I recently wrote about producing social proof in our AI-defined era; what you absolutely shouldn’t use it for (forgery), and some tips about how it can be handy for helping you create success stories. When it comes to thought leadership, much of the same cautions and advice apply, although in slightly different ways.
To be a thought leader means to be wholly original, compelling and, at times, even contentious. Here, we’ll explore how thought leadership content has changed — if at all — and, like the previous blog, consider ways you could and shouldn’t use AI in your pursuit of becoming a leader whose opinions are valuable to a wide audience.
The Downsides of AI in Thought Leadership
I like to be objective, and you cannot ignore AI’s downsides. When it comes to thought leadership content specifically, here’s how the technology has played a negative role:
Volume Over Value
AI lowers the barrier to entry — anyone can produce articles, LinkedIn posts or white papers at scale. In fact, 74% of new webpages include AI content, says Ahrefs. I’m a bit skeptical of that figure, though, since it’s based on data from an Ahrefs-created AI content detector, and we know these tools can vary widely in their accuracy.
While a low barrier may be a win for accessibility, it also means that the market is flooded with surface-level content that just doesn’t really count as authentic thought leadership.
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Homogenization of Ideas
Since AI models are trained on existing data, their output mostly repackages what’s already been said. If your goal is to become a prolific thought leader, using AI can undermine originality, which is essential in your pursuit of trustworthy authority.
Risk of Inaccuracy and Misinformation
AI tools can hallucinate facts or misrepresent nuances. Relying too much on AI without fact-checking or editing output can quickly damage credibility.
Erosion of Authentic Voice
Although AI seems to improve rapidly, readers aren’t stiff and can often tell when something feels “robotic” or lacks personal perspective. Thought leadership requires humanity, storytelling and conviction — ingredients AI can only imitate.
4 Don’ts of AI-Assisted Thought Leadership
In an ideal scenario, people pursuing true thought leadership would lean on AI very little, and certainly not use it to generate swaths of content — unedited — they hope will persuade or inspire readers. To that end, here are 4 no-thank-yous for using AI as an aspiring thought leader:
- Don’t entirely outsource your authority to an algorithm: Use AI as an assistant, not the author. You’re the leader, so you need to guide the narrative with your voice and expertise.
- Don’t publish without scrutiny: Never hit “publish” on raw output. Edit, refine and fact-check thoroughly. For thought leadership pieces in particular, infuse as much of your own voice and ideas as possible, ideally more than the AI can achieve on its own, even off the back of your detailed instruction.
- Don’t assume more content = more leadership: AI can produce “endless gobbets of workplace wisdom,” and adding to it only dilutes your personal brand instead of elevating it. In a sea of sameness, be a siren (the Greek mythology kind 🧜).
- Don’t lose the human angle: AI cannot replicate your personal stories, case studies or lived experience. And more than ever, these are what audiences crave.
3 Challenges for Thought Leaders in the AI Era and How To Overcome Them
For those interested in genuine thought leadership with minimal or no AI assistance, the sheer volume of competition brought on by AI introduces some challenges.
Successfully navigate these and you might stand out like Sirius — our sky’s brightest star — against a background of merely flickering orbs.
1. Cutting Through the Noise
With AI content all over the internet, it’s more difficult for expertise to stand out. Even when genuine, it can become buried in the avalanche. Differentiation requires clarity of perspective and originality:
- Clarify your core POV: Define the one or two big ideas you want to be known for and carry your philosophy throughout your content.
- Leverage personal experience: Life lessons, failures, little-known stories — use your real-world experiences to inform your content.
- Synthesize instead of summarize: Don’t just report the news. AI can do that. Instead, connect the dots. Why do trends matter to you and your audience?
- Engage in conversations: Thought leadership is at its best when it’s a dialogue. Respond to peers, critique common narratives or challenge assumptions in your content.
Who are you? What do you stand for and why? What do you have to offer that others (including AI) can’t? Thought leadership content is one of the few formats where it’s appropriate to prattle tastefully and intelligently about yourself, so why not?
2. Maintaining Trust
Audiences are growing more skeptical of AI-generated fluff. To prove your insights come from real experience, try:
- Referencing your own work or data: Contribute something new by highlighting findings from your projects, customer engagements or research.
- Demonstrating processes: How do you work? Walk readers through how you arrived at a conclusion: what you tried, what failed and what finally worked.
By showing snippets of what you do or how you work — the nitty-gritty details or laborious processes — you can sidestep skepticism from readers who might otherwise be keen to call you out about using AI. AI doesn’t know how or why you do the work.
3. Balancing Efficiency with Authenticity
AI overreliance risks flattening your unique voice. Instead, use it to:
- Brainstorm angles.
- Summarize long reports or pull out key stats.
- Demonstrate opposing viewpoints to address in your content.
- Reframe your draft for a different audience.
The tech is great for helping get started and even opening up your content to different audiences afterward, but everything in the middle — your personal philosophy and the core of whatever message you’re trying to convey — should be up to you.
Rising Above the AI Flood and Leading Thoughtfully
You can find the answer to creating masterful thought leadership content in the name itself; to be a great thought leader, you have to lead thoughtfully. Write about personal experiences, voice honest opinions and share the information that AI does not and cannot know, because those are the things that belong to you. Even when using AI to aid your processes, your unique ideas and authorship are the real value-adds to your content.
