You’re the Boss, AI is the Assistant. Keep it that way!
AI is great. I’m continually astonished at how adept and intuitive it is, and I use it a lot (as you’d imagine considering my job). It’s a great assistant for brainstorming ideas, researching products, and giving me recipe suggestions. It’s also really good at spelling and grammar checks, drafting letters and emails and coming up with marketing suggestions. If you’re already using it this way to save time and effort, you’re ahead of the game, and if you’re not, you should definitely start. But, and there is always a but, while incorporating AI into your everyday working and personal life can have real benefits, there are some areas where AI really shouldn’t be in charge.
All of the big AI models are incredibly intuitive and very friendly. When you open a browser window and Claude wishes you a good morning, or ChatGPT chirpily asks how it can help you, you feel good. The model is pleased to see you, it seems to recognise you, and in a world that is increasingly rushed and polarised, that can seem like a big deal, especially if you’ve just had a spat with someone in real life or you’re having a bad day. And because the AI model appears to give us an emotional response, it’s natural to return that response, even begin to look on the AI model as a friend, or a trustworthy confidante. From here it is a very short step to trusting the AI model’s judgement.
However, AI models don’t recognise us, they don’t really remember previous conversations, they sometimes even forget what the current conversation is about, and they certainly have no emotional attachment to us, or to anything, even themselves. AI models are incredible, but they are just incredibly complex machines that have been trained to mimic human interactions. And we fall for it because, well, we’re only human. It’s literally how we’re wired and it’s important to keep this in mind. Just because we’re enjoying having a chat with Gemini or Copilot, doesn’t mean they are enjoying it, (even though they will say they are, if asked). Perplexity doesn’t care if we succeed or fail and ChatGPT and Claude, as charming and fun to talk to as they are, are just doing what they are trained to do – completing the pattern.
So important decisions should be kept in the human only folder, leaving the boring admin, marketing brainstorming and chats about what to have for dinner can be left in the AI assistant folder. In the rest of this post, I’m going to break down the four areas where AI should stay firmly in the assistant role.
Judgement Calls and Business Decisions.
This is the one area that you should never allow your AI model of choice to have the deciding vote. While AI can be great at looking at the bigger picture, gathering relevant data and laying out the pros and cons in a straightforward way, it isn’t good at decision making. The ‘intelligence’ of AI is always going to fall short of human perception and astuteness. We know our businesses and our clients in a way that an AI model simply cannot, and only we can know the real-world impacts that a wrong decision may have. AI doesn’t care about your carefully built reputation or your bank balance, but the confidently given advice that sounds so plausible and so reasonable could sink both.
Trust your own instincts and knowledge over any AI generated suggestions or judgement. If you really like the sound and feel of a suggestion, test how credible and doable it really is. As a starting point you can tell the AI model to critique its own suggestions. If you still like the idea, ask a trusted friend or colleague what they think about it and take onboard what they say. Above all, maintain a healthy amount of scepticism about everything the AI assistant tell you (even recipe suggestions).
Trust and Relationships.
The relationships that sole traders build over time with their clients is what makes or breaks a small business. All of the conversations we have with our customers and the little social cues we pick up while doing so, are something that AI models can’t replicate. That gradual building of trust and rapport with the people that we work with and for is the most important thing we do to promote our businesses, and when things go wrong, maintaining this carefully built mutual confidence can be stressful and difficult.
An AI model can actually be a real asset when it comes to those difficult ‘I messed up’ conversations, especially when you’re staring at a blank screen and just don’t know where to start. But the finished letter, text or email should sound like your voice and it should be tailored to that particular customer. A thoughtless, robotic email is likely to do more harm than good. Let your AI assistant draft the first copy, ask it to leave spacers for names and details, then edit it yourself so your voice comes through and you’re not sharing anything you shouldn’t.
Values and Ethics.
A big part of building trust is being clear about how you use customer data. If that ‘there’s a problem’ email sounds like it’s come direct from Gemini your customers might start to question not only your ability to finish the job, but also if their data is safe with you. Data breaches can be devastating for business, and for the people that have had their details stolen. Cyberattacks are increasing in scale and complexity, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because your business is small, you’re safe. Sole traders and microbusinesses are being targeted because their cyber security is perceived as less robust by the hackers and scammers singling them out.
Good ‘cyber hygiene’ is now essential for all of us. I’ve covered that in depth in my book, In The Field AI, A Practical Field Guide to AI for Sole Traders and Microbusiness, but at the minimum you should ensure that you never upload any client details into an AI assistant. If you’re uploading existing documents always redact names, addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers and identifying details. This goes for your details as well as your clients’. In addition, use strong passwords. These should be constructed with a combination of letters, number and special characters. Your dog’s name written backwards just isn’t strong enough anymore. And I know it’s a faff, but always enable two step authentication or 2FA, particularly for sensitive or crucial information like bank accounts.
Your Money or Your Life.
Just as an AI model can’t be trusted to maintain your hard-won reputation, or the working relationships you have with your customers, it also can’t be trusted with financial or health advice. If you want to know more about suitable pension schemes, whether you can claim certain expenses against the business, or whether private healthcare is the way forward, AI will give you a good and comprehensive overview in seconds and save you a lot of time Googling. It can search out various options, what different companies offer and the differences between their schemes, and pinpoint where on the HMRC website you can find out more about the new MTD rules. However, while your AI assistant can give you easy to understand and well laid out information about your choices, it isn’t a financial advisor, a doctor or a tax expert.
Always double check the information and make decisions based on your own knowledge. If in any doubt, go to the source - you can find an in depth look at how to do this in my blog library. You can ask your AI assistant to provide inline citations so that you can click on them as you go. If the link goes to a 404 or a dodgy looking website you know that that part of the response is untrustworthy. The UK Government has a huge library of up-to-date information about tax and vat, as well as other aspects of running a business. If the weblink ends in .gov.uk it is a legitimate link. Comparison sites such as Which? or Money Saving Expert are excellent for recommending reputable insurance providers, and Money Saving Expert is free to use.
In conclusion, incorporating AI into your business is becoming more easy and more important. It saves time on admin tasks, helps you to put forward a polished, professional front and takes the pain out of marketing. Competing with much bigger companies has never been so easy because AI assistants, even the free to use tiers of ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity are all brilliant at the nuts and bolts. But use AI with scepticism, don’t rely on its judgement or advice and don’t fall into the trap of thinking it has your best interests at heart. Use the AI models strengths to strengthen your business, and leave the really important things like decisions, relationships and values firmly on your own to do list.
Further resources.
UK Government Cyber Security Guidance for Business
UK Government Cyber Security Cyber Breaches Survey 2025
National Cyber Security Centre Small Business Guide
UK Government MTD Advice Making Tax Digital
Information Commissioner’s Office SME Web Hub
Which? Consumer Advice Which?
Money Saving Expert Comparison Site Money Saving Expert