Admin Consultancy | Emma Shergold
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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 it negates a lot of the good work done by the automation because it doesn’t create the welcoming impression most people are hoping for.
It highlights the automation rather than hiding it and, for me, it’s a reminder that just because something can be automated, it doesn’t mean it should be.
TWO VERY DIFFERENT EXAMPLES OF AI USED WELL
Dirty Business
One really good example of AI being put to genuinely good use comes from the Dirty Business docudrama (highly recommend a watch if you haven’t seen it).
The documentary follows investigators using AI to track and analyse environmental data, specifically pollution levels and patterns over time.
The AI didn’t make the decisions. It didn’t tell the story. What it did was process vast amounts of data quickly, identify patterns that would have taken humans significantly longer to find, and surface evidence that led to genuine accountability.
AI used here to uncover a much needed truth is worlds away from AI used to generate misleading content, fake endorsements, and inaccurate portrayals of people and products for the sake of social media engagement.
Same technology with wildly different application, and the difference is entirely in the intent and judgement of the people using it.
Chris McCausland: Seeing Into The Future
The other example of AI used well that I’ve seen recently is the BBC documentary Chris McCausland: Seeing Into The Future. Chris is a blind comedian – and Strictly Come Dancing champion – who has been exploring how AI is transforming independence for people with sight loss and other disabilities.
In the documentary, Chris tests technologies that most of us would consider a luxury or ‘bit of fun.’
Technology such as: AI glasses that can read a menu; apps that describe a room; and driverless cars which, for someone who is blind, represent an entirely different kind of freedom.
For the first time in his life, Chris sat in a car alone and made a journey without relying on another person.
Admittedly, this isn’t accessible to everyone (yet), but the overall documentary is a powerful watch, and it puts the AI debate in sharp perspective.
As Chris put it: “Accessibility creates a better experience for everybody.” The tools being built for people who absolutely need them tend to end up benefiting far more people than anyone anticipated.
I see this as AI doing something genuinely meaningful by enabling human connection rather than automating it.
I'M IN NO HURRY TO KEEP UP
I feel a lot of pressure at the moment to adopt every new AI development as soon as it appears – 1) because my business operates on and services automated admin processes, and because 2) I have ADHD so I am always pulled towards new things!
However, on this occasion, I’m not getting involved.
I want to observe it first. See what is still around in a year’s time and what quietly disappears when the hype fades.
In the meantime, I will continue to focus on the automations and systems that genuinely improve the way I, and my clients, work, rather than chasing tools that promise to do everything and end up doing nothing particularly well.
In my world, good admin is about consistency which is supported by the right tools, used thoughtfully by the right people.
I’d love to know where you stand on this. How do you feel about AI doing things for you, as opposed to improving the way you do them?
HOW I CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR OWN ANSWER
There’s no right answer to how much AI is the right amount for your business. It depends on what you do, how you work, and what your clients expect from you.
What I can help with is cutting through the noise and working out which automations are worth your time, which are genuinely going to make things easier, and which ones might create more problems than they solve.
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OTHER WAYS I CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS
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