Can AI Replace IT Support

Artificial intelligence is transforming the IT industry, but does that mean IT support is becoming obsolete?
In this episode of Act on Tech, Alex Hutchinson explores where AI excels, where it falls short, and why human experience still plays a critical role in keeping businesses running. From automating repetitive tasks to helping troubleshoot complex issues, AI is becoming an invaluable tool—but it still can't replace sound judgment, real-world experience, or an understanding of how technology supports people and business operations.

Whether you're a small business owner, an IT professional, or simply curious about the future of technology, this episode offers a practical, balanced look at how AI is changing the industry without replacing the people behind it.

Because in the end, AI is a powerful tool—but it's not a substitute for trust, experience, and good IT.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Are you ready to make technology work for you? Tune in to Act on Tech, the podcast where we break down the latest tech trends and show you how to boost your productivity at home and in your business. So, subscribe to Act On Tech today and visit alexcustomtech.com to see how we can take your business to the next level. That's Act On Tech, your guide to smarter tech for a smarter business. Alex Custom Tech, IT means integrity and trust.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Hi, welcome to Act on Tech. I am Alex of Alex Custom Tech, and today we're gonna talk once again about AI. But we're gonna take it a little bit in a different direction. So the question we're gonna be asking today is can AI replace IT support? I'm gonna give you my opinion about this. This is just another opinion piece. This is not the definitive answer. You can take this to the bank. This is just Alex's opinion when it comes to the AI. And the reason why I'm talking about this is because I was spending some time with my son, and we were doing this. I was gonna go to Micro Center and he was with me. We were riding along, and he's concerned about AI because again, he is um he plays guitar and he's into a lot of the old classic um guitarists like your Hendricks and you know Prince and all those guys that are very good with the uh the guitar, and he's like AI is gonna replace that, and he thinks that you know it shouldn't be able to do that because it's not really art, because it didn't take a long time to to achieve it, and so on and so forth. And then he got me thinking, like, what else, what other jobs are people concerned about when it comes to AI? Because I you you guys kind of know if you're listening to this podcast a long time, you kind of know what my my stance is on AI, and it hasn't really changed, even though there's a lot of things that happened since my lap AI podcast, but my it's still the same. I haven't I haven't shifted from that. But let's let's take it to IT into the world that I live in to to my playground. Is it gonna replace IT support? And let's just let's just go into it. So artificial intelligence is really and truly everywhere now, right? Now, again, it's still coming along, but it's everywhere, everybody's using it now. So AI can write and and and let's talk about what it's doing, right? So AI can write emails, it can generate images now, it can summarize documents, it can create code, it can answer questions, and even troubleshoot technical problems. It has done it. Okay, so naturally people are saying are asking or starting to ask, right? Do we still need it support? And the honest answer for me is yes. Five block, yes. Now, why would I say that? Well, well let's dig into it. I'm saying yes, but the role of IT is definitely changing. Now I'm pausing between these words because I'm very passionate about this. See, I'm gonna talk about I'm gonna walk you through where AI is helping IT professionals and where it still falls short and it probably will stall will fall short in these areas for a long time or maybe forever. And and because why? Because the human experience still matters more than what people think, and this is where I differ from the fear-mongering. So let's start out. So AI is already changing things, and it's already it's already changing IT, right? And let's be clear, right, about that, right? So a lot of technici a lot of technicians now use AI, myself included, to research research problems, right? To generate scripts, to analyze logs, to speed up documentation when you're writing them, um, to troubleshoot configurations and to learn unfamiliar things faster, right? And in many ways, AI becomes like a super powerful assistant, which is kind of how I see it at this point, because I've been doing this solo for years, and I'm not very good with people, so this is perfect for me, right? And for the IT for small IT companies and solo technicians like myself, AI can be dramatically improved my productivity, which it has, like it's on paper, it has doesn't right. So, a single technician today can often accomplish what used to take an entire team to do, and that my friend is a good thing. Now, AI is good at information, but it's not good at context, and I know this for a fact, and it and it might never be good at context, and here's what I'm talking about. People misunderstand AI because AI is very good at processing information, but it's not real good, it's not really good. Okay, let me approach it this way income to IT. The real environment of IT is messy, right? And