Latest / Daily Influence / 773. Managing in the Age of AI Without Losing the Human Part

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773. Managing in the Age of AI Without Losing the Human Part · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IA Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And make us part of your daily routine, whether it's during your commute on a walk or an quiet moment just for you, because you're influenced matters.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, everybody, Brian Smith here with the IA team series and your Daily Influence.
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: artificial intelligence today because artificial intelligence has become one of the biggest conversations in business to actually even in social interactions and every week there seems to be another tool promising to save time eliminating jobs, improve decision making or completely transform our lives.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Some of those promises are actually real.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's some really cool stuff
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  [SPEAKER_01]: many are exaggerated.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: The challenge for leaders isn't deciding whether AI has come as it's already here.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: The challenge is determining where technology should improve the business and where leadership simply cannot be delegated to a machine because while AI can process a enormous amounts of information, it cannot build trust.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: It cannot demonstrate character
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  [SPEAKER_01]: cannot replace the responsibility that every leader carries for the people that they influence.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: So today I am going to talk about managing in the age of AI without losing that human part.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: AI is an accelerator.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It's really not intended to be a replacement.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: I know we hear about this whole
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're not seeing that.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: We see people trying to do that, but it almost always fails.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the greatest misunderstandings I see today is truly I as know it possesses wisdom.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have wisdom, it has smarts, but it doesn't have wisdom, it possesses access to information.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's a tremendous difference between information and judgment.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: A calculator can solve equations.
• 2:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't decide whether the equation matters.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: AI can summarize a meeting, it cannot determine what wasn't said, it can generate financial reports, it cannot sense the hesitation in a client's voice or in our team's voices when they're worried about their cash flow or their financial performance.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Leadership is rarely about having the most information, leadership is about interpreting information.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: within its context.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And that requires experience.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It requires emotional intelligence.
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it requires discernment between the emotion and the realities, the facts, and what's in between all of that.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Smart leaders understand that better data does not automatically create better decisions.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because judgment is more valuable, not less.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: The more AI becomes available, the more valuable human judgment becomes.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because everyone now has access to all of these similar tools.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Competitive advantage no longer comes from simply having information.
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It comes from asking better questions.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: It comes from understanding the nuances within the context and relativity of what we're doing.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it comes from recognizing assumptions before they become mistakes.
• 4:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the foundational principles of smart management is avoiding assumptions.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: AI can accidentally reinforce assumptions because it sounds incredibly confident.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: That confidence can fool leaders into believing and answer has been validated when it is merely been generated.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Responsible leaders will still verify.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: They challenge, they ask, what am I missing?
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: should increase curiosity, not replace it.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And relationships remain the greatest competitive advantage.
• 4:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just recently had a conversation with a client about some what I would call commodity work we do.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's not what they need for us.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: They need to build off our reputation and our relationship with them.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's why they keep us around.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's not that we can do commodity work.
• 5:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Businesses don't lose great employees because someone wrote a better prompt.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: People leave because they stop feeling valued.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Clients leave us because they stop feeling valued.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Clients rarely fire advisors because they lacked another spreadsheet.
• 5:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: They leave when communication disappears.
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: When trust begins to erode, when responsiveness fades, no software creates genuine care.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: No algorithm can replace sitting across from someone or having access to someone who knows your business understands your concerns and genuinely wants to help you succeed.
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Technology should free leaders to spend more time building relationships.
• 5:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Instead, many organizations use it as an excuse to spend less.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's a dangerous trade.
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: not human responsibility.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is why I believe many organizations are getting it backwards.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Use AI to eliminate repetitive work, use it to summarize documents, organize meetings, draft communications, analyze trends, remove unnecessary administrative friction, but never automate ownership, never automate accountability,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: never automate difficult conversations, never automate empathy.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Those responsibilities belong to leaders.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: And frankly, they're the very things people remember years later.
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: People won't remember your software.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: They will remember how you made them feel.
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Leadership is still about influence.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: The title of our book series isn't the AI and team.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's the IM team.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: That I represents the individual.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: And no, AI is not the individual.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It has influence, but it's not the individual.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Influence still belongs to the people.
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Responsibility still belongs to the people.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Integrity still belongs to the people.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Technology should amplify those qualities, not replace them.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: When leaders begin hiding behind automation,
• 7:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: influence begins to decline.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: People can sense authenticity.
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they can also sense when they're interacting with a process instead of a person.
• 7:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: The organizations that will thrive over the next decade won't necessarily be the ones with the most advanced AI.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: They'll be the ones that combine exceptional technology with exceptional humanity.
• 7:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I often remind clients that every business
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: on relationships.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Technology is forever going to change.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Software will change.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Processes will evolve.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Human beings still decide who they trust.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's why our responsibility as leaders hasn't changed.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Use AI to become more productive.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Use AI to become more informed.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Use AI to eliminate unnecessary work.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: But never allow technology to become
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: empathy, accountability, or genuine human connection.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Those are story responsibilities of leaderships, those are responsibilities of humanity.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for joining me today.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: With this episode, cause you think differently about leadership in an increasingly automated world.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hope you'll share it with someone.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Someone else, leaning the team, someone else, building the team.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Someone else that's in your area of influence.
• 8:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And remember, technology may change how we work, but it should never change why we leave.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Until next time, I hope this has been your daily influence.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Now go make a difference, have a great day.