Mow Through
AI, with its strengths and its dilemmas, is here now.
By Jonathan Dahl, Chief Content Officer
July 31, 2025
It was our family’s Saturday-afternoon ordeal, Dad trying to start the lawn mower. Decades ago, it meant pulling hard on a cord, again and again, listening as the engine would burble, almost start, and then stall. Comically, my dad, in full sweat under a summer sun, would have to push the darn thing on a decline to try to rev up the motor while pulling the cord. It would take dozens of tries.
Today, many lawn mowers are battery operated—and still I find myself struggling to get mine going. My handyman can do this with his eyes closed, and he seems tickled at what a dud I am. Sure, maybe I could figure out how to start the modern lawn mower, but I’m happy to rely on someone else’s skill set. Bless his heart, whether it’s fixing a leaky sink or a stuck door, he has so many skills I’ll never have.
Somehow, this is a little bit like what is happening with AI. Sure, you can use ChatGPT these days and present everything from a perfect marketing plan to a stunning graphic to, well, even a pretty good “Endgame” column. But do you tell anyone? In the back of your mind, aren’t you worried that spilling the beans might cost you your job someday? Then again, if you show you can power through the project without touching the technology, you risk appearing like a disposable Luddite. Either way, you might end up in the same sad boat.
As we know, most firms haven’t developed policies about disclosing to colleagues or clients how much they use one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Part of that may be a simple fear about the AI’s liability. Is the company, the worker, or no one at fault when information relayed from AI is wrong? Who wants to open that can of worms? But to me, the lack of policies on transparency signals just how blind firm leaders seem to be about how omnipresent this technology has become. Studies show perhaps 40 percent of workers are using ChatGPT. Setting the rules on AI disclosure is not a problem to worry about years from now. AI, with its strengths and its dilemmas, is here now.
All of which means hiding your skill set or refusing to develop one is probably a fool’s errand. It does no good to live in fear of your own job security, and is instead better to show off the partnership you can make with it. Go ahead, I must tell myself, mow your own lawn.
Photo Credits: Woojpn/Getty Images
