AI Is Not Your Brain. It’s Your Intern.
There’s a lot of noise right now about AI.
Some people are terrified of it.
Some people are outsourcing their entire personality to it.
Neither is leadership.
AI is not your brain. It’s your intern. And if you don’t coach it well, it will absolutely embarrass you in public.
Let’s talk about how to actually use AI inside your business in a way that sharpens your voice instead of replacing it.
First: AI Is a Tool, Not a Strategy
AI can:
Organize your thoughts
Speed up drafting
Summarize data
Repurpose content
Help you see blind spots
It cannot:
Understand your lived experience
Replace your perspective
Make strategic decisions for your brand
Lead your business
When business owners say, “AI wrote this for me,” what they often mean is, “I didn’t want to think this through.”
That’s the real risk.
AI should amplify clarity. Not compensate for a lack of it.
If you don’t know what you stand for, what you sell, who you serve, and what makes you different, AI will produce generic content at scale. And generic does not convert.
The Best Leaders Coach AI Like a Team Member
If you hired a new assistant tomorrow, you wouldn’t say:
“Write something good.”
You would give context.
You would explain your audience.
You would clarify tone.
You would give examples of what you like and don’t like.
AI works the same way.
Bad prompt:
“Write an Instagram post about leadership.”
Better prompt:
“Write a direct, confident Instagram post for equestrian business owners about stepping into leadership during slow seasons. Avoid fluff. Keep it concise. No emojis. No em dashes. Make it sound strategic and grounded.”
See the difference?
Specific inputs create usable outputs.
You are not “using AI.”
You are directing it.
That’s leadership.
Best Practices for Prompting AI in Your Business
Here’s how to frame prompts that actually work:
1. Define the Audience
Who is this for?
Be specific. “Entrepreneurs” is vague.
“Six-figure equestrian business owners navigating growth” is useful.
2. Define the Tone
Confident?
Warm?
Direct?
Educational?
Minimal?
If you don’t define tone, AI defaults to generic internet voice.
3. Define the Format
Email?
Caption?
Blog?
Bullet points?
Short-form video script?
Structure matters. Ask for it intentionally.
4. Define What to Avoid
This is huge.
If you hate:
Emojis
Overuse of exclamation points
Clichés
Motivational fluff
Em dashes
Say that.
AI will happily overuse all of the above if you let it.
5. Give It Raw Material
Instead of asking it to “come up with something,” try this:
Here are my rough thoughts:
(paste your messy paragraph)
Clean this up while keeping my voice and direct tone.
Now it’s refining your thinking instead of replacing it.
That’s the sweet spot.
Red Flags That Give Away AI-Written Content
Let’s be honest.
Most AI content is obvious.
Here’s what gives it away:
1. Overly Polished, Overly Balanced Tone
Everything sounds neutral.
Nothing sounds human.
Real people have edges.
They have opinions.
If your content feels like it went through corporate HR approval, it probably did.
2. Excessive Use of Em Dashes
This is one of the biggest tells.
AI loves em dashes.
If every sentence has a dramatic pause, people notice.
3. Perfectly Symmetrical Paragraphs
Three sentences.
Then three sentences.
Then three bullet points.
Clean structure is good. Predictable rhythm is not.
4. Vague Motivation Language
“Unlock your potential.”
“Take your business to the next level.”
“Step into your power.”
If it sounds like a conference keynote from 2014, rewrite it.
5. No Specific Examples
AI defaults to abstraction.
Humans use specifics.
Add:
Real client stories
Real mistakes
Real numbers
Real lessons
Specificity builds authority.
The Ethical Use of AI in Business
AI is not cheating.
It is leverage.
But ethical use means:
You still think.
You still decide.
You still take responsibility for what gets published.
Don’t blame AI for bad messaging.
If it went live under your brand, it’s yours.
That’s the standard.
How I Recommend Using AI
Here’s how I coach clients to use it:
Brain dump your real thoughts.
Have AI organize or tighten them.
Edit it back into your voice.
Cut anything that sounds like the internet.
Add one real example from your actual life or business.
Now it’s powerful.
AI should reduce friction, not replace identity.
Final Thought
The businesses that win in the next five years won’t be the ones who use AI the most.
They’ll be the ones who use it strategically.
Clarity first.
Technology second.
AI is fast.
But leadership is deliberate.
If you’re going to use AI in your business, coach it well.
And never outsource your brain.