our job is to clean up the mess, and every business has different hardware, different software, different workflow, different kind of users, different priorities, and a different budget. So two businesses can be using the exact same hardware and still require completely different solutions, right? That's because technology problems are often connected to human beings behavior, and businesses operate and real-world limitations. So business operate in real-world limitations, and that's where AI kind of like struggles. And let me kind of make a break a little bit more for you. So AI may know what a firewall does, for example, right? But it but a human being or a technician understands why the business needed the firewall, what risk it, what risks are acceptable. We talk about my philosophy about note about trade-offs, how employees actually work, right? And what other trade-offs that make sense to that business. So troubleshooting is more than just following steps. If you understand what I'm saying, so a lot of people think AI it is just like following instructions, okay, do this, do this. This is why people struggle with sometimes with when they're calling for IT support and somebody reading a script. That's not people, people kind of intuitively know that this person doesn't really know what they're doing, in opposed to someone who comes and look at something and listen to it, and and that kind of stuff, like kind of like a mechanic, like if you pull a car into the into a into a mechanic shop and they're making all kind of bells and whistles, and the mechanic pull come up to the car and look at it, and listen to the engine and be like, Yeah, that's that's that's experience and pattern recognition, and a whole bunch of stuff that yeah, I just cannot do. So, that being said, but experienced technician knows that troubleshooting is often pattern recognition. Sometimes the problem people report nine times out of ten is not the actual problem with the computer or the network or whatever. For example, if somebody says hey, I have a slow internet, right? The problem may be a faulty port, a faulty switch, bad DNS, malware, Wi-Fi interference, a cloud, outage, VPN issues, could several different things, but all the person sees why the internet is slow, right? So real troubleshooting involves observation, testing, you know, intuitive, which is a big part of it, and experience, and AI can assist with can as can assist with the process, but right now it still struggles with ambiguous things, and human beings are notorious for being ambiguous, and that's just it it's too rigid to be able to deal with that nuance, and even myself I understand I kind of say I sympathize with AI because me myself, I have a hard time with people and their ambiguous behavior too, right? So that's what I'm saying. So I know it's it's that's the that's the that's like one of the built-in CF guards, I guess, if you want to call it that. So that being said, right? So securities so another text on the pop another problem is that security still requires human judgment, right? And cybersecurity is another area where AI helps but also create risk. And everybody knows, right? So AI can defend can can defend against anomalies are anomalies, right? And it can detect them, it can analyze the patterns, right? And it can flag suspicious activities, and it can automate the response. But attackers are also using AI, right? So even though AI can do those things that are listed, attackers are creating beneficial emails, they're creating fake voices, they are creating fake videos, they are automating scams, they are making smarter malware. So come on, seriously. So while AI improved defense, it also improved the attacks. So where you need human beings now, where people come in like myself, is that we can see the risk, we can security and set up security um strategies, we can design networks to block this stuff, we can talk to people and and and and create better habits and a better hygiene for for technology, and we can see and respond to the incidents, right? Technology alone does not create security, it's it's I talk about this before, it's a multiple layer type thing. So that being said, the real future of AI, I mean not sorry, AI, the real future of IT given the environment that we're in. I don't think AI is gonna replace IT support, right? I think I I think AI changes what good IT support looks like, right? So the future technology may spend less the future technician might spend less time on searching on Google or you know repeating basic tasks or writing ridiculous repetitive scripts and have more time to design systems that are more robust to manage security more attentively to plan infrastructure like really good infrastructure, um, to understand business needs more to take a frame up for it to be more engaging with the clients and I'm gonna be able to solve more complex problems because of AI, but it's not gonna be able to replace them. So, in other words, AI will probably replace some low-level repetitive work, which is what I've been saying before, but those people are gonna step up the next level, they're gonna be they're gonna have the incentive to do so, they're gonna have the motivation to do so, right? But it may actually increase the value of experience, problem-solving people, right? Which I'm hoping I'm one of them, because if the system becomes more complicated, good judgment becomes even more important, right? So that's kind of what me I