Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are a huge productivity booster. I use them daily as a writer and speaker. But here’s what I’ve learnt the hard way: they are not magic lamps, and when not handled correctly, they can take you further away from your own voice.

When I was preparing for my talk on “How AI can coach Gen Z and Gen A to lead”, I started with my outline and gave it to ChatGPT for expansion. Instead of polishing my ideas, it kept rearranging the flow and adding new ones. After a few iterations, the draft looked polished, but it no longer sounded like me. It was generic and stripped of the personal experiences I wanted to share with founders and CEOs.

So, I went back to basics. Whiteboard, pen and paper, rehearsal recording. Then I brought AI back into the process differently: I used it to transcribe my rehearsal, give me feedback, identify the low points, validate the ideas, and suggest improvements. This time, AI became a coach rather than a ghostwriter—and the final talk landed well with the audience.

That’s the point I want to leave with founders: AI is excellent for ideation, for breaking a blank page, or for polishing drafts into the right tone. But it can’t replace your lived experience. If you let AI own the core of your message, you risk becoming a parrot of machine text. Your value as a founder is in bringing your own stories, scars, and convictions to the table.

In my book The Founder Catalyst, I argue that the future of leadership is about combining technology with what humans do best—strategy, empathy, and authenticity. The same principle applies here: let AI make you sharper, not faceless.