AI & the Illusion of Speed

May 10

Conversations with coaching clients increasingly include a mention about AI and its role in their profession — as an initiative, a challenge, or a deeper personal concern. No question, we’re moving at unprecedented speed.

Content is being generated in seconds. Strategies are being outlined with a single prompt. Emails, blog posts, investor decks — composed faster, cleaner, and often more professionally than many of us could produce alone.

If you’re paying attention, the AI-infused future isn’t coming. It’s here.

But amid all this acceleration, a deeper question emerges—one that can’t be answered with a plugin, prompt, or productivity hack:

What happens to the truth behind the words?

And what happens to the relationships those words were supposed to serve?

Acceleration ≠ Connection

The proliferation of generative tools has created the illusion that output equals impact. That if we can just create more—faster, louder, better formatted—we’ll automatically build more connection, influence, or success.

But human connection doesn’t scale with speed.

It scales with authenticity. With resonance. With truth.

In every relationship—professional or personal—there is a moment early on where truth meets perception. Where we assess whether the words we’re reading or hearing reflect something real. And increasingly, people can tell: Was this written with me in mind? Or just for me as a target?

AI can help us create words that sound impressive. But if those words aren’t grounded in human perspective—our lived experiences, our unique insights, our real beliefs—they become hollow fast. They attract attention but rarely sustain it. And worse, they undermine the trust we’re trying to build in the first place.

Truth Isn’t a Commodity

AI is remarkably good at surfacing high-probability facts. It can analyze trends, patterns, sentiment, and success formulas. But it cannot generate truth the way a human can—because truth is not simply what’s likely to be true. It’s what you’ve lived, what you stand for, what you know in your bones because you’ve been in the arena.

That truth—your truth—is what allows real connection to form.

It’s what creates the difference between a smart piece of content and a resonant one.

It’s what determines whether someone reaches out after a post—or scrolls on.

And the more generative AI floods the zone with plausible content, the more precious that truth becomes.

The Two Choices: Hitchhiker or Driver

Let’s assume AI will become an inescapable part of work. It’s not optional. It’s embedded. It’s ambient. Everyone gets the same superpower.

The question isn’t if you’ll use it. It’s how. And that presents a clear choice:

Choice 1: Be an AI Hitchhiker.

This is the passive path. You prompt ChatGPT to write your strategy memo, draft your campaign plan, summarize your meeting. You give it a quick glance and send it along. You do this once or twice. Then it becomes a habit.

At first, it feels smart. You’re faster. People praise your efficiency. Maybe your grammar even improves. But soon, your work starts sounding like everyone else’s—because it is like everyone else’s.

Over time, you’re no longer shaping the message. You’re just delivering the output. You’re riding, not driving.

And eventually, the question will be asked: If the machine can do your job—and you’re not adding anything distinctly human—why are you here?

Choice 2: Be an AI Driver.

This is the intentional path. You treat AI as a collaborator—not a crutch. You use it to stretch your thinking, not replace it. You challenge its assumptions. You layer in your experience. You edit aggressively. You ask: Is this true? Is this me? Is this meaningful?

You make the work smarter, sharper, and unmistakably yours. You don’t just get faster—you get better. More original. More aligned with your values. More trusted.

And in the long run, that’s what makes you not just valuable—but irreplaceable.

It’s Not Just About You. It’s About the Company You Build.

This choice shows up at the organizational level, too.

Companies full of AI Hitchhikers will produce content that’s fast but forgettable. Products that follow trends instead of shaping them. Strategies that look fine on paper but fail to resonate. These companies may move quickly—but they won’t move anyone.

Companies led by AI Drivers will win. They’ll produce differentiated work—because their teams are asking better questions, surfacing deeper insights, and delivering messages with clarity and conviction. They’ll use AI to go faster, yes—but also to go deeper. They’ll train their teams to lead, not follow. To own the wheel.

And while their competitors optimize for output, they’ll optimize for outcomes.

The Real Competitive Advantage: Humanity

In a world where AI can generate infinite noise, truth becomes your signal.

And the real differentiator won’t be the quality of your prompts—it will be the clarity of your thinking. What you believe. What you stand for. What you bring to the conversation that no machine can. AI can help us say things faster. But only we can make those things worth saying.

So whether you’re an individual contributor or a CEO, a marketer or a maker, a strategist or a storyteller—the challenge is the same:

Will you be an AI Hitchhiker? Or will you drive?