Why Passive AI Adoption Won’t Cut It in 2026

 

In 1994, Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel had a famous exchange on the “Today Show” when they didn’t know how to pronounce the @ in an email address, leading to the oft-quoted moment of Katie saying, “What is Internet, anyway?”

The moment I find so intriguing about this clip (reprised in a Super Bowl ad in 2021) is when Couric said, “I’m afraid if I subscribed to something like internet, I’d get hooked and never spend time with my family. …I feel like I’m so inundated with information all the time that I don’t want more.”

Today, adding up her major platforms, Couric has approximately 5.6-plus million followers across her main social media channels. She reaches millions of people a day with her massive multi-platform digital media presence across Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Substack and more.

This isn’t a mocking story, but a prescient one.

It is OK to be confused about AI. It is OK not to understand it and to find it annoying. But it is not OK to ignore it.

But that is what some of us are doing.

The uncomfortable truth

I see brilliant communications and marketing experts tiptoeing around the edges, some putting their heads in the sand, others meekly adopting a tool here or there to demonstrate that they are going with the times. These are smart people. Experienced communicators. Some of whom, for many reasons, are minimally engaged, just using ChatGPT to write a LinkedIn post and calling it a day.

This isn’t a criticism. It’s a wake-up call.

Many of us are stuck between knowing AI matters and using it effectively.

We’re facing a paradox. The very skills that make us excellent communicators — creativity, strategic thinking, relationship building — are exactly what AI can’t replicate. Yet the tactical work that fills our days, from drafting, to research, to data analysis, is exactly what AI does brilliantly.

The gap between where we are and where we need to be isn’t about tools. It’s about mindset.

Take the plunge

This reminds me of the early days of Twitter, when so many leaders were reticent to deal with yet another thing they had to learn.

The answer then, as it is now, is to dive in.

How do you explain Twitter? You make people try it. Many jobs ago, I used to lead a mini class for executives before our annual convention. We would have them pull out their phones and download Twitter, then practice tweeting and retweeting to each other, learning the value of real-time interaction at a leadership event. 

Over the next few days, we would see those leaders on the hashtag, sharing ideas and insights and making the event richer. Many of them are strong voices on social platforms even today.

As you gear up for 2026, take the plunge and figure out for yourself what AI means for you. 

1. Dive in.

Experiment with Claude or ChatGPT or Copilot with a real problem you are facing, something smaller than a whole plan but bigger than an Instagram post. Don’t ask it to write something for you. Ask it to push you.

Maybe: “I’m stuck on how to frame this story. Our product does X, but I think the real story is Y. Challenge my thinking. What am I missing? What am I not asking myself?”

Then engage with the responses like you would in a conversation with a human who you trust to make you better.

2. Give context.

No matter the model, think of AI as a colleague, not software.

• _{Give it the context, color and consequence, essential elements} from Brené Brown’s leadership framework, intended to stop teams from focusing on the wrong things. AI is part of your team now. Make sure it doesn’t focus on the wrong thing and understands what you need. 
• _{Don’t instruct it; teach it.} If you are writing a blog, share past posts so it understands your tone and voice, just as you would with a new writer. Give it your style guide. Tell it what you want that audience to do when they read it.
• _{Set up your user profile to teach it what matters to you.} Part of my user profile says: “I prefer a high-level response first to see if it’s the right direction. If I don’t provide enough context for you to assess the situation, please ask me questions.” I would say that to an employee, so I say it to AI. 
• _{Instruct it that you want a partner, not a sycophant.} Demand it stop praising you. Try: “I want you to challenge my thinking. Do not fawn or be overly effusive. Please lean into asking me hard questions and helping me be better.”

3. Experiment. 

Even simple real-world experiments can uncover how AI can help you: maybe as a thinking partner who challenges you, maybe as a sounding board for ideas, maybe as a white board that talks back to you. 

Try your same question in another model and see how the answers differ. How did your conversation with Claude differ from your conversation with Copilot? Which do you personally find more valuable?

What the future requires

The future isn’t about the tools, though the tools are important to understand, assess, and use. It’s about communications leaders who can think strategically, build relationships authentically, and make sound judgments quickly. Our creativity, our strategic thinking, our relationship skills — these aren’t threatened by AI. They’re amplified by it.

But only if we lead.

The communicators who will lead in 2026 and beyond aren’t waiting for perfect tools or complete certainty. They’re experimenting now. They’re building expertise now. They’re making the intentional choice now.

The gap between those who began experimenting six months ago and those just beginning today is already visible. The gap between today and six months from now will be dramatic.

Katie Couric figured it out. So can we. 

 

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The insights in this piece are informed by conversations with communications leaders at PRSA ICON 2025 and my own experience integrating AI into strategic communications workflows. If you’re wrestling with how to lead your team’s AI transformation or have tips to share, then I would love to hear your perspectives. You can find me on LinkedIn.

 

 

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