Why Resistance to AI Is Normal, And How To Address It
This is The AI Advent Series, a five-week run of practical reflections on how AI is actually being used day to day. Each piece looks at one theme that keeps coming up in my work, in our bootcamps, and in real conversations with people trying to make sense of this technology.
Introduction
If you’ve ever tried introducing AI into a team or a business, you’ll know exactly what I’m about to say. Resistance is completely normal. It isn’t ignorance, and it isn’t stubbornness. For most people, resistance is a mix of fear, misunderstanding, and a lifetime of seeing technology framed in the most dramatic way possible.
As I said in my most recent interview, the media doesn’t help. Bad news sells. Scary news travels faster. And whenever AI is mentioned, the headline is usually something about robots taking jobs, machines replacing people, or systems going rogue. You rarely see balanced stories about someone using it to save three hours on paperwork, or to get some of their evenings back.
But resistance isn’t a problem to get rid of. It’s something to understand and work with.
Where Resistance Comes From
When you spend a lot of time teaching AI, you start noticing the same patterns. The fears are familiar, though they come from reasonable places.
1. Fear of being replaced
People see AI producing writing, images, plans, and ideas, and assume the next logical step is redundancy. They don’t always see the gap between “produce a draft quickly” and “make a complex decision responsibly”.
2. Fear of looking foolish
Nobody wants to ask a question and feel like they’re the only one who doesn’t “get it”. AI moves fast. The terminology shifts monthly. Feeling left behind is uncomfortable.
3. Fear created by the media
Headlines love extremes. The reality, though, is that most practical uses of AI are far more mundane. Helpful, but mundane. Useful, but not world-ending.
4. Fear of low-quality work creeping in
A lot of people assume that if AI is involved, the output must be cheapened or generic. And honestly, they’re not wrong — if someone uses AI badly, that’s exactly what happens. But used well, it raises quality rather than lowering it.
5. Fear that using AI “doesn’t count” as real work
This one comes up more than you might expect. There’s a worry that if something takes less time, it must be less valuable.
All of this is very human. And none of it is a barrier once people see AI used properly.
A Big Lesson From the Interview
When I mentioned this during my recent interview, I found myself going down a path that I’ve talked about before, though never quite with this level of clarity.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that using AI somehow belittles the work. People assume that if the machine helped, the final product is “less yours”. But that belief usually comes from not understanding the level of skill involved in using AI well.
I always describe AI as: A calculator for human speech.
You still need to:
- Know what you’re trying to solve
- Structure your thoughts
- Give the right inputs
- Interpret the output
- Correct the mistakes
- Add your judgement
It doesn’t make you less skilled. It allows you to use your skills more effectively.
The people who think AI lowers the bar are usually the people who haven’t learned how to use it beyond copy-and-paste prompts.
Why Businesses That Rushed Too Fast Are Now Struggling
Something else worth mentioning here. The companies who immediately thought “this will replace people” are now facing a different kind of resistance — internal disappointment.
They assumed AI was a magic substitute for talent. It isn’t. They tried to automate people out of the loop, and discovered quickly that:
- AI makes mistakes
- It lacks context
- It can’t think in the human sense
- And it absolutely cannot take responsibility
The sting in the tail is that those early decisions created mistrust.
This is why I’m so firm when I say: AI should never make the final decision. It should support the human who makes it.
When businesses understand that, resistance softens almost immediately. People are happy to use AI when they know it isn’t there to replace their judgement.
How To Address Resistance Without Dismissing It
Over the last year, we’ve worked with over a hundred learners from every background imaginable. Farmers, engineers, finance teams, administrators, creatives, small business owners — all with the same worries when they arrive, and all with the same relief when they finally see how AI is actually used.
Here’s what works.
1. Start with real examples
People need to see AI helping with tasks they already understand, not futuristic scenarios. Show them:
- A messy brief turned into a clear structure
- A long document summarised sensibly
- A few ideas expanded thoughtfully
Real use beats theory every time.
2. Explain that AI has limits
This is crucial. AI is not perfect, not magical, and not a replacement for thinking. When you tell people, “This gets you 80 percent of the way,” they feel safer. They understand their role isn’t disappearing.
3. Bring the human element back into focus
Remind people:
- AI can’t own decisions
- AI can’t take responsibility
- AI doesn’t understand consequences
- AI doesn’t hold ethical judgement
People find comfort in clarity. They want to know exactly where the line is — and that line firmly belongs to humans.
4. Acknowledge the fear rather than brushing it off
If someone says, “I’m worried this will replace my role,” don’t dismiss it. Explore it with them. Ask:
- Which parts of your work feel repetitive
- Which parts feel meaningful
- Which parts need your judgement
AI often improves the meaningful parts by removing the noise around them.
5. Share the positive outcomes
When people talk about AI, they often focus on the headline risks. But the practical wins are just as real:
- More time with family
- Less burnout
- Fewer repetitive tasks
- Higher-quality thinking
- Better decisions
These aren’t small things.
Resistance Is Not a Sign of Failure
It took me a while to truly see this, though I’m convinced of it now:
Resistance shows people care about their work.
They care about quality. They care about being useful. They care about being valued.
If anything, resistance is a healthy sign. It means people are paying attention.
Our job isn’t to push them faster, it’s to help them see AI for what it really is — a tool that helps them do more of what they’re good at, with fewer barriers in the way.
Conclusion
Resistance to AI will always be part of the journey, though it isn’t something to fear or fight. It’s a natural human response to unfamiliar technology, amplified by dramatic headlines and misunderstandings about what AI can actually do.
When you show people:
- real examples
- clear boundaries
- responsible use
- and the role of human judgement
the resistance turns into curiosity — and curiosity is where learning genuinely begins.