It seems like artificial intelligence is taking over the world, leaving many of us non-techies feeling terrified.

Yet when you stop to think about it, we all use artificial intelligence (AI) every day. When we Google something, use Siri on our smartphones or ask Alexa a question, we are using AI.

Hollywood has certainly featured AI in many movies from “The Terminator” series to “Robocop” and “I, Robot.” In “Minority Report,” algorithms predict who is going to commit a crime, and the person is arrested before the crime can be committed.

What we want to consider is not a fictional near future of robots taking over the world but a more pressing issue of jobs. According to a McKinsey report, 400 million to 800 million jobs worldwide could be displaced by 2030 as a result of machines.

“The bigger concern with AI is that those who do not adapt and learn how to work alongside machines might be seen as obsolete in certain sectors,” said Susan Sly, co-CEO and co-founder of RadiusAI, which was just named a top 10 start-up in the highly competitive Phoenix tech market.

AI is big business. Microsoft recently agreed to invest $1 billion in a partnership with the research group OpenAI, co-founded by Elon Musk and other wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. According to Bloomberg News, OpenAI will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud services to train and run the group’s AI software, and the two will jointly develop supercomputing technology.

Those are big players in any industry, to be sure, but how will AI benefit the rest of the business world?

According to the Harvard Business Review, 36% of executives say that their primary goal for incorporating AI is to optimize internal business operations. Eighty-four percent of global business organizations believe that AI will give them a competitive advantage.

A whopping 72% of execs believe that AI will be the most significant business advantage of the future, according to a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, says by the end of this year, startups will surpass the leading giants like Google, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon in driving the AI economy. By 2020, it is expected that AI will become a more integral part of the sales process for up to 30% of companies around the world.

Artificial intelligence will transform the relationship between people and technology. Our skills and creativity will be challenged and enhanced. Real and sustainable benefits to business transformation will be the end result.

Rather than fear these bold changes, consider this: The share of jobs requiring AI has increased by 450% since 2013, according to Adobe. Investment into AI startups by venture capitalists has soared six-fold since 2000. The number of AI startups since 2000 has increased 14 times, said an article in Forbes.

AI has enormous potential to affect the profitability of companies that find appropriate ways to use it.

The statistics website Statista projects that global revenues from AI for enterprise applications are forecasted to grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to $31.2 billion in 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 52.6% in this seven-year period.

Global retail spending on AI will grow to $7.3 billion a year by 2022, up from $2 billion in 2018, according to Juniper Research. This is because companies will invest heavily in AI tools that will help them differentiate and improve the services they offer customers.

And here’s a statistic that merits your attention: Approximately 61% of companies with an innovation strategy are using AI to identify opportunities in data that they would have otherwise missed, according to Narrative Science.

That’s a lot of data to absorb, but I think it’s a roadmap to the future. If all those numbers haven’t convinced you that artificial intelligence is a trend to be embraced rather than feared, you might be on the road to nowhere.

Mackay’s Moral: Businesses with the brightest futures are "AI" -- All In -- on AI.

Never give up. Never quit! That is the motto of Travis Mills, one of only five surviving quadruple-amputee soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I firmly believe and often preach that one person can make all the difference in the world. Travis is a shining example. What a story of perseverance! I was amazed at his positive outlook, humor, confidence and devotion to help people, especially disabled veterans and amputees.

Travis recently met me in Minneapolis for a coaching session. In some ways, I felt like I was the student. A good friend of mine, Jac Arbour, called and said he wanted to surprise me and bring a couple people to Minneapolis for a session on street smarts. The “surprise” was Travis and his father-in-law, Craig Buck, who is also his business manager.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan during his third tour of duty. On the night of April 10, 2012 -- four days before his 25th birthday -- he was on patrol when he was critically injured from an improvised explosive device that blew off portions of both his legs and arms.

Travis thought he was going to die. Still, he asked the medic to treat two of his friends who suffered shrapnel injuries first.

He spent 19 months at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and went through 13 surgeries. At first, he was angry, embarrassed and upset. But he soon realized those feelings were selfish. He was determined not to just lie around.

Travis said: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish once you make that all-important decision to go forward. I could choose to quit. If I’d wanted, people would have spoon-fed me for the rest of my life. I could have stared at the ceiling for the next 60 years and spent the rest of my life angry, frustrated, grieving and dismayed. But I chose to heal. I was the same ‘me’ as I’d always been. I was a man with scars who chose to live life to the fullest and best.”

The key was believing he was going to get better. He said: “Keep going. Keep persevering. You’re going to get through tough times. Never give up. Never quit.”

