AI: a bike for the brain – but who steers?

The fear: will AI replace human interaction?

Artificial intelligence has a bit of an image problem. Depending on who you ask, it's either the best thing to happen to productivity since the invention of coffee or the harbinger of doom for human jobs, creativity, and meaningful interaction. The reality – as ever – is a bit more nuanced.

The worry that AI will replace human interaction isn’t completely unfounded. We've all seen soulless chatbots fumble their way through a customer support request or received an auto-generated email that lacks any real understanding. But at Disruptive Thinking, we see AI not as a replacement for human connection but as an enhancer – a way to free up time, focus on what really matters, and make better decisions faster.

As Steve Jobs once said, "Computers are like a bicycle for the mind." They don't tell you where to go, but they help you get there faster, more efficiently, and with less effort. The key is knowing how to use them – and where human judgement remains irreplaceable.

AI in action: how we use it (and what it doesn’t do)

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI in business is that it automates everything at the cost of quality. In reality, when used properly, it allows us to focus on the things AI can't do – like deep thinking, creativity, and meaningful client interactions.

Take Fireflies.ai, for example. We use it to transcribe our video calls, automatically logging notes into HubSpot. This alone saves us at least 20 minutes per meeting. But more importantly, it allows us to be fully present in the conversation – listening to tone, picking up on non-verbal cues, and actually engaging with the person in front of us rather than scrambling to get every detail down on paper.

AI then helps us extract the key points – objectives, deliverables, concerns – which speeds up proposal production without sacrificing accuracy. But here’s the catch: AI is a fantastic assistant, not a decision-maker. It can summarise, but it can also hallucinate (yes, really – AI sometimes just makes things up). That’s why human oversight is always required. We fact-check, refine, and apply context AI simply doesn’t have.

The human touch: where AI falls short

AI excels at crunching data and identifying patterns, but it lacks intuition. It doesn’t understand the unsaid. It can’t tell when a client hesitates before agreeing to a proposal, nor can it sense when enthusiasm shifts to scepticism. It certainly doesn’t get sarcasm (which is a shame, really – it would make interacting with customer service bots far more entertaining).

AI helps us work smarter. It takes on the grunt work, so we can focus on the relationships, the strategy, and the creative solutions that truly make a difference.

AI as a tool: real-world breakthroughs

AI isn’t just making marketing more efficient – it’s making real breakthroughs in ways we could never have imagined. Take the case of microbiologists trying to unravel a complex biological puzzle working out and proving why some superbugs are immune to antibiotics. What took them a decade to piece together, AI managed to solve in two days (BBC article).

But – and this is crucial – the AI didn’t do it alone. It took experts with years of knowledge and experience to ask the right questions, interpret the results, and apply the insights in a meaningful way. This is the perfect example of how AI is a tool, not a solution. It will always need human guidance, expertise, and, most importantly, judgement.

The bigger picture: AI and the future of work

AI adoption is accelerating at a staggering rate, and with it comes a host of ethical, economic, and societal questions. Yes, it can make businesses more productive – but who benefits from that increased efficiency? Will AI-driven productivity gains lead to better working conditions and fairer distribution of wealth, or will they simply consolidate power in the hands of a few?

Historically, technological advancements have created new opportunities alongside disruption. The printing press put scribes out of work but ushered in an era of mass literacy. The Industrial Revolution replaced manual labour but birthed entirely new industries. AI is no different – but we need to ensure its benefits are shared, not hoarded.

At Disruptive Thinking, we embrace AI – but with humility. We know its limitations, and we respect the role of human intelligence in making AI useful rather than mindless. It’s an exciting time, one where things change quickly, and the balance between humanity and machine is constantly shifting.

But here’s the real question: if AI-driven productivity can create prosperity, will that prosperity be fairly shared across society? Or will we need to fight to ensure it is?

The conversation is just beginning.