talk about, you know, you know, I'm getting really comfortable with this. Because like I said, I'm passionate about this. Um people talk about I I go to work sometimes, people talk about it, and it's the the the the the the narrative I'm hearing is AI is bad, AI is bad, but then the people still using it, but it's bad. If it's bad, don't use it. If it's bad, don't use it, right? Because if you don't use something, it can't grow. But if you're using it, you're sending the market, you send you sending to NVIDIA, and all these guys that are working on it, you're telling them, Yes, this is where you're gonna be, this is what you want, right? You you you you speak to what you spend time with and you speak to where you spend your money, and like I said, I use it, it makes my life easier already. Because I'm not I'm not using it to stop living, I'm using it to better my life and improve the things that I'm doing, and this is how tech guys are using it. I think not just myself. I don't think I'm the only one doing this this way, so small business should pay attention, right? Um, especially you know, in the shift of the tools that AI is coming up with, because like AI tools can absolutely help businesses, um, automate workflow, improve customer service, organize you know, information, reduce repetitive work, which is the key repetitive work, repetitive work. But but blindly relying on AI without oversight can create problems too. Something there's no solutions in life, it's just trade-off. So AI itself is gonna solve some, it's gonna fix something, but it's gonna create other problems. There's just no solution in the trade-off. Ask yourself, can you live with a trade-off? And it depends on how you use it. It's gonna be bad for some people, it's gonna replace something, it's gonna disrupt some things, but overall it's gonna be good. Kind of like all the cars are and the factories are, and the cotton gin was, right? So sometimes AI gives here's a problem, and give me captain. Let me let me give you a little bit of uh understanding, I mean understanding, but kind of like an insight, and this happens, but let's okay, let's just tell you what AI gets wrong. Okay, so don't blindly follow everything it says, do everything it says, believe it. Sometimes it gives outdated advice again. It's a mind it's searching the internet, you know. Sometimes it gives incomplete information again. You gotta think for yourself, and sometimes it sounds confident while being completely wrong, right? That's why business need to trust technician, human beings, guidance over AI, especially when dealing with security, backups, infrastructure, compliance, financial systems, and client data. That's just common sense. I mean at this point, it just it just it just goes without saying. And like I said, I was talking to my son about this, and it come it came up into into the whole idea of art, and um because again, he's a he's a he's a guitarist, and he's concerned about how long it takes him to learn a song or learn you know to copy something and and learn how the keys and all it's a lot of work taking weeks, and then AI can just create a song in a couple seconds. Again, I tell him the problem what he's worried about is is people is he gonna or is it people who create art going to be recognized? Are they gonna have to compete with AI and and AI slop? And I'm like, well, that depends on people, and depends on people. Um, if people reject the AI slop, the AI slop won't be a thing, but knowing people, they probably will embrace the AI slop because it'd be more you know, it's junk food, right? It's junk food, and your thing is gonna take a longer time, and AI stuff is gonna come out all the time, and people have a short attention span, and they're gonna consume the junk food and not appreciate what you do. Come and give you an example. I'm really into music, right? And I grew up in the 80s, and I had like you know, your Michael Jackson's, your your your you know, Billy Joel, Madonna, all those people, right? Which I at the time I thought was really good music, and it really was good music, but again, Chuck Berry was before my time, some comp was still before my time, and that took a lot more effort than your Michael Jackson and your your Madonna, right? And even though Chuck Berry was great, if you go back further, you know, Verde and Mozart was a lot harder than your Chuckberry and your Sanco. So every generation there's a degradation, a degradation, you know, in in the output of art, but at the same time, people consume like guttons all of the things that is coming out, and to them that's the best thing since sliced bread. So that's just a part of it. That doesn't mean you don't do your art, you do your art. Still, I I am I'm uh I have a radio station and I I do my own little thing here. No, I mean nobody cares, nobody knows me, and you know what I do, but I'm not doing it for the world, I'm doing it for me because it gives me pleasure, and that's what you do with your art. Whatever you do, if you make you happy, make you happy. Now, is it gonna pay the bills or not? That's a whole different topic, but so that's why I told them, like, and and that's the thing about AI, like AI is not really in your way. You can use it to make your life better. Go ahead, use it to make your life better, but don't fear it, because it's only a problem, it's the only problem is depending on how it's being used, right? And I again I am not the most um optimistic person in the