How Leaders Can Avoid the AI Trap

It’s everywhere at the moment.

From articles about whether it will take over the world to books and webinars about how you can use AI to automate almost every part of your life. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about this week. ?

But most of us want to know whether AI can help us with content creation, particularly on LinkedIn. With limited time, completely outsourcing our content creation can be very tempting. But… Here's a few things you need to keep in mind before you outsource too much to AI. ?

AI can be a useful tool if you: ?

1. Know your topic:? Although many people use AI to fill the gaps in their knowledge, this isn’t a safe bet. AI makes mistakes. It may show outdated information, or it could be pulled from biased sources. If you know your topic well, you can spot these errors and fix them before you hit post.
2. Know how to ask the right questions:? You might have noticed this already if you’ve played around with Chat GPT or Google Bard or a similar tool that it can be unpredictable. Sometimes you give it a prompt, and it returns with something you find mindblowing, and then other times, you think you’ve given it the same instructions, but it creates something unusable. Since the system is constantly learning, its understanding of what you are asking it to do, will continue to change too.?
3. Have nailed your personal brand foundations and tone of voice: It's essential to use your own voice when creating content of any sort - it's what helps you stand out as an authentic leader. Do you already have a clear and defined personal brand with a tone and voice that matches? If not, be careful when using AI-generated content. We know that the content you write can directly affect how you are perceived as a leader. It can help or hinder your career growth, and despite its best attempts, sometimes AI content simply misses the mark when it comes to capturing your X factor. AI models also tend to have repeated patterns or phrases that they use that will be obvious to your audience if they have dabbled in any of the AI systems. This can change how your audience views or interacts with your content. ?

As you can see, AI isn’t simply a generate and post solution; sometimes, it can take even more work than writing the content yourself.

So, what is AI most useful for? ?

I find AI a great tool for idea generation. It can give you lists of post headlines, engagement questions to ask your audience, or sentence starters to help get those creative juices flowing.

You can also do your own research and find trending topics on forums like Quora or Reddit, all of which are great tools for gathering ideas. In fact, in order to overcome writer's block or become better at thought leadership in general, my number 1 tip is to read. Absorb as much information as possible on your areas of expertise.

Consider what other experts are saying, form your own thoughts and ideas and share them with those inside and outside of your current organisation. To stand out in your field, it's best if you can bring new ideas to the table rather than just rewording other people’s thoughts. Unfortunately, most purely AI-generated content is going to be recycling other people’s ideas rather than helping you craft your own.

We often forget that AI is just another tool in the content creation belt. To use it effectively, be aware of its strengths and limitations, be on top of your personal brand, and come to it as a starting point rather than a content solution.? ?

If you’d like help to position yourself as a leader in your field through powerful thought leadership then book a discovery call with me HERE. ?

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to get your career in the fast lane- see comments below