The ROI of a Lightbulb: Rethinking AI and Leadership, with Mark Schaefer

Strip the humanity out of your business to cut costs and you don't get a leaner company. You get a worse one. Mark Schaefer, marketing futurist, author of 12 books and the man behind the blog GROW, joins Martin Wheatley to talk about the part of the AI conversation almost nobody is having: not how we use AI, but how our customers are starting to. We get into:✳️ Why protecting your brand's DNA matters more as AI spreads, and how "humanity as a luxury" could become a genuine point of difference✳️ Cognitive offloading vs cognitive surrender, and the MIT study where 73% of people accepted a wrong answer from AI✳️ The single thing Mark thinks leaders get most wrong (it involves trying to prove the ROI of a twenty-pound subscription)✳️ Why smaller businesses may be better placed to get this right than the giants✳️ Markbot, the free AI clone Mark built from 16 years of his own work Whether you're weighing up where AI fits in your business or trying to bring your people with you rather than past them, there's plenty here to sit with. Connect with Mark:LinkedIn: Linkedinlinkedin.com/in/markwschaeferWebsite: BusinessesgrowMarketing Keynote Speaker, Strategy Consultant, and Author | Mark Schaefer Mark's books mentioned on the show:How AI Changes Your Customers: The Marketing Guide to Humanity's Next ChapterAudacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing WorldKnown: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age Timestamps:00:00 Introduction02:12 Mark Schaefer: A Journey Through AI and Marketing03:47 The Psychology of AI and Its Impact on Humanity06:27 Cognitive Offloading: The New Norm?09:08 Relationships with AI: A New Frontier11:05 AI in Therapy: A Double-Edged Sword13:26 Human Connection in an AI World13:56 The Backlash Against AI16:48 Balancing AI Implementation and Human Touch20:16 Creating a Custom AI: Markbot Experiment21:40 Scaling Mentorship and Leadership Tools24:26 The Three Pillars of AI Strategy30:09 Transcendent Content and Personal Experience31:55 Challenges in AI Adoption for Leaders34:54 Key Takeaways for AI and Leadership  Get your copy of the Multiply Method ✖️ It's a FREE roadmap walking you through how to multiply the capabilities of your people and your business with AI.www.theaileaderlab.com/roadmap Connect with Martin:Websites: www.theaileaderlab.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/martinjwheatleySubscribe to The Frontier Leader Show wherever you listen to podcasts.