AI is already here, but many organisations are holding back to ensure safe, ethical, and responsible use. That’s fair enough, but what are you doing in the meantime to get your people comfortable, confident, and optimistic about using it? Be proactive, so your people are ready when you’re ready.
What are you doing to get your people ready to use AI?
You might think that’s a silly question because AI is already here, and if you’re not already using it, you’ve already missed the boat.
Yep, I agree – to some extent. And if you’re already using it extensively in your team, great!
But many organisations aren’t at that point yet. They’re holding back on letting their people loose on AI – and sometimes for good reasons. They want their people to use it, but are still planning on how they can use it safely, ethically, and responsibly.
Fair enough.
But are you getting your people ready for that point?
After a recent presentation at a conference of senior healthcare leaders, two attendees came up to me separately after my presentation, and told me what their organisations are doing with AI.
Company A is building their AI policy and strategy before they let their employees start using it. Healthcare is highly regulated, so they need to be careful about it. Also, so much healthcare technology and infrastructure is outdated, so it’s not as simple as just flicking a switch and turning AI on. So they are telling their people to wait.
Company B is in a similar situation. They’re also going through the same process to get ready for using AI, but they’re doing something extra: They are investing in some basic AI training for all their people, to encourage them to start using AI even before the organisation is ready.
Of course, they are warning people not to use AI on confidential and private information (such as patient data!). But they are encouraging them to learn how to use AI for other things – such as:
- planning a six-year-old’s birthday party
- finding out more about a travel destination
- having a difficult conversation with a manager
- (for a manager) having a difficult conversation with a team member
In these ways, Company B is getting their people familiar with using AI in a positive way. Then, when they’re ready with their strategy, policy, and software infrastructure, their people are already comfortable with AI and can use it in their professional roles.
Both approaches can work, but Company B’s approach is better. When the organisation is ready for AI, their people are also ready – and with a positive attitude.
Unfortunately, most of the media news about AI is negative: AI is going to destroy jobs, destroy humanity, it’s bad for education, and so on. By the time Company A shows their how to use AI professionally, they might be fighting an uphill battle. But Company B is helping people add value to their own lives and get ready for AI.
So, what are YOU doing to get your people ready for AI?
Are you doing basic education to get people to that base level?
I’m always surprised when I run presentations for clients and their general staff about using AI that many people still have never used a tool like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.
They don’t know what they don’t know.
And they don’t know what’s possible.
Imagine if you’d never used Google and were still doing all your research at the library. Then somebody showed you Google – it would be mind-blowing!
Many people find the same with AI. There are AI tools at their fingertips, but they’ve never used them because they didn’t realise what was possible.
I’m running a free public online presentation soon about putting AI into action. I’ll talk about three ways you as a leader and an organisation can do that, and one of them is to get this base level of awareness. If you’re interested, register and invite other leaders in your team as well.
