. Analyze articles. And even pass medical exams.
The sky’s the limit if you ask the right questions.
Innovations abound. AI is just one of them. Nowadays people build products without programming experience.
It’s called Nocode.
No need for computer science principles, nor any experience in software engineering. These so-called "developers" construct websites with flashy tools that dazzle the eyes. Drag and drop components like building blocks, and voilà, a website takes form before your very eyes.
The technology industry embraces newcomers. AI codes. And people who can’t code, code. It’s a strange new world.
We’re witnessing history.
Entrepreneurs face tough choices.
Innovate or be left behind.
The mainstream media has business owners running for cover.
We’re afraid of our financial shadows right now. Cuts costs. Fire people. Delay growth until business pundits tell us it’s safe to come outside.
Fearful business owners batten down the hatches. Contractors get the shaft. Growth projects get shelved.
They hide behind budgets.
Smart people will innovate, embrace risks and invest. They’ll double down recognizing industry leaders emerge from bear markets.
But how?
We know deep down that AI could better our businesses instead of being misunderstood. Speedy whiz-bang tools get us to market quick, but how do we handle scale? What part do developers play?
An entrepreneur faces a tech menu, but the choice isn't easy.
AI: Use it or not? Is hiring software devs economical? Cheaper than offshoring?
Answers differ. Tech progress rarely helps the most entrepreneurs.
Why?
Tools alone don't provide strategy. It's tough to grasp how to utilize new tech.
Mark this. Those who pick right will gain money and speed to market. But many will rush and take two steps backwards.
ChatGPT for dummies.
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) language model developed by OpenAI. It is a large-scale language model that can understand and respond to natural language input from humans. It was trained on a vast corpus of text data, allowing it to generate human-like responses to a wide range of queries. ChatGPT has been used in a variety of applications, such as chatbots, customer service, and even writing assistance. The technology behind ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize many industries by providing fast and accurate natural language processing capabilities.
For a regular Joe, it's like getting multiple net sources at once. ChatGPT collects answers and spits them out as text via an algorithm..
Labor just got cheaper. That's the aha moment for a business owner. ChatGPT can help cut costs. It's not as good as my former copywriter, but she's out of a job now.
I also use it for simple coding tasks, creating collateral and documentation, and making configuration files.
I asked ChatGPT to make a schema for a social media site. Here's what it gave me.
Very basic, but if you ask follow-up questions, you can make more complex schemas. The goal is is to decrease your time to business value.
If you ask three software developers to create the above schema, you’ll get five answers. More than one of the foreign keys will be wrong. And one week later they’ll wait for product genies to write it down before they start.
Here’s the takeaway for entrepreneurs. ChatGPT accelerates a competent engineer. The downside is it makes gifted amateurs feel like superheroes.
Destruction follows.
Nocode
Software tools meant to kill manual labor. Nocode slaughters costly coders.
A new breed, the Nocode Developers, build software without programming. No prior experience required.
They drag and drop interfaces to craft stunning websites. Pre-built parts and templates handle database management, web hosting, and user authentication. Simple, fast - a game changer.
Knowing when to use Nocode is the tough part. Could you make Twitter with it? No. But a retail site with a catalog, feed, and a shopping cart? Absolutely.
Mobile apps, integrations, and DIY components are also fair game. Some options are limited, but it gives enough value to offer your customers fully functional products.
I asked ChatGPT to generate a list of popular Nocode tools. Here’s what I got.
Airtable - a powerful and flexible database management tool
Bubble - a drag-and-drop web application builder with a visual interface
Glide - create mobile apps using Google Sheets with a simple interface
Zapier - automates workflows and connects different apps
Webflow - design and launch responsive websites without coding
Adalo - build mobile apps with a user-friendly interface
Carrd - create simple, responsive one-page websites quickly and easily
Notion - an all-in-one workspace for organizing notes, projects, and tasks
Coda - create documents that are interactive and can be used to organize data
Stacker - build web apps directly from your Airtable database
Don’t forget Lowcode.
Lowcode, the elder brother of Nocode, demands coding skills, though far fewer than those required in traditional software development.
In a lowcode environment, users still employ visual interfaces, pre-built modules, and drag-and-drop tools.
The beauty lies in the ability to append custom code, thereby expanding or modifying the functionality of the pre-built modules.
Seasoned developers rely on Lowcode platforms to speed up the application development process.
Nocode platforms require scant to no coding, while lowcode platforms entail some coding, but considerably less than the conventional methods of development.
Here’s examples of lowcode tools courtesy of ChatGPT:
Microsoft PowerApps
Google App Maker
OutSystems
Salesforce Lightning Platform
Mendix
Appian
QuickBase
Betty Blocks
WaveMaker
Caspio
One of my favorites is Zoho.
How do you choose?
Choose strategic people, not keyboard clackers.
Entrepreneurs squander precious time and money enamored with tools. To them, how is more important than why.
The business discussion takes a back seat as we babble on about cloud environments or argue about the merits of one programming language over another.
We're bewitched by process and trivialities.That's why most software projects fail to meet deadlines.
Wise investors enlist developers who deliver, regardless of the toolchain. Top-notch engineers select Nocode when it makes sense and C++ when the business case requires it.
It's all about business outcomes, not doctrine.
In the final analysis, expertise remains essential. Writing code presents no great challenge in software development to real engineers. You engage developers to think, not just code.
Hollywood movies overhype software development with hooded coders clacking away on keyboards in the dark, colorful characters flickering on screens, and huge monitors providing the backdrop.
It's a glamourized version of the trade. Real engineers work with whiteboard markers. They raise business issues, show concern, and solve business problems.