It's eager. It's fast. It's occasionally brilliant. But it still needs supervision.
AI tools have come a long way, but they're still not your Chief Operating Officer. They're more like a very enthusiastic intern:
- They work quickly
- They can draft impressive things
- They sound confident, even when they're wrong
Sound familiar?
Whether you're using AI to summarize meetings, draft proposals, or brainstorm blog titles, it's time for a reality check: AI can amplify your work – but only if you manage it wisely.
🧠 Interns Need Clear Instructions – So Does AI
AI tools are only as good as your prompts. Vague requests like "write a blog post about ____" will get you vague results. But when you give clear context, tone, and goals, the output gets smarter.
Treat it like an intern:
- Be specific: "Write a 300-word summary of this report for board members. Keep it high level. Only summarize what's here. Don't introduce new facts or issues."
- Define the audience: "This is for non-technical staff in a global nonprofit."
- Give feedback: If it misses the mark, explain why and try again.
🔍 Interns Don't Fact-Check Themselves
AI tools often "hallucinate" : they make things up, cite fake sources (that sound plausible), or reference outdated information.
Never trust the first draft.
- Always verify facts, stats, and quotes.
- Don't let AI generate anything that hasn't been reviewed, especially public facing content.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
This isn't because the tool is broken – it's because it's trained to sound confident, not to be correct.
🔒 Interns Shouldn't Have Access to Sensitive Files
Would you hand your summer intern the keys to your company's financials, HR database, or your client database? Hopefully not.
Same goes for AI.
Before pasting or uploading anything into a chatbot or AI platform:
- Check your organization's information and data governance policies.
- Avoid sharing confidential, proprietary, or sensitive content unless you're using an enterprise-secure instance – and your policies clearly allow this.
- Make sure your AI tools align with your organization's security posture.
AI can help you write a press release. It should NOT be helping you draft your board minutes if the input includes private deliberations or information protected by non-disclosure agreements.
👓 Interns Improve When You Invest in Them
The more your AI tools "learn" from your style, voice, preferred language, workflows, and organizational norms, the more useful they become. But this doesn't happen by accident.
Build reusable prompts and save them in a knowledge bsae. Create templates. Document your best practices.
Train your team how to use these tools well, and set guardrails for responsible use.
✨The Upside
AI can be an incredible productivity booster and brainstorming partner. Used wisely, it helps teams move faster, get unstuck, and reduce busywork.
But just like any intern, you get the best results when you provide structure, clarity, instruction, and feedback.
This summer, treat your AI like the eager, overachieving intern it is: with optimism and oversight.
