If everyone is using AI, where does your competitive advantage come from?

A recent Bloomberg article reporting on Goldman Sachs restricting traders and bankers from using certain AI tools caught my attention (Goldman restricts traders and bankers from using some AI tools). While there may be several reasons behind such restrictions, it got me thinking about something we discuss less often in the AI conversation: competitive advantage.

Imagine two competing organizations using the same chatbot to develop a strategy, respond to a client, or generate ideas for a new service. Both may receive useful suggestions and both may save time, but if they accept similar suggestions without adding their own expertise or perspective, what separates their results?

This question connects to something I heard during my master’s thesis research. When interviewing workers about their experiences with AI, I noticed a recurring perception. Several participants described AI outputs as fairly average. One interviewee brought up that he was worried that when we rely on similar tools, we may end up drawing from similar patterns, familiar ideas, and conventional approaches.

A lot of the benefits talked about AI in the workplace focuses on reducing costs, automating tasks, and increasing productivity. These are important goals, but they are not the only things that matter.

Think about what actually makes a business stand out. It might be the ability to see a problem differently, develop an unexpected solution, understand a client better than competitors do, or build a relationship based on human trust. These advantages are not created simply by having access to a chatbot.

I wonder if business’ pursuit of efficiency, it is easy to focus on everything AI can automate without considering what makes their work distinctive in the first place.