Episode
DT #668 AI Literacy: Small Business Capacity and the Return of Human Experience
- Published
- Aug 5, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1832
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Summary
Artificial intelligence is no longer just a big tech conversation. For small businesses, microbusinesses, makers, solopreneurs, and entrepreneurs, AI literacy is quickly becoming a practical economic development issue. In this episode of Develop This!, Joi Cuartero Austin talks with Tasha Sams , Director of Education at Main Street America , about what AI literacy really means for local businesses and why it matters for Main Street communities. The conversation explores how AI can help entrepreneurs build capacity, save time, strengthen marketing, improve operations, and make more informed decisions, especially for business owners who are often wearing every hat themselves. But this conversation is not about automating everything. Joi and Tasha also explore the rise of analog and low-tech business concepts, from vinyl cafes and record shops to video rental stores, bookstores, and other experience-based businesses and what that resurgence tells us about the value of human connection, curation, memory, and place. The episode makes the case that the future of small business may not be AI versus analog. It may be high-tech behind the scenes and deeply human at the counter.