AI can be helpful for all kinds of tasks, from summarizing notes to speeding up research. When used well, AI can save you time and help you work more efficiently. However, if reps rely too heavily on AI, they lose their creativity and their unique perspective.
Atlassian’s Dr. Molly Sands puts it like this: With AI at our fingertips, we can get to “good enough” instantly. This is great for small stuff, she says, but when teams rely on it for everything, they risk sliding into sameness and potentially even making the humans in the equation irrelevant. So, what are the risks of letting AI do too much of the thinking? We share Dr. Sands’ thoughts in this issue of PromoPro Daily.
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Pitfall 1: AI‑induced groupthink. Dr. Sands points out that the best leaders don’t let the loudest voices go first. They surface all ideas before discussion. But with AI, it’s easy to ask the model to go first and then react to what it gives you. She says that when every whiteboard starts with an AI‑generated draft, you get speed at the expense of variety. That’s dangerous for strategy and innovation, where outliers and contrarian angles often drive breakthroughs.
Pitfall 2: “Cognitive surrender” and loss of deep work muscle. When teams heavily rely on AI, research shows it corresponds with lower neural engagement and weaker recall of one’s own reasoning. Even more concerning, according to Dr. Sands, is that when heavy AI users switched to writing without AI, their neural response remained lower, indicating a lasting decline.
Pitfall 3: Hollowing out your own value. In a world where anyone can instantly generate a decent draft, Dr. Sands says the most precious resources are your judgment and taste. AI can help you move faster, but it can’t replace your experience, instincts and understanding of what a particular client needs. That’s what allows you to spot opportunities, solve problems and deliver real value.
AI can be a huge time-saver. The key is knowing when to lean on it and when to trust your own experience. It can help you organize your ideas and speed up routine work, but your judgment and perspective are still what makes you valuable. AI may know a lot, but it doesn’t know the branded merch industry the way you do.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Dr. Molly Sands leads the Teamwork Lab at Atlassian, a living laboratory for how AI is transforming the way teams work.
