More and more workplaces are using AI to enhance efficiency and productivity.
But not everyone is fully onboard. Most people are still somewhat skeptical about AI, often harboring mixed emotions.
If you’re someone who sincerely believes AI can be beneficial to your workplace, how do you advocate for it if others are on the fence—or worse, against it?
Here are some tips and tricks to help you successfully introduce the idea of using AI in your organization.
1. Evaluate Your Organization’s Situation
So you want to use AI…
But do you know in what ways, exactly?
Before diving into AI advocacy, assess your team’s situation. Take a comprehensive look at things like your team’s:
— Workflow;
— Processes;
— Challenges;
— Goals;
— Personal tendencies.
Then, ask yourself: will AI really help with these things? In what ways?
Or will AI just serve as a distraction—or even a detriment? For example, it has been documented that AI can still present false information at times. And so an overreliance on it can lead to negative consequences as well.
Maybe it can help in some ways and be detrimental in others, but does one outweigh the other?
After all, you can’t just barge into a meeting and say your team needs to use AI. If you’re proposing something, you need to not only be sure about it, you also need to be specific.
Actionable insights are always more convincing than mere theoretical suggestions!
Try conducting internal audits or holding informal discussions with team members to identify repetitive tasks, inefficiencies, or other areas for improvement. These insights should help you tailor your AI pitch.
2. Learn More About AI
But in order to create specific pitches, you need to have a firm grasp of AI and its applications in your field in the first place.
After all, if you’re the one advocating for AI in your organization, chances are that the rest of your team isn’t deeply knowledgeable about it either. The more you know about AI and how it can help your team, the stronger your case will be.
So go learn as much as possible about AI and how it can be applied to your industry. There are countless online resources to get you started—from paid online courses on platforms like Coursera or edX to several free videos on YouTube.
3. Start Small
The larger and more drastic your proposal is, the more resistant people will probably be. So start small! Identify easy, manageable ways to introduce AI into your group’s processes that will lead to quick wins.
For example, you can start by casually suggesting the use of chatbot programs like ChatGPT or Claude AI for personal use to your members.
Perhaps to a coder who can’t pinpoint what’s wrong with their code or a copywriter who’s experiencing writer’s block.
Then you can look into more formal ways of implementing AI use, like having an AI chatbot to handle common customer service inquiries.
Or if your team’s efficiency gets bogged down by manual data entry, you can propose AI-powered automation solutions.
By starting with AI use in processes that are of relatively less consequence, you can ease your team into larger applications.
4. Communicate the Benefits Clearly
People often resist change because they fear the unknown. As the adage goes, fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.
So to ease concerns, communicate the benefits of AI use in tangle ways. Don’t present AI as this shiny, exciting new tech. That just sounds ambiguous and your enthusiasm will sound unfounded or even excessive.
Be grounded with your approach. Frame AI as a tool—just like any other tool—that can ease common sources of frustration.
As said before, in order to do this, you need to have very specific pitches about how your team should use AI. The more clearly and concretely your team can envision the ways in which AI will make their work easier and more productive, the far more likely they will be amenable to the idea.
You can also share success stories from other industries—or even competitors! The knowledge that competitors are using AI to outpace them just might be the nail in the coffin when it comes to convincing them.
5. Be Sympathetic to Misconceptions and Fears
As you present its benefits, you also need to be sympathetic to those who express skepticism. Understand where they are coming from and also acknowledge that, yes, AI use can have drawbacks. State that any drawbacks should and will be dealt with appropriately.
And one of the most common misconceptions about AI is that it will replace human workers.
For example, assure your in-house writer that they are not getting replaced just because AI chatbots can compose entire articles.
Tell your writer that AI can be useful for generating ideas whenever they’re experiencing writer’s block. Or that it can be a great, efficient way to kickstart research on a topic.
Emphasize that his skills as a writer are still needed to compose nuanced, human articles and that as mentioned above, information presented by AI still needs to be double-checked.
Another common concern is that your group’s data privacy may be at risk with increased AI use. Assure them that simply using a VPN with static IP addresses should be more than enough to protect them.
AI is often misunderstood, leading to fears about job displacement or privacy breaches. Address these concerns head-on by providing accurate information and emphasizing ethical considerations.
6. Always Involve the Team
Inclusion fosters buy-in. Involve your team in the AI discussion from the outset to make them feel part of the decision-making process.
Collaboration in such a way can help uncover additional use cases and address concerns proactively.
You do not want your team members to feel like they were made to use AI against their will or despite their concerns. This can lead to problems, from employee dissatisfaction and even to misuse of AI programs.
If and when AI use is implemented, make sure to have pilot programs and training resources to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
The stronger and smoother your AI adoption program is, the more comfortable everyone will be with it in the long run.
But be prepared for there to still be lingering concerns, skepticism, or incompetencies with AI use. It’s important to stay patient. Remember that this is a process for everyone!
7. Measure and Share Success
And to continuously get people onboard with AI use, it’s important to measure and share success. Demonstrate the concrete and quantifiable ways in which AI is making everyone’s work easier and more productive.
At the same time, constantly look for ways to improve your AI processes. It’s almost inevitable that there will be hiccups along the way, so ensure that these are constantly getting addressed and improved upon.
In the same vein, stay informed about the latest AI news and trends. AI is constantly evolving, and new developments may come out at any moment—maybe in ways that can further help your team and innovate its work processes!
Conclusion
AI will have benefits and challenges in any industry—but that doesn’t mean that we should stop using it.
Rather, the challenge is to find ways to use it in ways that are ethical, sustainable, and overall beneficial to people. However, to do that, we need to keep using it first.
It’s through that process that we determine how to maximize its potential benefits and minimize, if not eliminate, its drawbacks.
If we’re not willing to do that—with any technology—then how can we evolve?
