What is a use case in AI?
An AI use case is a specific task in a business process where an AI system does defined work. A complete use case names who uses it, what triggers it, the data it reads, the output or action it produces, where a person reviews the result, and how success is measured. “Use AI in customer service” is a theme. “Draft replies to warranty claims for a service representative to approve in the ticketing system” is a use case, because a team can build, test, and measure it.
Why use cases matter
The use case is the unit that gets prioritized, funded, tested in a proof of concept, and tracked for value. It is also what regulators assess. Under the EU AI Act, the same model can carry few obligations when it drafts marketing copy and many when it screens job applicants, because risk follows the use. An AI inventory organized by use case gives governance staff a list they can review and classify.
Use cases in practice
A building-products distributor receives hundreds of purchase orders a day as email attachments. In this use case, an agent reads each order, matches items to the catalog, and creates a draft sales order in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for a customer service representative to approve. Success is measured by order entry time and the error rate on approved orders. Kirk Tech Solutions typically records, for each use case, which system of record it changes and where a person approves the change.