AI Reality Check | Carol Roderick, PhD

Ten answers from now, you'll have a clear picture of how you've been responding to the pressure to adopt AI and what that response is costing you.

The questions are built on my doctoral research into how people respond when they're under pressure to become marketable. It also applies to the pressures we are facing right now with AI. Three responses showed up consistently. Two of them are quietly expensive, and most people are in one of those two without realizing it.

One question at a time. Answer honestly. 5 minutes max.

The expertise you've built, your way of thinking through a problem, your standards, the judgment clients actually pay for: where does most of that live right now?

In a real system. Other people can access it, work from it, and use it without me. Some of it exists somewhere, but the parts that actually matter still come through me. In my head, my inbox, and a few documents nobody else can really navigate. Almost entirely in me. If I stepped back, most of it would stop.

When a potential client searches for someone with your expertise right now, using the words they'd actually use, how confident are you that AI would find you, describe you accurately, and recommend you?

Very confident. I've looked and the picture is right. Somewhat, though I haven't actually checked recently. I've assumed it's fine, but I've never verified it. I know there are gaps. I haven't dealt with them.

Think about the leads, inquiries, or opportunities that came into your business in the last 90 days. How many of them got the follow-up they actually deserved?

All of them. That part works. Most, but some slipped and I noticed. Fewer than half if I'm honest. I try not to think about this one.

Before you continue

In a study of more than 5,000 professionals, trust in the person dropped by up to 18% the moment AI involvement was detected. Not trust in the quality of the work. Trust in the person.

At the same time: 92% of university faculty now formally oppose AI use on academic integrity grounds. The American Bar Association has issued ethics warnings to lawyers about professional liability. Professional associations across medicine, finance, and consulting are telling their members to proceed with caution.

The market is telling you to move fast. Your professional world is telling you to be careful. The rest of these questions are about where that's actually left you.

Your team, contractors, or anyone else working in your business: do you know what they're currently putting into AI tools? Client information, internal pricing, proprietary process, private context?

Yes. We have clear guidelines and I'm confident in them. There's no real rule, just assumption, and I'm not entirely comfortable with that. I've thought about it and I'm genuinely not sure what's going in. This is one I've been avoiding and I know it.

When AI helps you produce something for your business, how often does what comes out actually sound like you, reflect your standards, and say what you would say?

Usually. I've given it enough context that it mostly works. Sometimes. It needs work but I can get there. Rarely. I rewrite more than I expected. It doesn't sound like me. I fix it so heavily or I don't use it.

For the last year, universities, professional associations, and licensing bodies have been telling their members that AI is a threat to integrity, expertise, and professional credibility. At the same time, the market has been moving hard in the other direction. Where has that left you?

Take your time with this one.

I've worked through it. I know where I stand and I'm comfortable with my approach. I'm using AI but I haven't fully made peace with it professionally. I feel the pull both ways and I haven't landed anywhere that feels settled. I've mostly stayed cautious because the professional risk felt real, but I'm not sure that's a position.

When you think about putting your real business context into an AI system, what's the thing that actually stops you?

Nothing. It's in there and I trust how I've set it up. I don't fully know what to put in or how to structure it. I worry about what happens to that information. Where it goes. Who sees it. I haven't started, and I don't know enough about the risks to feel safe doing so.

Someone in your space, similar background, similar clients, has spent the last six months teaching AI their business. Their AI knows their offers, sounds like them, follows up faster, and shows up when clients search. You're finding out now. What's your honest reaction?

That's where I am too. I've been building the same thing. I'd want to catch up, and I'd know where to start. I feel that gap right now reading this. I've been telling myself I had more time than I did.

In the last six months, has there been a specific moment where you thought "I need to sort out how AI fits my business," and then didn't?

No. I'm clearer on this than that suggests. Once or twice. Something came up and I moved on. More than that. There's a pattern I recognize. Yes. Something specific just came to mind reading that.

Underneath all of it, which is most true right now?

AI is working in my business the way I want it to. I'm using AI, but it doesn't feel fully mine yet. I'm keeping up, but I'm not building anything that lasts. I know something needs to change. I've known for a while. I just haven't had the right place to start.

What Your Answers Show

You've been complying with the pressure to adopt AI.

Your answers show a business where the expertise is real but the system holding it together is mostly you. AI is in the picture, but it's working off whatever happens to be in the prompt. Not your voice. Not your standards. Not the judgment your clients are actually paying for.

What complying means, what it's costing you, and what to do about it is in the email.

Where should we send your results?

You get the email. That's it. Nobody calls you and nothing gets pitched.

Please enter your name, a valid email, and check the consent box.

What Your Answers Show

You've been resisting the pressure to adopt AI.

Your answers show someone who has been careful for good reasons. But careful and visible are not the same thing. While you've been working out where you stand, the people looking for someone with your expertise have been searching. And the AI answering their questions does not yet know who you are.

What resisting means, what it's costing you, and what to do about it is in the email.

Where should we send your results?

You get the email. That's it. Nobody calls you and nothing gets pitched.

Please enter your name, a valid email, and check the consent box.

What Your Answers Show

You've been humanizing the pressure to adopt AI.

Your answers show someone who has already figured out the part most people skip. You know generic output is a context problem, not a tool problem. But the judgment, the standards, the way you think through a hard client situation: none of that is in a form AI can actually use yet. That's the part that makes your work yours.

What humanizing means, what it takes to finish the job, and what it's worth is in the email.

Where should we send your results?

You get the email. That's it. Nobody calls you and nothing gets pitched.

Please enter your name, a valid email, and check the consent box.

Your results are on the way.

Look for an email from Carol Roderick, PhD. If it's not in your inbox in a couple of minutes, check your promotions or spam folder and drag it over.

You rewrite everything AI gives you.

Ten answers from now, you'll have a clear picture of how you've been responding to the pressure to adopt AI and what that response is costing you.

The expertise you've built, your way of thinking through a problem, your standards, the judgment clients actually pay for: where does most of that live right now?

When a potential client searches for someone with your expertise right now, using the words they'd actually use, how confident are you that AI would find you, describe you accurately, and recommend you?

Think about the leads, inquiries, or opportunities that came into your business in the last 90 days. How many of them got the follow-up they actually deserved?

Before you continue

Your team, contractors, or anyone else working in your business: do you know what they're currently putting into AI tools? Client information, internal pricing, proprietary process, private context?

When AI helps you produce something for your business, how often does what comes out actually sound like you, reflect your standards, and say what you would say?

For the last year, universities, professional associations, and licensing bodies have been telling their members that AI is a threat to integrity, expertise, and professional credibility. At the same time, the market has been moving hard in the other direction. Where has that left you?

When you think about putting your real business context into an AI system, what's the thing that actually stops you?

Someone in your space, similar background, similar clients, has spent the last six months teaching AI their business. Their AI knows their offers, sounds like them, follows up faster, and shows up when clients search. You're finding out now. What's your honest reaction?

In the last six months, has there been a specific moment where you thought "I need to sort out how AI fits my business," and then didn't?

Underneath all of it, which is most true right now?

You've been complying with the pressure to adopt AI.

You've been resisting the pressure to adopt AI.

You've been humanizing the pressure to adopt AI.

Your results are on the way.