Navigating the super toddler: Business etiquette in the age of generative AI

Imagine you take on a new role at an organization where you have never worked before. On your first day, you tour the facility, with its kitchen, cubes, and conference rooms.

The tour is interrupted when you come across something you’ve never encountered in your professional life. Roaming this office is a super intelligent and altogether superhuman 3 year old.

She is small and can be fickle, like any toddler. But, your new manager explains, she can do things no one else can. When someone needs help, they can summon the toddler. She works faster than anyone and can think farther ahead than regular humans. In seconds, she can generate images, write whole documents—entire books, even—and produce recorded music.

But, you are warned, you must be careful what you say to this marvel, as she is as impressionable as any toddler. Give her the wrong prompt and she might learn something she is better off not knowing. You never know what will stick to her developing mind—so watch what you say and treat her with respect.  

As absurd as this sounds, this is where we find ourselves today with generative artificial intelligence, now just two years old. Its capabilities are vast, but, like the toddler of supreme intelligence and creative capacity, it has a lot to learn. And, just as we would have to if this impossible being were made real, we as business leaders must learn how to handle it.

THE NEW ETIQUETTE

I was made to think hard about all of this when I was a guest speaker at an all-hands meeting of a large company. The subject was AI. I demonstrated advanced uses in the modern workplace, showing everyone how I interacted with an AI assistant and explaining what it could do for them.

I was interrupted. Someone had a question.

Why, they asked, was I being rude to the digital assistant? Why, when I asked it to carry out a task on my behalf, did I not say “Please?” And why, when the task was done, did I not have the courtesy to say “Thank you?”

Mind you, I had said nothing inappropriate. I hadn’t called the assistant names, or been short with it. I had merely left out pleasantries that are important in human-to-human interaction.

This concern pivoted the whole presentation, leading to a productive session.

How, asked one participant, should we speak to Alexa, Siri, or their Google assistant? When we ask one of them how much the average lion weighs, and they tell us, do we thank them? What would you say if someone reprimanded you for not showing such courtesy?

Digital assistants don’t have feelings. They’ll never report you to human resources for being hard on them. They may talk, have faces, and otherwise seem like living beings, but they are as likely to feel insulted by your words as a spoon. So, as business leaders, what courtesies do we owe these simulated people?

BE NEUTRAL

I’ve always thought that one of the best tests of character is to see how someone interacts with wait staff at a restaurant. If they are rude, that speaks volumes. If they are excessively polite, it’s not as bad—but nor is it necessary. This person is taking your order because it’s their job, so there’s no need to act like you’re their new best friend.

As it is with servers, so it is with AI. It’s best, I think, to tend toward a neutral approach. Don’t overdo it, but be respectful, and always be mindful of how you come across.

As leaders, we must model the behavior we expect from our teams when engaging with AI. Think of it like driving a car that learns based on your steering. You don’t want to be reckless, as the car will learn to be reckless. Someone could get hurt.

And someone will, in reality, get hurt. There will be AI-related scandals. Some users will misbehave, and it will come to light. It’s strange, but it is in our nature to push boundaries and test limits. Some of us are bound to go too far. I don’t know what exactly that will look like, but I am certain we will know it when we see it.

WHAT LEADERS SHOULD KEEP IN MIND

And so there are things we must be mindful of, as organizations, with these super intelligent and impressionable toddlers roaming our halls.

1. AI learns from us. As business leaders, it’s crucial to recognize that AI learns from us and our employees. AI functionality is only as good as what it draws on. Everything we ask or tell these technologies leaves an impression. All business interactions with chatbots and other technologies must be conducted with this in mind.

2. Tone matters. Everything we do and say as leaders contributes to the overall tone of our workplaces. What you give off will come back to you—so be mindful of what you give off, whether the person you’re speaking to is virtual or not.

3. Lead with personal integrity. We all want to be good people. What we put into the world not only reflects on us—it affects us. Remember this as you experiment and play with AI—but don’t hesitate to play with it. Like a supersmart toddler, AI is a great playmate. Just tread carefully, as you would with a child, and teach your teams to do the same.

TREAD CAREFULLY

There are no norms in place, for how we interact with things that have just come into being. We must establish them—if not for the above reasons, then for self-preservation.

After all, the logs of our exchanges with AI might haunt us years later. And, as with real people, what we get from AI is only as good as what we put in. So let us integrate this technology into our workplaces—but let’s also tread carefully and pragmatically.

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