If AI Is in Your Deliverables, Why Isn’t It in Your Conversations?
The Ethical & Moral Dilemma of AI
I have been torn about AI for a while. As a parent, I worry about the world we are leaving to our child to inherit. AI uses clean water at large rates. As a business owner, I see the allure of added efficiency, but I also worry about how AI will replace certain roles.
Recently, I got the opportunity to take a course on AI and how to build and use it as a teammate. Of course, I said yes. Let’s be honest, it does amazing things. It can do the tasks you enjoy the least – you can automate email drafts, ask it to synthesize data, brain dump your day and it can spit out a plan of attack, give you feedback on sales calls or improving your website. What’s not to enjoy? A brain at your disposal that doesn’t require you to tap into your own creativity so you can save it for other things all while being more efficient. But at what cost?
The Transparency Dilemma: Should Clients Know You’re Using AI?
AI is quietly reshaping the service industry.
Proposals, reports, analyses, even client communication. Many communications and documents are now created with some level of AI assistance. But not a lot of leaders or business owners are talking about it.
And that raises a very simple question: Do your clients deserve to know?
One of the benefits of AI is that does make things faster and more efficient. Your clients can rely on speed, scalability and potentially lower cost. All while saving you time in your day and automating anything from mundane to complex tasks.
On the other hand, there’s an uncomfortable truth: Many organizations are delivering AI-assisted work under the assumption that it is fully “human-crafted”. There is no disclosure about their AI usage and/or what information of yours they are using to create these AI supported documents.
That’s where the ethical tension begins.
Let’s be honest, this isn’t just about tools, it’s about trust.
If a client believes they’re paying for human expertise, but part of the work is generated or shaped by AI, does that change the value proposition? No, not necessarily, especially if the final check and confirmation before finalization is done by a human; however, failing to address it can erode confidence if discovered later.
There’s a second layer to this conversation that’s rarely discussed and arguably even more important.
AI doesn’t just impact workflows, it is shaping and impacting the world around us.
Training and running large-scale AI systems consumes significant energy and water resources. AI data centers require cooling, and that cooling often depends on massive volumes of water. In 2023, the University of California estimated that an AI chat session of around 20 questions uses up to a bottle of fresh water.
So, when companies adopt AI (especially on a larger scale), they’re not just making an operational decision.
They’re making an environmental one that will affect the earth for years to come.
And this is where the ethical dilemma becomes even more complex, especially for leaders thinking long-term.
If AI helps you deliver work faster:
· Are you also accounting for its hidden environmental cost?
· Should sustainability be part of your AI strategy?
· Should clients be aware of your AI use, not just that it is used, but how responsibly it’s used?
Transparency, in this context, isn’t just about disclosure. It’s about intentionality.
For service-based businesses, this creates three emerging expectations:
Clarity: Be honest about where and how AI is used and with what information.
Accountability: Ensure human oversight and quality control. Never put out a document that has not been reviewed and verified by a team member.
Responsibility: Consider the broader impact, including environmental cost.
The companies that get ahead of this won’t just avoid risk. They’ll build trust in a way that competitors can’t easily replicate.
The truth is, AI isn’t going away. And neither are the expectations around how it’s used in business.
The question isn’t whether to adopt AI. It’s whether you’re prepared to stand behind how you use it, with your clients, and with the world it impacts.
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Note: This article was developed with the assistance of AI tools. All perspectives, judgments, and final edits are my own.