While we debate which large language model (LLM) to use and which prompts to try, we’re missing the more fundamental question: Why hasn’t artificial intelligence (AI) changed how we actually work? Adoption is high and usage is widespread, yet our behavior remains largely unchanged. The gap between using AI and living with it is the real story.

Listen to “Closing the Gap Between Using AI and Living with It” Deep Dive

To drive AI adoption, this McKinsey study found that in the corporate setting, employees are three times more likely to be using AI than their leaders realize. However, just because they’re using AI, doesn’t mean that they’re actually using it every day. The study suggests that employees be encouraged to ask themselves the following questions: “What does fluency in AI mean to you? How will you approach educating yourself on what’s possible with AI? How would AI help to reinvent your work?”

It’s not that people aren’t using AI; they are. Global adoption sits at 10%. But as OpenAI’s research shows below, the majority of ChatGPT usage comes from users who are seeking guidance, information and writing assistance, which is essentially the same things we use search engines for—i.e., different tool, same behavior.

As we discussed here previously, technology analyst Tim Harford observed that when tools become ubiquitous and convenient, “we judge our way through without really understanding what the tool is doing or why.” That’s where we are with AI. We’re using it constantly, but superficially. The real power emerges when you challenge AI as much as it challenges you, breaking down questions, testing hypotheticals and weighing scenarios. That kind of iterative thinking requires a form of investigative curiosity, not just adoption. However, most usage stops after the first prompt is answered.

1983 is considered the birth of the internet. Yet, it wasn’t until the turn of the century that global internet usage went from 2.6 million users in 1990 to 361 million in 2000. Today, there are over 5.6 billion users searching the web, which is 68% of the global population. Due to the lack of internet connectivity, speed and personal computers, internet usage was very conventional at first. Those who did access the web treated it as an online Yellow Pages or as a novelty. It was too new to have shown its purpose and potential. The real revolution was ushered in through the proliferation of home computers, faster internet connections, social media and the dot-com boom.

Adoption of the iPhone followed a similar pattern: Although it was launched in 2007, it wasn’t until 2008, when the app store was launched, that there was turning point in driving adoption. As the app store grew, mobile-first design was implemented, and social media apps and on-demand services, such as Uber, would change our behaviors forever.

We’re in that same waiting period with AI. The technology exists. Adoption is real. But the behavioral revolution—the moment when AI becomes as ubiquitous as Google or as essential as smartphones—isn’t here just yet. Over the last several years, the media has positioned AI as revolutionary, on par with the explosive growth in popularity of the internet and the iPhone. However, while AI is seemingly impacting every facet of our lives, it hasn’t fundamentally changed how we work. But as AI becomes woven into browsers and smart devices, we’ll gradually see the behavioral transformation we’ve been waiting for.

The pattern of previous revolutions reveals what’s missing: an emotional and cultural reframe that transforms novelty into necessity.

Bottled water and credit cards didn’t become ubiquitous because of some unique attribute; rather, they became a necessity because companies changed how we felt about them.

In the 1970s, paying for water rather than drinking it for free from the tap seemed wasteful, even foolish. But Perrier reframed bottled water as prestige, something sophisticated people consumed. Evian and Poland Spring followed suit by emphasizing the purity and health benefits of bottled water. The product didn’t change; the emotional context did. Buying bottled water went from being wasteful to an essential lifestyle choice. Today, nobody questions it.

Credit cards followed the same pattern. For decades, buying on credit meant you couldn’t afford what you were purchasing. Then American Express repositioned the credit card as a prestigious status symbol. Rewards programs reframed spending as smart money management. The credit card category existed for years, but consumers’ behavior didn’t shift until the cultural framing changed from lack of affordability to financial sophistication.

AI needs the same emotional reframing that encourages people to not only use it, but in some respects to see it as a collaborator for iteration and discovery. OpenAI appears to understand this. Their recent marketing doesn’t show chatbot interfaces or prompt engineering; it shows a couple whose car broke down looking at their phone with nothing but the ChatGPT logo visible. It’s powerful and it demonstrates value without the couple saying a single word. The message: AI isn’t a threatening replacement; rather, it’s a helpful companion that’s available 24/7 and that never takes a vacation.

By showing everyday situations where AI helps, ChatGPT is doing what Perrier did for bottled water and what Amex did for credit cards: reframing the technology from something you use occasionally into something that’s always available to answer any question or solve any problem. That’s the cultural shift required to move from conscious novelty to unconscious habit. Right now, we’re still early in the adoption process, and any AI strategy built on assumptions of behavioral transformation is premature.

Closing the Gap Between Using AI and Living with It

While everyone is just scratching the surface by using AI for writing, research and general information or are still enamored with the novelty aspect of AI (e.g., by creating videos of an otter on an airplane), there are behavioral shifts that need to be put into practice.

One way to start shifting behavior is to treat your AI of choice the same way you would direct any question to Google. In fact—sorry Google—go to the AI first. Better yet, don’t think of just asking questions, think of the AI as a new way to brainstorm ideas. Ethan Mollick, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that we experiment and have fun with AI. “Play is often a good way to learn what AI can do. Ask a video or image model to make a cartoon, ask an advanced AI to turn your report or writing into a game, do a deep research report on a topic that you are excited about, ask the AI to guess where you are from a picture, show the AI an image of your fridge and ask for recipe ideas, work with the AI to plot out a dream trip. Try things and you will learn the limits of the system.”

“Experiment and have fun with AI. Play is often a good way to learn what AI can do.”

Earlier, when we asked why AI hasn’t changed how we actually work, maybe the answer is that we need to change how we think about AI. In another post by Mollick, he suggests that “most people who want to use AI seriously should pick from one of three systems: Claude from Anthropic, Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Except . . . picking a system is just the beginning. The real challenge is understanding how to use these increasingly complex tools efficiently.”

The gap between using AI and living with it isn’t about better tools, prompts or agents, it’s about different behaviors. And changing behavior requires the kind of cultural reframing that the app store achieved with the iPhone, Perrier achieved with bottled water and American Express achieved with credit cards.

Until that shift happens, most AI usage will remain superficial, i.e., seeking information, generating drafts and creating novelty videos. The real power emerges when you treat it as a thinking partner, as your always available team member who is responsible for breaking down problems, testing hypotheses and exploring alternatives. That kind of iterative collaboration requires moving beyond simply “Give me an answer to my question” to “Can you elaborate on why and how you arrived at this conclusion and what am I missing?”

This is why the distinction between conscious novelty and unconscious habit matters. Right now, using AI requires deliberate effort. The revolution arrives when using it becomes as automatic as Googling a question or checking your phone. We’re not quite there yet, but the companies as well as the rest of us that learn how to use AI deeply now—not just efficiently—will be positioned to capitalize when the behavioral shift finally arrives.

Questions about your AI Strategy? Email me here. As always, thank you for reading and/or listening.

Image Source: OpenAI