Is it ~bad~ to use AI in your business?
If you would prefer to listen to this blog post, click here! The recording is about 17 minutes, but you can adjust the playback speed in the bottom right corner.
TLDR: Bruh, I don’t know. And I don’t think there is a right answer. But I’m finding myself much more curious and nuanced about it than I was three months ago.
In January, I flew from Denver back home to Southern California to visit my family. Maybe 20 minutes into our car ride home from the airport, my dad launched into an explanation of this YouTube video he’d come across about the future of AI agents. My dad is a tech enthusiast and, unfortunately, a huge fan of Elon Musk, but I know this conversation (and subsequently, him making me watch the hour-long AI agent video later that evening 🫠) was rooted in a good-natured desire to keep my business viable through this next phase of technology.
I tried to be receptive, but at that time, I’d only heard the (very valid) negatives of generative AI—the environmental concerns, the art theft, the security concerns, the idea of a robot in your earpiece managing daily tasks. Faced with this intimidating discussion for the first time, I could really only articulate my hesitancy around AI’s energy use, to which my dad informed me that—no worries!—Microsoft just bought a nuclear plant to convert their AI efforts to clean energy. Huh??!? 🙃 Nothing about that sentence feels right.
But despite my initial hesitancy, that conversation with my dad sparked a months-long exploration of AI. Thank you to my friends, who have all patiently entertained my desire to bring it up at literally every social function over the last three months. The multi-faceted implications are just such an interesting puzzle!
As an Online Business Manager, I’ve noticed other entrepreneurs in the online space lean more and more into AI tools for efficiency, content creation, and workflow optimization. To be honest, the use of AI simply feels inevitable. On the other end of the spectrum, many of the folks I tend to deeply align my values with are vehemently against AI. So what’s the “right” stance to take?
In February, I asked my Instagram followers to share where they’re at in the conversation:
I realized I’m not alone—many of us are in this weird middle ground! And as we know, binary thinking isn’t necessarily conducive to building a liberated future. So I present to you:
The not-at-all-definitive-or-exhaustive “My Thoughts on AI as an Online Business Owner” blog.
A note on efficiency and necessity
Especially since I’ll be mentioning points related to productivity and optimization, I think it’s important to acknowledge the systems influencing this ethical debate. The fact that I’m even wondering, “How can I save time using AI?” feels based in our society’s foundations of extractive and exploitative capitalism.
If you’re in a traditional workplace, the lean into AI (to me!) sometimes just sounds like, “Achieve more and do it quicker! We’re going to pay you the same amount, but now you’re expected to produce way more than a human being could do on their own.”
If you’re a business owner, you might feel compelled to adopt generative AI because there's simply not enough time or energy available in a day to accomplish everything you want or need to do within your business to sustain a livable wage. We’re out here trying to survive, and that’s so valid.
All to say—These individual ponderings are situated in larger cultural conversations, which deserve critique in and of themselves. So without further ado…
The Cons: Why AI Should Give Us Pause
Privacy and data concerns.
The YouTube video my dad showed me in January proposed this ~convenience utopia~ where you could verbally ask your AI Agent to book you a haircut appointment for Friday, and it would take care of the rest. While that as a concept feels creepy to begin with, it wasn’t until I stumbled across this video with Meredith Whittaker, the President of Signal, that I realized the massive surveillance, privacy, and security implications of that system.
Toll on our energy resources.
Most often, I’ve seen concerns over the increasing demand on our power grid and the amount of water it costs to keep data centers cool. Many folks I follow online are rightfully concerned about the environmental impact of training and utilizing AI.
Art theft.
Over even the last couple of weeks, perhaps you’ve seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s recent Substack, “AI companies want to legalize theft” or the explosion of AI-generated art in the style of Studio Ghibli, despite Hayao Miyazaki having explicitly expressed his disdain for this type of technology. Mikaela Loach, a climate justice organizer I respect immensely and have been following for years, recently shared that her book (along with many others) is being stolen by Meta to train generative AI. It’s important to realize that these AI platforms’ responses to our prompts don’t appear out of thin air, but rather extrapolate what humans have already created without credit.
Systemic bias.
Not only are there concerns of worsening cultural appropriation and replication of Indigenous art, there is also well-documented bias embedded within AI systems against marginalized communities. AI is trained by human beings, using data created by human beings. Especially as AI is largely developed by straight white men, this technology might only continue to deepen social inequality, despite all of its democratizing promises to do the opposite.
The changing job market landscape.
It’s scary to imagine how many people could be out of a job due to advancements in AI. When I graduated from college in 2016, my engineering friends were the ones poised to be raking in the big bucks. But in less than 10 years, it feels like all of that training is becoming moot. And nothing about the U.S. government today makes me think they will be able to plan effectively and help the public transition smoothly into an AI age.
Literal brain atrophy.
A study from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University on 319 people (which granted, isn't a ton) who regularly used generative AI found that when “mechanising routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”
Tech overlords and the general dystopia of it all.
