AI: Doing things for you or improving the way you do them?

March 9, 2026 Emma Shergold Recent Posts All Posts Productivity AI: Doing things for you or improving the way you do them? Running a business quietly when the rest of the world is so loud Virtual Assistant Business Review 2025: Growth, Clarity, and Finding My Rhythm How a Virtual Assistant can help your business in 2026 How to choose what to outsource to a VA Categories Operations & Systems VA ProductivityOffice Management Neurodivergence Connection Corner Newsletter I share what I’m learning about running a business – the wins, the mistakes, and admin solutions that actually work. Delivered fortnightly to your inbox. Join Connection Corner Admin-focused Coworking Sessions Join other business owners for admin focused coworking sessions that gets stuff done. Weekly 1-hour sessions. Monthly topics. Get stuff done together. Join Admin Corner Free Resources Checklist: How to choose what to outsource to a VA CRM Spreadsheet Template See all resources Work with me Whether you would like a done for you or done with you VA service, or you would like a bit of guidance to get you started, please complete my work with me form, from which you will be directed to book a free initial consultation. Work with me Edit Template AI: Doing things for you or improving the way you do them? During one of my team meetings the other day (you know, the ones with the voices in my head) I was deliberating whether to buy more into AI automations or stick with the tools I already know and love. It got me thinking about how we use AI and whether it really helps or hinders us. I also very much doubt if I’m the only one asking these questions. WHAT IS AI, AND WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT IT? For small businesses and sole traders, AI has become increasingly visible in everyday tools – from email filtering to automated responses, smart scheduling to content generation. The question isn’t really whether AI is useful – it clearly is. The question is where it is actually useful, and where does it become a hindrance. TWO DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE AI There’s a meaningful distinction between AI doing things for you and AI improving the way you do things. They sound similar, but in practice they lead to very different outcomes. AI Doing Things For You This is the fully automated end of what AI can do. For example, filtering your emails, drafting and sending replies, handling customer queries, or managing your social media. In theory, it sounds like a dream. In practice, it often falls short. I’ve seen how AI can filter, file, and reply to emails and I haven’t been inspired to implement it into my business. The instinct that comes naturally to a human, e.g., knowing when a reply needs warmth, when something is urgent, when a client is frustrated, is difficult to replicate reliably with AI. I know I’d reply differently to a long-standing client than a new one, even if their emails to me were very similar. There’s also a broader pattern worth paying attention to. Many industries that have pushed hard in one direction – nutrition and exercise science, social media algorithms, car interface design – have often found themselves retreating a few steps when the ‘advances’ turned out to over complicate the situations they were aiming to resolve. The infotainment systems that now control every car setting are a perfect example. Innovative in concept, deeply irritating in practice – and actually quite dangerous in a vehicle, especially when using a phone is now illegal. I have no doubt that AI automation will follow the same kind of patterns if we’re not careful. AI Improving The Way You Do Things I think AI genuinely earns its place when it’s not replacing human judgement, but improving it. When the whole process is still designed and set up by a human – the thinking, the structure, the decisions about what should happen and when. What AI does in this situation is manage the elements of that process going forward, making it more consistent, responsive, and effective than manual completion alone could be. I’m talking about the difference between handing a task entirely to AI and hoping for the best, versus building a thoughtful system yourself and using AI as the tool that keeps it running reliably. You remain in charge of the process. AI makes it work better for you. AI as a tool in skilled hands can include: Connecting one system to another; reducing repetitive admin; researching information faster; helping you think through a process more clearly. This difference especially matters for small business owners who have limited capacity to ‘be on it’ all the time, but also rely on genuine relationships and personal service as a core part of what they offer. THE SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION PROBLEM Social media is probably the place I most see both sides of AI automation playing out in real time. When It Works Well A good example of automation done well is Shelly Shulman on Instagram. When someone follows her account, an automated welcome message is sent. I’ve received it myself and it genuinely felt warm and considered. It’s a human-designed process, carried out consistently by automation. It’s worth knowing, though, that interactive messages with buttons tend to work on mobile only, not the desktop version of Instagram, so it’s something to bear in mind if you’re thinking of setting up something similar. When It Doesn’t Work Well Then there’s the “comment WORD and I’ll send you X” approach. The idea makes sense – it drives engagement on a post and removes the manual work of sending links to everyone who responds. I understand the logic. But where I think it falls short is if someone comments on that post with a thought or conversation in mind, and happens to use that trigger word – they’ll receive an automated reply that has no personal connection to what they actually said. In this situation, I think