Hi Reader,

AI keeps getting better at doing things for us.

Not just drafting an email or summarizing a document. We're seeing more AI tools that can recommend what should happen next, make decisions based on the information they have, and in some cases take action on our behalf.

For a small business owner, that sounds pretty appealing. There are plenty of things most of us would happily get off our plates.

But I think it also changes the question we need to be asking.

When you hand something over to AI, what exactly are you handing over?

Because sometimes you're delegating a task. Other times, you may also be delegating the decision, the judgment behind it, or the authority to act.

Those aren't necessarily the same thing.

THE OPENING SIGNAL

I've considered connecting my calendar to AI several times. There are things I'd love to be able to ask it about my schedule without having to explain what's already on my calendar every time.

But I haven't quite pulled the trigger.

Part of what's stopped me is that I don't necessarily want AI making changes to my calendar. I'm interested in giving it access to information that could make it more useful. I'm less sure I want to give it the authority to act on that information.

And I've realized those are two different decisions.

That's the shift I'm paying attention to.

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS

I don't think the answer is to keep a human involved in every AI-assisted task. That would defeat much of the reason we're using AI in the first place.

Some work is low-risk and routine enough that you may be perfectly comfortable letting AI handle most of it.

But there's a difference between asking AI to organize information and asking it to decide what that information means. There's a difference between asking it to suggest a client response and allowing it to send one. There's a difference between having it identify a possible next step and giving it permission to take that step for you.

You can delegate the task without automatically delegating the judgment.

And sometimes you may decide to delegate both. The point is to make that choice intentionally.

The more consequence attached to getting something wrong, the more I'd want to think about what I'm actually handing over. A mistake in an internal summary isn't the same as a mistake in a client communication, a pricing decision, or an action that changes something in your business.

AI doesn't need to replace your responsibility for the work simply because it can take over more of the work itself.

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ONE SMALL MOVE

Think about one thing you're already using AI to help you with.

Then ask yourself:

What have I actually delegated here?

Is AI doing the work? Recommending what happens next? Making the decision? Taking the action?

And most importantly, is that the level of responsibility I intended to give it?

You don't necessarily need to change anything. The exercise is simply to make the boundary visible.

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WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO

I came across some interesting G2 research this week about what people are actually willing to delegate to AI.

One finding especially caught my attention: 75% of respondents pointed to output reliability and the need for human review as their biggest concern when using AI at work.

What I find interesting isn't that people don't trust AI. It's that trust doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can use AI to do more of the work while still deciding where you want to review, approve, or step in.

As AI becomes capable of taking on more, I think knowing where you want those checkpoints is going to matter just as much as knowing how to use the tools.

Read: AI at Work: Delegation, Oversight, and Human Judgment​

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There are going to be plenty of good reasons to let AI do more for us. For a small business owner with limited time and capacity, that's part of the opportunity.

The tools will keep changing, and they'll keep giving us more things we could hand over. Knowing what you're comfortable delegating, where you still want a checkpoint, and what you want to keep firmly in your hands is a decision worth making for yourself.

Talk soon,

Lucy

P.S. Where have you already drawn a line with AI in your business? Hit reply and tell me. I'm curious what you won't hand over, even if AI can do it.