Welcome! This is the first of a 3-part series to dispell myths about AI and explain the realities of using it. I’ll review some of the things you’ve heard and, by the end, you’ll be better able to sepatate fact from hype.

AI at Work: What It Can (and Definitely Can’t) Do

Part 1 of “The Myths and Realities of AI at Work”

It’s me again with another blog about AI. Welcome to the first post in a 3-part series. During this short series, we’re going to pull the curtain back and give you a look at the great and powerful Oz. And like the Wizard of Oz, there’s a lot of mystery but not a lot of magic. In this post, we’ll talk about what AI really does, what it definitely doesn’t, and why you (yes, you, the human) are still the most important part of the process.

It seems like AI is everywhere and is the magic pill for getting ahead, doesn’t it? After all, it writes emails, designs graphics, summarizes meetings, and recommends what to binge-watch next (I swear, I started watching Frieren and the next thing I know, half of my recommendations are for anime!). It’s touted as the coworker who never sleeps, never takes vacation, and, if you believe the hype, might soon be taking your job or-even running your business for you.

But here’s the thing: most of what people believe about AI is only half true. Behind the flashy AI startups, corporate tech demos, and buzzwords, AI is still just a set of math equations doing its best impression of human intelligence. It’s useful and worth learning about, but it’s not going to be solving all your problems anytime soon.

Myth 1: AI Understands Your Business Like an Expert

Nope. Not even close.

AI doesn’t “understand” anything. Instead, it looks for patterns in whatever data you feed it. Think of it like a very fast, very cocky intern: it can confidently sort information, make predictions, and give you answers that sound like they’re factually true. However, it doesn’t know your customers, your company culture, or that one tricky client who always needs a personal touch.

For example, ChatGPT or Gemini might help you write a sales email or brainstorm social media ideas. That’s great. But if you ask it “explain my customers’ pain points,” it’ll base its answer on the general data it’s been fed, not your actual business in your actual market.

That’s where humans come in. You have the lived experience and emotional intelligence that AI lacks. AI can suggest a marketing idea but only you can decide if it makes sense for your audience or your business. You are the expert when it comes to your business, not AI.

Myth 2: AI Works the Same in Every Industry

If only that were true! AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all t-shirt. Think of it more like a tailor-made custom suit. How well it fits depends entirely on the measurements taken (or in this case, the data input). And the measurements (data input) must be accurate, constantly updated, and complete. Imagine making that suit with last year’s measurements, which are a bit off anyway and missing the inseam length. Now you understand why you can’t just depend on whatever output comes from your prompts.

The AI that helps a restaurant predict food inventory won’t perform the same way for a law office tracking contracts. Why? Because each industry speaks its own language, has its own standards, and maintains its own best practices. A phrase like “drafting” means something different to a lawyer than to a graphic designer. 

Real-world example: Grammarly and Jasper both help people write, but they were made for different purposes. Grammarly focuses on grammar and tone while Jasper focuses on brand style and marketing context. Each AI will give you different answers to the same prompt because they were each trained with industry-specific data, not because it understands the writing or marketing industry.

So before you use an AI tool, ask: Was this built for my kind of work? Does its data set have the dynamic, most up to date information that is crucial for my work yet? If not, while it will definitely give you answers that sound smart and appear knowledgeable, it won’t actually fit your needs. Much like that intern.

Myth 3: AI Can Replace Your Employees

This is the big one that I hear all the time. The enthusiastic C-suite executives, the large number of AI start-ups, and AI evangelists on social media endorsing (and forcing) the everyday usage and automation of AI means that a lot of workers are worried about being replaced-with good reason! But as companies who have laid off workers and are now scrambling to hire them back know: it’ll automate some tasks, but it can’t replace humans.

Only humans can read body language in a client meeting, or sense when your team’s burned out. It can’t have an off-the-record conversation that rebtilds trust after a rough week. What it can do is handle routine work: scheduling meetings, organizing receipts, transcribing notes (somewhat accurately), etc.

Picture this: your office uses Microsoft Teams, Otter.ai, or Fireflies.ai to transcribe a meeting, which you ask ChatGPT to summarize and list in bullet points. Of course that seems like it will save time! But only humans can tell when the summary is correct or whether something important has been missed. And when it comes to deciding what actions to take based on those notes, like how to handle a frustrated client or restructure your workflow, that still requires human judgment.

AI is an assistant, not a replacement. You still need people to check for accuracy, tone, and fit. You need them to interpret qualitative data, such as understanding why one team is eager to adopt a new software and another is resistant, be able to understand team dynamics and use that knowledge to facilitate efficient work. 

Myth 4: AI Can Be Used For Research

Please, just…don’t. Remember when I said that the dataset it trains on needs to be complete, accurate, and up to date? Let’s talk about “hallucinations.” That’s the term for when AI just… makes stuff up (now would be a great time to read my blog “AI and the Second Law of Robotics). AI is programmed to obey your prompts and give you want-and what you want is an answer.  That doesn’t mean it’s going to be a complete, up to date, or even correct answer. AI doesn’t know anything; it predicts the most likely sequence of words that combine to create a convincing answer.

You’ve probably seen examples of AI inventing fake citations that lawyers confidently used in court cases, or a chatbot telling someone their airline refund was approved when it wasn’t. So when you ask it your research questions you will get an answer but it may be only partially correct. Again, it guesses based on patterns contained in the data set it was trained on and it’s highly unlikely to include any recent ground-breaking research studies or all journal articles published.  So while some of those patterns it guesses are accurate; others will be total nonsense.

That’s why human review is essential. Use AI to brainstorm or get unstuck, but always check its facts before acting on them or including them in research. AI is programmed to give you answers, they just might not be the correct ones.

Myth 5: AI Can Think for Itself

Despite the sci-fi, SkyNet vibes the hype is creating, AI isn’t self-aware. It doesn’t think, feel, or have opinions. It doesn’t “know” it’s helping you; it’s just crunching data and predicting what to say next.

If AI were a person, it’d be the friend who’s really good at trivia but has zero emotional intelligence. You can ask it for a list of ideas or stats, but don’t expect it to understand why those things matter to you.

That’s why pairing AI with human creativity works best. Let’s say you run a small home décor shop and ask ChatGPT to “write a post about fall decorating trends.” It’ll give you a solid draft, full of ideas like “cozy neutrals” or “layered textures.” But it doesn’t know your brand tone, your customers, or that your top-selling items are handmade textiles. That’s your part-adding the soul and context that AI can’t generate.

So What Can AI Do Well? Quite a bit actually, when you use it for the right things. • Routine work: summarizing meetings, generating outlines, or drafting emails. • Brainstorming: jump-starting ideas when you’re stuck. • Organization: helping structure data, lists, or workflows you’ve already mapped out. • Customer service: answering common questions with well-written templates.

Think of AI as a coworker who’s terrible at reading the room but lightning-fast at crunching numbers. In other words, you give it the information; it gives you structure and options.

The Bottom Line

AI is a fantastic tool but that’s all it is: a tool. It doesn’t dynamically update itself, manage a team with empathy and wisdom, and it’s definitely not a magic bullet. The more you understand what AI can (and can’t) do, the better you can use it to make your workday smoother, your business more efficient, and your decisions more informed.

In the next post, we’ll look at why “AI saves money instantly” is another myth-and how the hidden costs of convenience can surprise even the savviest small business owners.

Until then, this is your friendly, neighborhood anthropologist. Stay critical, my friends.