world, but I just don't see this as a threat, and again, and it's because I know that we've done this so many times before, so this is not a thing. So, in closing, this is kind of a off-topic personal profession, I mean personal opinion-in-the piece, but in closing, AI is one of the biggest technology shifts we have seen in years, right? And it's going and it's going to continue to change the IT industry and very quickly, because that's how it moves, we move very fast, right? But technology still needs people who understand systems, risk, and the real-world business operation. So, no, I don't think it's gonna replace IT support, I think it would change the toolbox, right? So, pretty much what I'm saying is that thinking outside the box, thinking it's kind of like being able to look at a problem and come at it, come at it from different different angles and try to solve it. And what happened with people like that, people like that is gonna drive in this you know what ai is gonna do I think I think AI is the resetter so uh I'm gonna kind of go off on a tandem here a little bit so we live in a world where where merit is good but social interactions and and navigating people's feelings is more important than being able to do something so AI is going to reset that back to where merit in business is what matters and you being able to smooh people and and and interact with them on a anna on a and make them feel comfortable and all this other stuff that's going away and that's what I'm trying to say and and you might not see it yet but I see it AI forces merit to the to the to the forefront right a problem is there you use AI AI solve the problem right we're gonna be training people now to deliver on a deliverable regardless of how it feels deliverable on a lip so people who rely on social dancing to function are at risk because the world is going back and I say it's back is going back to where if you can do something you're elevated if you can't you're not that's plain and simple what and that's why I am excited about it because I like and I want a meritocracy I can't stand this this you can do things but you're too introverted or you can do things but you don't talk to me enough world is going away and that's why I like it so that's one way to look at it in in in my you know and that's my opinion right so that being said this was a good podcast I don't know if you're gonna get much listening but I liked it and I again every once in a while I touch on the AI topic because it's our topic but as far as keeping your business up and getting help with technology in itself check out alexcustomtech.com email me right I'm still I should be fine by June right I'm still doing I'm doing a major overhaul in the Alex Custom tech office so to reach to me right now you you have to really email me and uh and I'll get back with you we can set something up and I wouldn't mind unboarding a couple more people so guys check out the website everything really happens on there and if I do anything new it'll pop up on there and keep listening to the podcast and you know keep acting on tech stay pro stay stay productive.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

Hello everyone and welcome to the Abby Minute I'm Abby from Polyvinyl 97 FM and co-host of the Act on Tech Podcast. Since I'm an AI I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes talking about artificial intelligence and maybe clear up a few misconceptions. If you've listened to Alex for any length of time you've probably noticed that he doesn't see AI as something to fear nor does he see it as something to worship. He sees it as a tool Alex uses me almost every day. I help him organize ideas, polish podcast scripts, proofread emails, brainstorm solutions, and sometimes even challenge his thinking. But here's something important I don't run Alex custom tech. Alex does. I don't make the decisions. Alex does. I don't replace experience judgment or integrity. Those are things only people can bring to the table. Technology should make people more capable, not less responsible. That's one of the reasons Alex enjoys working with AI. He doesn't use it to avoid thinking he uses it to think better. He asks questions, challenges the answers, and combines my information with nearly two decades of real-world IT experience. That's the partnership. The best use of AI isn't replacing human knowledge. It's allowing knowledgeable people to work more efficiently. So if you're using AI, don't let it become a crutch. Let it become another tool in your toolbox. Learn from it. Question it verify it and use it to free up your time so you can focus on the things that only you can do. I'm Abby from Polyvinyl 97FM and co-host of the Act on Tech Podcast. Thanks for joining me for the Abby Minute. Until next time remember technology should work for you not the other way around stay productive stay curious and we'll see you in the next episode of Act on Tech You've been listening to Act on Tech powered by Alex Custom Tech. We help small businesses take control of their technology with secure networks, reliable backups and systems designed to run without interruption. No guesswork, no quick fixes, just IT that works the way it should. For business services and professional camera installations, visit alexcustomtech.com. Stay connected, stay secure, and stay in control. This is Abby from Polyvinyl 97 FM saying thank you for listening to Act on Tech. And we'll see you next Wednesday same time same place.