The AI Workslop Problem - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast
‘If you treat AI like a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail’
AI expert Alexandra Ebert tells IT leaders to move past the AI hype, focus on data foundations, and build real business value through strategy, smaller models, and smarter use of generative tools.
IT teams are constantly being told to “get more AI,” but without a plan in place that’s about as helpful as a demand to build a rocket ship.
Alexandra Ebert has seen the results up close. As advisor to the FCA, OECD and IEEE, and chief AI and data democratisation officer at Mostly AI, she spends her time helping large organisations navigate from pilot to finished project.
In the latest episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, Ebert joins me to talk about why so many enterprises are missing the point on this technology. She says the problem often starts at the top: boards and executives rush to deploy tools like ChatGPT without knowing what data they actually have, or what problems they want to solve. The result is a wave of uncoordinated projects that waste money and fail to scale.
Ebert also touches on “AI workslop,” the growing habit to overuse generative tools for tasks like writing emails or strategy documents. While some workers claim big productivity gains, the reality can be the opposite: when people rely on AI to draft emails or reports without checking the output, the burden shifts to their colleagues, who have to fix errors or add missing detail. The result isn’t less work, it’s simply shifted to different people.
For IT leaders, workslop highlights the need for clear policies and training around when and how to use AI, and when not to.
We also talk about the pressure Big Tech is putting on the market. After years of heavy investment in infrastructure, the hyperscalers now need customers to fill it, and that means keeping the hype alive. Is that justified? You’ll have to listen to find out.
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