When AI Writes for You, Thinks for You, Apologizes for You: Who Are You, Really?

You’ve Been Lied to About AI 

This isn’t about artificial intelligence replacing your job.  It’s about it slowly replacing you, without you even noticing.

Let me explain.

Earlier this week, I met a sharp young founder. He told me he was about to let someone go from his team. It wasn’t easy. But instead of sitting with the discomfort, finding the words, writing from his gut — he typed this into a chatbot:
“How do I fire someone without hurting their feelings?”

The machine gave him a beautiful response. Soft tone. Clear message. Even a touch of empathy. He copied, pasted, sent, and felt proud.

And I felt… sad.

Not because the firing was wrong. But because something human broke in that moment and he didn’t even notice.

He skipped the very thing that makes us grow. That messy, emotional moment of choosing your words, owning the tension, feeling the weight. He avoided the friction, and with it, the leadership.

They told us this technology would save time. Make us smarter. Free us up for “real” work.

But here’s what they didn’t tell you:

That it makes you sound better but feel less.
That your presence becomes optional.
That your voice starts sounding like everyone else’s.

The danger isn’t that it’s doing too much.
The danger is what you’ve stopped doing.

The pain you avoid? That’s the wisdom you never earn.
The conversation you outsource? That’s the trust you never build.

We’re raising a generation of people who are:
Brilliant on paper — and blank in person.
Fluent in prompts and fragile in feedback.
Fast to respond and slow to feel.

And what’s coming next?

The fastest companies may be the first to die.
Not because they weren’t efficient but because they became irrelevant.

Optimized but forgettable.
Automated but disconnected.
Flawless but empty.

We’re already seeing inboxes full of machine-written emails, answered by other machines — with no one really paying attention. Entire conversations with no memory of who was on the other side.

Because connection doesn’t come from perfection.
It comes from tension. From emotion. From being fully there.

So what can we do?

Not panic. Not reject technology.
But re-learn how to show up.

Here are five things I’m practicing and encouraging others to do as well:

Write the hard stuff yourself. Layoffs. Feedback. Apologies. These aren’t tasks they’re moments. Don’t outsource them.

Pause before hitting send. Ask yourself: Would I say this in person, to someone I respect? If not, change it or pick up the phone.

Create space for human conversation. One meeting a week. No slides. No bots. No summaries. Just people, talking and listening.

Choose where not to use automation. Not everything should be optimized. Some things like emotional clarity and messy dialogue need to stay raw.

Get uncomfortable. Say the wrong thing. Apologize. Grow. That’s leadership. That’s life.

In the world of sports where speed, precision, and optimization are everything it’s tempting to believe that faster is always better. But the real edge in sports innovation doesn’t come from being flawless. It comes from being fully present, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.

Because the future of fan engagement, leadership, and impact won’t belong to the ones who automated the most but to those who knew when not to.

Before you ask the machine what to say ask yourself:
Who do I want to be inside all of this?

Because the future doesn’t belong to the fastest or the most optimized.
It belongs to those who still sound like themselves.

Hey, Believe it or not, I wrote this myself. No AI, no automation 🙂

With love for sports and innovation,
Amir

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