AI Can Write Your Newsletter. But It Can't Read Your Town.

Why Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Are Using AI With Three Important Words: With Extreme Caution

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we do business. It can write marketing campaigns, analyze financial data, create business plans, and help small-town organizations accomplish things that once required entire teams.

Pretty impressive, right?

I even had it create the image to the right of this article, just to see what it would do. Not bad? Right?

But here's something every small business owner and community leader needs to remember: Just because AI can do something doesn't mean it should.

In a recent Inc. article, emotional intelligence expert Justin Bariso suggests approaching AI with three simple words: With extreme caution.

And there's some compelling research behind that advice.

We're Excited About AI. But We're Also Nervous.

According to Pew Research Center's 2026 research, 52% of Americans say they're more concerned than excited about AI, compared with just 9% who are more excited than concerned.

That's a pretty significant trust gap.

And for small towns, where personal relationships, community reputation, and trust often drive business, that gap matters.

AI can help a local restaurant develop a marketing calendar. It can help an economic development organization analyze demographic trends. It can even help a small business develop an employee handbook.

But should it make your hiring decisions? Handle a sensitive employee dispute? Or determine how you respond to an upset customer without human involvement?

Probably not.

The Danger of Letting AI Do Too Much Thinking

Here's where things get especially interesting.

A 2025 study from Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University surveyed 319 knowledge workers about their use of generative AI.

Researchers found that greater confidence in AI was associated with less critical-thinking effort.

That doesn't prove AI makes people less intelligent. But it raises an important question: Are we becoming better thinkers with AI, or simply getting better at letting AI think for us?

For small-town leaders, that's worth considering.

Imagine a community leader using AI to develop a downtown revitalization strategy. AI might produce a beautiful plan packed with recommendations.

But does it understand why a particular downtown building has been vacant for 20 years? Does it know the history between local stakeholders? Does it recognize the political sensitivities surrounding a proposed project?

Not unless people supply that context, and even then, it may misunderstand it.

AI can organize information. People provide perspective.

And successful leadership requires both.

5 Ways Small-Town Leaders Can Use AI More Intelligently

1. Use AI to brainstorm, not make your decisions.

Have AI develop five marketing ideas, suggest improvements to a business process, or identify possible grant opportunities. But make the final decisions yourself.

2. Double-check the facts. Every single time.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) emphasizes reliability, accountability, and transparency when using AI.

AI can confidently present inaccurate information. Verify statistics, sources, legal requirements, and financial figures before sharing them.

3. Protect your customers, employees, and community.

Don't casually upload confidential financial information, employee records, customer details, or sensitive community development documents into an AI platform.

The Federal Trade Commission has highlighted the privacy risks associated with AI providers handling sensitive business information. Review privacy settings and contractual protections before sharing data.

4. Never automate away the human connection.

AI can draft an apology to an unhappy customer. But sometimes that customer simply wants a phone call.

AI can help prepare an employee evaluation. But it cannot replace a meaningful conversation about someone's future.

In small towns, relationships are often a business's greatest competitive advantage. Don't lose that advantage in the name of efficiency.

5. Start small, then get smarter.

The U.S. Small Business Administration encourages businesses to experiment with AI in areas such as marketing, repetitive tasks, customer service, and brainstorming while carefully evaluating the risks.

Start with one or two projects. Measure whether AI actually saves time, improves quality, or reduces costs. Then expand what works.

Here's the Real Opportunity for Small Towns

Small businesses and rural organizations often operate with limited staffing, smaller budgets, and employees wearing about twelve different hats.

That's exactly why AI can be such a powerful tool.

It can give a two-person economic development office greater research capacity. Help a Main Street organization improve its marketing. Or allow a family-owned business to compete with companies that have much larger budgets.

But the smartest organizations won't be those that automate absolutely everything.

They'll be the ones that understand what to automate and what should always remain human.

Because AI might be able to write a fantastic community newsletter.

But it doesn't know that Mrs. Johnson has volunteered at the annual festival for 37 years, that your biggest employer quietly helped a struggling family, or why a handshake still means something in your town. Those details are what make communities special.

Use AI to become more efficient. Use your emotional intelligence to become more effective.

And remember, the goal isn't to replace human intelligence with artificial intelligence. It's to make the people behind our small businesses and small towns even better at what they do.