Unfortunately, most of the media stories about AI are negative, and if that’s all somebody sees, it’s not surprising they might be hesitant, reluctant, or even scared of using AI at work. And that’s a problem for you if you’re a leader who wants to use AI effectively in your teams. There’s one key thing you can do to overcome this fear – and it doesn’t take much.
I’ve noticed a change in the last year in the attitude of leaders to AI. A year ago, many leaders were yet to be convinced about the value of AI. They were saying things like:
“I’ll wait and see.”
“I’m not quite sure what value it brings.”
“I’ve got too many other things on my plate now.”
It wasn’t true of everyone, of course. Many leaders and managers saw its potential and were keen to use it – but many didn’t. In fact, some of their team members were more excited and enthusiastic about it, and were trying to drag the rest of the team, including their boss, along into this AI future.
But now I’ve noticed most leaders are convinced of the value of AI. Now it’s about using AI effectively so it generates value – in improving productivity, enhancing the customer experience, and helping you and your team make better decisions.
But are there still people on your team who are dragging their feet? They’re not yet convinced, they don’t see its value, and they might even be scared by it.
If everything they hear about AI is what they hear through the media, unfortunately, most of that is negative. They hear stories about how AI will destroy jobs, how it will disrupt whole industries, and how it will slash wages because people aren’t going to be as valuable in the future. And if that’s all they hear, it’s not surprising they’re scared!
Unless you engage their minds – and hearts – your AI efforts will fail.
So how do you get them on board?
There’s one key thing that will help you bring people on the AI journey. I’ll explain …
You might be convinced of its value. But some people are fearful. To bridge that gap, a simple thing you can do is to help people actually use AI themselves.
Many people have still never actually used AI, even though ChatGPT has been available (free!) for almost two years. So they have no practical experience with using it to create real value.
Fortunately, this is easy to fix: Give them the basic skills to start using AI themselves – to get quick wins.
Even if this is only in their personal life – like writing a wedding speech, planning a holiday to Italy, or generating ideas for a child’s birthday party – it doesn’t take much for people to start seeing AI in a more positive light.
The more they see examples of AI creating value – for them – the less they’re likely to be influenced by all the negative stories.
So, if you want to create value from AI and bring your people on the journey, educate them – by showing them how to get value from it themselves.
For more, join my coming presentation about people-powered AI. It’s free and open to all, so register and share it with other leaders in your team and network.