It’s pretty clear at this point that the U.S. is operating in collaboration with an oligarchy of uber-rich tech bros. While many of us are boycotting Amazon and exploring ways to market our businesses without supporting Meta, it’s hard to justify the adoption of AI when Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is claiming that his previous criticisms of Trump were a result of falling into the “NPC trap” and several OpenAI higher-ups have resigned or been fired from the company due to its prioritization of products over consumer safety and ethical business practices. It makes me feel slightly better to utilize Claude over ChatGPT because one of the founders left OpenAI due to these concerns, but I’m sure at the end of the day, leaning into AI will help the rich get richer.
The Pros: Why AI Might Not Be So Bad
Perhaps AI will actually help with the climate crisis?
While the technology’s energy consumption is a present concern, many claim that we can leverage AI to streamline climate solutions and make data-driven sustainability decisions. I have an engineer friend who spends her days fine-tuning an AI system that predicts grocery store supply and demand in order to reduce food waste! Who knows, maybe generative AI will solve its own energy consumption problem.
Executive function uses.
I know several entrepreneurs with ADHD who find AI incredibly helpful for tasks like planning, prioritization, organization, and time management. Who am I to say they should forego such a life-altering tool?
As we all know, it saves time and money.
I do think there is merit to the argument that Americans in particular are addicted to convenience. I value approaching business from a place of intentionality and care. AND, I have come across situations (see “Time-saving research for my clients” below) where the most caring and ethical move is to use AI. I’m actually finding a new moral dilemma has emerged the last couple of months because I currently charge hourly for my work as an OBM—now that I KNOW what AI can do, shouldn't I save my client that $30 by asking Claude to generate an Associate Therapist offer letter template instead of spending 30 minutes researching formats and drafting it from scratch? Isn’t that the “right” thing to do?
Technological innovation always inspires fear.
To me, there is something about AI that FEELS distinctly scary in comparison to the invention of the television. But I was born in 1994, so this is my first time being truly sentient during a technological revolution. Human beings have held reservations about everything from writing itself to the printing press to the radio, so perhaps something I perceive as uniquely nerve-wracking is just me falling into the inevitable pattern of my ancestors.
Embracing nuance and discernment
The more I dive deep into these conversations with friends and colleagues, the less I find myself feeling “for” or “against” AI. I am coming to an understanding that in my role as an Online Business Manager, which is essentially predicated on improving efficiency, AI is likely inevitable. But I can choose ways to utilize it within my business that don’t totally undermine my values.
How I’m NOT Using AI In My Business
Anything related to my client’s data or the data of their customers.
For security reasons, it’s not a good idea to give platforms like ChatGPT login credentials, personal contact information, or intellectual property. Please don’t do that.
Content creation without serious revisions.
I used Claude heavily while redoing my service pages this quarter to help me organize some of my offer design rambles into cohesive sentences and bullet-pointed lists. While I think it can be a helpful jumping-off point, it doesn’t feel right to copy and paste as-is. Plus, the easiest way to make your content sound cheesy and just like everybody else is to pull it straight from an AI tool. I firmly believe humans go into business with others largely based on vibes, so I would never sacrifice my voice just to get SOMETHING out to the public.
As a replacement for good ol’ fashion Google and YouTube rabbit holes.
My brain is smooth enough as it is. In order to preserve the problem-solving skills I love so dearly, minimize my energy usage, and maintain my curiosity about the world, I opt for reading articles and watching human-made video tutorials over asking AI to hand over every single answer in an instant.
How I AM Using AI In My Business
Predicting project plans and timelines.
When I’m feeling overwhelmed by a large project with several moving parts, I’ll ask Claude to generate a week-by-week breakdown to help me imagine the path ahead. Again, it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly a springboard!
Creating structure for blog posts and sales pages.
As you’ll notice with this blog, my writing can get quite wordy! When I’m struggling to figure out a structure or flow that will make my thoughts make sense to my specific audience, I’ll plop what I have so far into Claude for a little extra support. As I mentioned in the previous section, this was a huge time-saver while redoing my services pages.
I’m dabbling with an AI notetaker during my virtual meetings.
I haven’t been overwhelmingly impressed with the one I’m using because (1) I tend to take detailed notes anyway and (2) I’ve noticed that the summary it spits out is sometimes missing key information. If this feels like something you might try in your own business, I would strongly encourage you to ask for consent first! I’ve added a new question to my client onboarding form that asks for clients’ consent to use AI during our meetings. I have no interest in pressuring people to adopt this tool if that doesn’t feel comfortable to them.
(Real reactions I’ve received from clients! Consent is so so important.)
Generating image descriptions and alt text for Instagram assets.
It feels important to me to make my social media as accessible as I can, but this takes time I don’t always have as a solopreneur! While I’ve found that uploading images to Claude doesn’t produce perfect image descriptions and alt text, it can definitely create a baseline to work from.
Time-saving research for my clients.
I recently helped a family who had lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires compile information for their insurance claim. In order to get the money promised by their policy, they were tasked with going room-by-room, listing each item, what year it was purchased, and its current market value. Rather than expecting this family to pay me for manually researching the cost of each piece of furniture (which would have taken forever!), I used ChatGPT to help generate lists of typical items in each room and their current market value in February 2025. This is one of the few examples I can point to where AI was truly a force for good in my work.
So, what do you think?
I’ve shared enough from my perspective. And like I said, I’m fascinated by this conversation! What do YOU think? How are YOU using AI (or not) in your business? Shoot me an email at hello@sabrinajoan.com. I would love to hear from you.
