I saw a post that asked, “How can you make AI your career co founder,” and it got in my head. Not because I am worried about AI, but because I think a lot of people are missing the point. The point is not to fear it, and it is not to worship it. The point is to use it in a way that makes you better at what you already do well.
I am not using AI to pretend I am a bigger expert than I am. A lot of speakers are doing that right now. They are taking a decent idea, running it through AI, and suddenly they sound like they have a PhD in everything. That might look impressive on LinkedIn, but it is a risky game. Because sooner or later, the truth shows up, usually in the Q and A, or in the hallway, or in the follow up conversation with a client who is trying to decide if they trust you.
For me, AI is not my credibility department. AI is my creativity department.
That is the big shift. If you use AI to inflate yourself, you will eventually get exposed. If you use AI to expand yourself, you get stronger, faster, and more useful in the areas where you already have real experience and real value.
When I say “make AI your co founder,” I mean it the same way I would mean it about a human partner. A co founder does not replace you. A co founder helps you see around corners. A co founder helps you move with more momentum. A co founder challenges your blind spots. A co founder brings extra horsepower to the table.
AI can do that for you, but only if you decide what it is allowed to do, and what it is not allowed to do.
AI is allowed to help me brainstorm, outline, and generate options. It can help me tighten wording, punch up an opening, or turn one idea into five different angles. It can help me think about how the same message lands with a CEO, a sales team, or a room full of lawyers. It can help me test a concept and find the weak spots before I ever put it on stage.
AI is not allowed to claim credentials I do not have. It is not allowed to invent stories. It is not allowed to pretend I have done research that I have not done. It is not allowed to write in a voice that sounds slick but does not sound like me. And it is definitely not allowed to be the reason I stop doing the hard work of thinking for myself.
Because the truth is, AI can create content all day long. What it cannot create is judgment. It cannot create taste. It cannot create presence. It cannot create the kind of trust that happens when a real person shows up with real conviction.
That is where the opportunity is for anyone who wants to win in this era.
Everyone can produce more now. That means output is not the differentiator. The differentiator is choosing what matters, and then saying it in a way that feels real. The differentiator is clarity. The differentiator is being able to take ten options and pick the one that fits your audience and your values. The differentiator is human.
If you are already a strong communicator, AI can help you multiply angles. You can feed it an idea and ask for twenty openings, then choose the one that feels like something you would actually say. You can ask it for metaphors, stories, and examples, then throw out the weak ones and keep the ones that make people lean in. You can ask it for the counterargument, then sharpen your point so you are not saying something that sounds nice but falls apart under pressure.
If you are a strategic thinker, AI can help you stress test your plan. Ask it to poke holes. Ask it to list the assumptions you are making. Ask it how the plan could fail and how you would mitigate those risks. The value is not that AI is always right. The value is that it makes you think harder and faster.
If you are a relationship builder, AI can help you show up better for people. Not in a fake way, but in a practical way. It can help you write thoughtful outreach that does not sound like a template. It can help you prepare for hard conversations. It can help you create a follow up system that keeps relationships warm, not because you are trying to “network,” but because you actually care about being the kind of person who stays connected.
The biggest trap I see is people using AI so much that they start sounding like it. Polished, generic, a little too perfect, and strangely empty. If your work depends on trust, that is dangerous. So here is a simple test. If the words do not sound like something you would say out loud to a friend, rewrite them. Out loud is the test, because your career is not built on perfect phrasing. It is built on believable presence.
If you want to make this real, here is a simple weekly rhythm. Start the week by asking AI for possibilities, angles, titles, objections, and examples. Then step in and choose your direction, because you are the one who decides what matters. Then make it human by adding your stories, your experiences, and your point of view. Then tighten it, because clarity wins. Then ship it, because the people who win in this era are not the ones who collect ideas, they are the ones who consistently put thoughtful work into the world.
If you want homework, do this. Write down the three things you are already great at. Then pick one project you are working on right now. Then ask AI one question, “How do I make this twenty percent better without changing my voice.” Let AI generate options, then you do the real work, choose, edit, and own it.
AI is not the enemy. Complacency is.
This is an era where the premium on Human Interaction is going up, not down. The premium on trust is going up, not down. The premium on being someone who can think clearly and connect deeply is going up, not down.
Make AI your co founder, not so you can become someone you are not, but so you can become more of who you already are, at your best.
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Thom Singer, CSP, is a professional keynote speaker and the CEO at the Austin Technology Council.