Travis understands that attitude is extremely important. He knows that enthusiasm is contagious, and he wants to start an epidemic. Understanding that people need a bit of a push from time to time, doctors called on him regularly during his recovery to motivate others.

He said he was fortunate that he had a great support group, especially in his wife, Kelsey. He had a strong network of family and friends to lean on. These mentors let him know he could get better. He told me, “It’s amazing what good things can happen when somebody knows you’re cheering them on.”

I mentioned that Travis has a good sense of humor, and he doesn’t shy away from his past. For example, when we first met, he said we are going to have a BLAST. Since he knew I wrote the book “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” he said that he was bitten by a shark. To put me at ease, he said he wanted to “disarm the situation” and looked at where his right arm should be. After we finished dinner that first night, Travis took off his prosthetic hand and quipped, “Let me lend you a hand.”

In September 2013, he founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists wounded and injured veterans and their families get a new chance at a better life. Through the Travis Mills Group, he consults with and speaks to companies and organizations nationwide, inspiring all to overcome life’s challenges and adversity.

Travis’ main message is one that many people can relate to: “Hard times come to everybody. When hard times happen, we have a choice to make. We can become discouraged and bitter, or we can choose to never quit. When life gets hard, the key is just to keep pushing forward. Instead of saying, ‘It could be worse,’ the key is to say, ‘It’s going to get better!’ Then work with all your might toward that goal.”

Mackay’s Moral: Travis Mills is more than a war hero -- he’s a life hero.

Of all the years to celebrate the true meaning of Labor Day, certainly this year has given us many reasons.

Research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that employment in 2019 is running at an all-time high, with a remarkable 132 million people in the workforce. That figure includes record employment numbers for minorities and women. Manufacturing is seeing a revival in this country. And with unemployment hovering around 3.7 percent, Labor Day should have plenty of revelers.

Let’s start with a little history. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882, when 10,000 workers marched in New York City from City Hall to Union Square. Bear in mind, this event occurred in the era of 12-hour workdays, seven-day-a-week schedules, child labor and dismal working conditions.

Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday in 1887, followed by a string of other states. Recognizing the significance of the movement, Congress passed an act in 1894 making the first Monday in September a legal holiday throughout the country.

Fast forward to today, and think about how times have changed. Forty-hour workweeks, strict safety enforcement, benefits including paid vacations and health insurance, unfilled jobs and opportunities in so many fields -- those are reasons to celebrate.

“American workers are collectively the most productive in the world,” says Robert Dilenschneider, founder and chairman of the Dilenschneider Group and former president and CEO of Hill and Knowlton. “It is this drive and determination that helps make our nation the greatest on Earth. We should be proud of this fact and do whatever we can to keep this great spirit alive.”

I completely agree with Bob. As we built and grew MackayMitchell Envelope Company from its stumbling infancy to today, we’ve always tried to focus on the people who keep our doors open. We’ve had our share of challenges in the envelope manufacturing business -- starting with fax machines and email, and progressing to direct billing, electronic ticketing and a dozen other internet product replacements.

Our employees have stuck with us through some lean days and helped find ways to trim costs and innovate processes and products. They share our successes as well. I would be willing to wager that most businesses and organizations would echo my sentiments. Without a reliable and dedicated workforce, their operations are down the tubes.

I think it is tremendously important that workers have the support of their employers, but it's equally important that they demonstrate the drive to make an impact in their workplaces. I am especially fond of Will Rogers’ thoughts on work: “In order to succeed, you must know what you are doing, like what you are doing and believe in what you are doing.”

“Know what you are doing” is central to success in any venture. Yes, we often learn as we go, but having and maintaining essential skills is a requirement. Winners prepare, train, study, apply themselves and keep working to become the best at what they do. It’s the American way!

“Like what you are doing” can present some challenges. I’m always surprised how many people will tell you that they hate their jobs, but do nothing about it. Some jobs are truly dreadful, to be sure. But attitude also plays a significant role. Let me share something: The secret to happiness, success, satisfaction and fulfillment is not in doing what you like. It’s liking what you do.

“Believe in what you are doing” is a little harder to define for those who struggle through the workday just for a paycheck. The most successful people I know are not in a job -- any job -- for something to do. They are in their work to do something. This is the labor force that any employer dreams about.

Years ago, I found a poem by Art Linkletter, the humorist and radio and television host, that described what it takes to turn good into better, boredom into stimulation and discontent into commitment:

Do a little more than you’re paid to;

Give a little more than you have to;

Try a little harder than you want to;

Aim a little higher than you think possible;

And give a lot of thanks to God for health, family and friends.

Happy Labor Day to all!