I’ve been seeing the headlines everywhere.
On webinars, at conferences, in every second LinkedIn post:
“AI is making us worse communicators!”
“We’re losing the human touch!”
“ChatGPT is dumbing everything down!”
Cue the dramatic music and hand-wringing.
But here’s the truth I’m seeing in real time:
It’s not AI. It’s us.
We’ve always been a little hit-or-miss at communication - we just have faster tools now to show us how messy it really is.
Let’s talk prompting, logistics, and why communication breaks down in the “last mile.”
When I use AI to help write something - whether it’s an email, Slack message, or LinkedIn post - I’m not just asking it to “make it sound good.” I’m trying to ship a message from me to someone else, using the best possible route.
That’s where things get interesting. Because just like a supply chain, there are three key parts:
The message = the product
The format = the shipping method
The reader = the end recipient
And if you don’t match those three? It’s chaos.
You wouldn’t:
Ship a birthday cake via standard post and hope for the best
Deliver a single keychain in a full-size moving truck
Send your friend a 4-page Word doc when all they asked was “what time’s dinner?”
But we do this with communication constantly.
We use the wrong format, too much detail, or forget who we’re talking to entirely.
This is where GPT prompting gets fun, and actually useful.
Instead of just typing:
“Tell my roommate to do the dishes”
Try:
“Write a passive-aggressive but still funny reminder to my roommate (who I like) that dishes don’t magically clean themselves. This will go in a group chat and should include a joke but no guilt trip.”
Or:
“Write a text message to my bestie reminding her to bring snacks and that the BBQ starts at 1pm SHARP, and make it sound like I’m annoyed but still love her.”
Or my personal favourite (and not too far off) referencing a conversation I had with my accountant:
“Write a professional but light email explaining to my accountant why I had to buy a $97 standing desk lamp shaped like a cactus. It was necessary, I swear.”
The more context you give - who, how, and where - the better the message lands.
AI won’t fix poor communication. But it will absolutely amplify good communication if you prompt it like a logistics pro.
AI isn’t making us worse. It’s just speeding things up.
If you’re a great communicator, AI can help you scale that.
If your communication was already shaky - well, now you’re just shipping the wrong thing, faster.
Just like in a real supply chain:
Know your end user
Choose the right vehicle
Package the message for the journey
You don’t send fresh sushi via regular mail.
So maybe don’t send a 1,200-word AI-polished essay in Slack.
Have you been doing anything fun with AI these past few months?
Any prompting horror stories? Let me know!
