Beware, Leaders: AI Is the Ultimate Yes-Man
Sure, having a computer that thinks you’re a genius is flattering. But to make good decisions, you need good information — and thoughtful pushback.
Who doesn’t like being told they’re right?
Photographer: skynesher/E+I grew up watching the tennis greats of yesteryear with my dad, but have only returned to the sport recently thanks to another family superfan, my wife. So perhaps it’s understandable that to my adult eyes, it seemed like the current crop of stars, as awe-inspiring as they are, don’t serve quite as hard as Pete Sampras or Goran Ivanisevic. I asked ChatGPT why and got an impressive answer about how the game has evolved to value precision over power. Puzzle solved! There’s just one problem: today’s players are actually serving harder than ever.
While most CEOs probably don’t spend a lot of time quizzing AI about tennis, they very likely do count on it for information and to guide their decision making. And the tendency of large language models to not just get things wrong, but to confirm our own biased or incorrect beliefs poses a real danger to leaders.