Behind the Curtain of Everyday AI: What’s Hype, What’s Real, and What Still Needs You

Everyone’s talking about AI replacing human thinking. I’m more interested in the opposite problem: what happens when humans stop using their own thinking because AI is so easy to lean on.

AI isn’t the threat — complacency is.

The real danger is letting a tool do the work your brain was built for. We’re entering an era where the smartest people won’t be the ones who use AI the most; they’ll be the ones who use it the best.

The Owl on the Shoulder

As Tanner Garrity at InsideHook puts it, the real question is who’s leaning on whom — and in exploring that idea, he highlights a metaphor using Athena’s owl, the ancient symbol of wisdom. The owl wasn’t there to replace her judgment; it was there to make her wiser.

He cites an example: “You may use AI to write a job application letter that is the same as everybody else’s because they’re also using a similar AI — and you may lose the job as a result. You have to remember that the owl sits on your shoulder and not the other way around.”

Indeed. If you let AI do your thinking for you, you risk blending into a sea of sameness.

Think about the last time you visited an aquarium and saw a school of sardines moving in one synchronized mass. They all look alike. That’s what happens when people let AI flatten their voice — they become part of the school instead of standing out.

How do you twist the familiar in your own role when everyone else is swimming the same way?

The Wisdom Is in the Twist

At the heart of it, AI is a tool that advises, not a tool that decides. Unless you let it.

And like strength training, critical thinking is a workout for the brain. As I point out in many of my coaching workshops, if we’re not getting better, we’re getting worse. There is no standing still.

This isn’t just theory or metaphor. I’ve lived this dynamic myself.

My Own Collaboration with AI

Over the past several months, I worked through a major overhaul of my LinkedIn presence and partnered with my design team as they build out a new website for my company — and AI played a role. But not the starring role.

What made the process successful wasn’t blind reliance on a tool; it was the interaction between my judgment and the AI’s capabilities.

I treated AI as a partner sitting across the table — not a ghostwriter taking over the keyboard. I didn’t accept the first draft of anything. I pushed. I questioned. I challenged the phrasing. I corrected tone. I steered it toward my voice: direct, seasoned, grounded in real experience, and service-oriented.

And more than once, I improved on its suggestions because I know my audience, my clients, and my story better than any algorithm ever could.

In several instances, what AI offered simply didn’t sound like me — not words I’d use, not phrasing I’d ever say. So I typed back alternatives to see if they would work. And I got notes like, “Great catch, Gary,” and “That phrase works so much better.” Like any relationship, you’ve got to be bold enough to speak up and offer something else — a productive give-and-take that sharpens the outcome.

AI expanded the range of possibilities I could evaluate — but I stayed in the driver’s seat.

That’s the owl on the shoulder.

Twist the Familiar™ — Applied to AI

This is the same mindset I talk about in my book Twist the Familiar™ — taking something you already know, something that feels routine or comfortable, and looking at it from a new angle to unlock better results.

AI is just the newest example.

It’s familiar because it’s everywhere now, but the leaders who thrive will be the ones who twist it — who use it creatively, critically, and intentionally instead of defaulting to autopilot.

The Buck Still Stops with You

People want to be seen as smart, confident decision makers.

But how can you own a decision — let alone defend it — if you let AI do the reasoning for you?

AI can help you explore options, pressure-test ideas, or refine your message. But the responsibility, the judgment, the leadership voice — that’s yours. Always.

Closing Takeaways

• AI isn’t the threat — complacency is.

• Critical thinking is still the differentiator.

• Your voice still matters.

• Twist the Familiar™ applies here too.

• If you lead a team, your job isn’t to stop them from using AI — it’s to teach them how to use it without losing their judgment.

AI may raise the floor, but only you can raise the ceiling — and that’s where the real work begins. 

Just ask your owl.