Human First AI: Why Hiding Your AI Use is the Wrong Strategy
Like most people, I often find AI use comes up in conversation. More and more people talk about how they use it for personal tasks and frequently show off their newfound skill, so phrases like "I asked ChatGPT how to fix my washing machine" are becoming common. People have started using AI for financial advice, and recently, the UK Government decided to add a ChatGPT-style interface to the NHS App, reflecting the growing personal use of AI for health advice. However, for business conversations, there's a more secretive and cautious tone: "Should I tell my clients I use AI?" "Will they think I'm less valuable?" "Are they paying for robot work?" "Am I being lazy?"
I understand why there's such a difference, but with my clients, I encourage people to reframe it entirely.
My Casio Pocket Calculator
I remember getting my first Casio electronic calculator in the 1970s. It had a red LED display that could do the square root of a number and, more amusingly, if you typed 5318008 and turned it upside down, it spelt "BOOBIES." Simple pleasures for simple times, but it was a genuine game changer.
Back then, calculators were banned from maths education as "cheating." I recall an older family member telling me that calculators would be the death of mental arithmetic and make us all innumerate. That's a familiar theme. Today, AI is perceived as "cheating" in education, and businesses are similarly treating AI transparency as something to hide rather than own strategically.
The Transparency Divide
I recently ran a LinkedIn poll asking: "How open are you about using AI in your client work?"
The results were interesting:
Keep it quiet: 20%
Loud and proud: 10%
Transparent when asked: 20%
Show results, not process: 50%
Nine out of ten respondents are playing it safe. Yet, the businesses I see thriving with AI are the ones that are "loud and proud" about it.
The "Loud and Proud" Leaders
While most businesses whisper about their AI use, some are making it a competitive advantage:
Anthropic (OK, fair enough, they are an AI business) published detailed guidelines on how candidates can use Claude during their hiring process and how they use it themselves. Not revolutionary, but intentional. They recognise that deploying AI requires careful consideration, so they're experimenting, testing, and being transparent.
Natalie Luckham (MCIM/MCIPR) at Naturally Social | B Corp Certified has a public AI policy on its website, outlining to clients exactly how it utilises AI as part of its service delivery.
A UK company providing outsourced HR services to local authorities actively teaches job applicants how to use AI properly in their application forms: "We know you're going to use AI, but use it properly."
These businesses aren't hiding their use of AI; they're positioning it as the way to deliver enhanced value.
The Psychology of Playing It Safe
Why do most businesses avoid the "loud and proud" approach? It's the same institutional fear that made schools ban calculators.
"Keep it quiet" mentality: Fear clients will think they're paying for robot work
"Transparent when asked" approach: Reactive rather than proactive positioning
"Show results, not process" thinking: Missing the strategic brand opportunity.
But from what I've seen, whilst others are tiptoeing around AI transparency, the confident minority are building competitive moats.
The Transformation Pattern
Every transformative tool follows the same path: Novelty → "Cheating" Controversy → Grudging Acceptance → Competitive Necessity.
We're seeing this simultaneously in education and business right now. The question isn't whether AI will become standard; it's whether you'll be an early adopter or a reluctant follower.
The Strategic Reframe
Warren Buffett defines a 'moat' as the competitive advantage that protects a business from rivals. Your AI skills – and how confidently you position them – could BE your moat.
The professionals I mentor who are thriving with AI don't hide it. They position it strategically:
→ "I use AI to eliminate the mundane so I can focus on the strategic"
→ "AI helps me research faster, so we get to insights quicker"
→ "I combine AI efficiency with human judgment for better outcomes"
You can see the pattern. They're not saying AI does their job – they're saying it makes them better at it.
The Confidence Gap
Seventy-four per cent of small businesses believe AI could help them grow, yet only 15% have successfully adopted even one AI technology.
The gap isn't technical capability; it's strategic clarity about your value proposition in an AI world.
Those hiding their AI use are operating from a scarcity mindset: "What if clients think I'm less valuable?"
Those owning their AI use operate from abundance: "What if clients knew how strategically I'm using AI to deliver better outcomes?"
The Generational Reality
There's another thing that should concern businesses playing it safe: Gen Z expects a business to be AI-fluent. Companies that try to "prevent" or hide AI use send negative signals about growth opportunities and technological sophistication.
The companies that position AI transparency as a brand strength are attracting talent and clients who value innovation over tradition.
The Trust Paradox
Transparency builds confidence; secrecy breeds suspicion.
When Anthropic publishes its AI hiring guidelines, it's not weakening its position – it's strengthening it. They're saying: "We're so confident in our human+AI value proposition that we'll show you exactly how we work."
When a business hides its use of AI, what message does that send? That they're not sure about the value they're providing?
The Strategic Question
The question isn't whether to use AI; that ship has sailed. The question is whether you're confident enough in your unique value to own how you use it.
Are you the strategist who uses AI to accelerate research? The consultant who combines AI insights with human intuition? The adviser who leverages AI to deliver faster results?
When you position AI as an extension of your expertise rather than a replacement for it, clients see enhanced value, not diminished worth.
After all, your clients think you use it anyway!
The Competitive Reality
While you're being discreet about AI use, your competitors might be positioning it as their competitive advantage. The window for first-mover advantage in AI positioning remains open, but it won't last forever.
The Bottom Line
In 2025, AI literacy is no longer just a nice-to-have – it has become a competitive necessity. The businesses that will thrive are those that combine AI efficiency with irreplaceable human insight and own that combination confidently.
Don't let the calculator-ban mentality hold you back from strategic AI positioning.
This is the fourth article in my 'Human First AI' series, exploring how to leverage AI whilst amplifying what makes us distinctly human. Previous articles examined why brands with good taste will dominate the AI era, the fundamental skill shifts needed to future-proof your career, and why the LinkedIn algorithm is behaving so strangely. Be sure to subscribe to this newsletter so you don't miss the next instalment.
AI is terrifying and exciting at the same time. That's how most business leaders feel at the moment. Seventy-four per cent believe AI could help them grow, most businesses are dabbling with AI, yet only 15% have successfully adopted it. After helping dozens navigate AI adoption since 2022, I've learned that strategic clarity beats technical complexity.
The Intentional Clarity Reset - AI Strategy I run helps business owners cut through the noise, define their AI-proof value proposition, and develop a roadmap for making them and their team into 'Super Humans', coupling the best of AI capabilities and human advantage.
I wrote this article using Claude as my thinking partner. I use a complex prompt that helps me write each piece, including numerous tough questions and a 5-step process. DM me, and I'll send you the PDF with more information about The Intentional Clarity Reset. If you book a session with me, I'll also send you a copy of my prompt.
