By Michelle Winn
You ask an AI tool to summarise a report. The answer arrives in seconds, well written and sure of itself. One point doesn’t match what you know about the situation. Do you trust the tool, or yourself?
Organisations across Guernsey are adopting AI quickly, and moments like this are becoming part of everyday work. Many people hesitate or freeze when they reach one. That’s rarely down to a lack of technical skill. More often, they haven’t yet had the chance to build the human skills that help them work confidently alongside AI.
Confidence changes how we check
In 2025, researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University surveyed 319 knowledge workers about how they use AI at work. The more people trusted the AI, the less they questioned its answers. The more confident they were in their own abilities, the more closely they checked.
Checking isn’t distrust. It’s what turns a good first draft into a good decision. That confidence isn’t something you either have or you don’t. It grows with practice, and it grows fastest where people feel safe enough to say, “I’m not sure about this.”
Ask better questions
AI is a powerful starting point. It’s fast, tireless and very good at spotting patterns. Critical thinking is what makes its output work in your situation. Four questions help:
Where did this answer come from?
What does it not know about our circumstances?
What would I add?
Who is affected by the decision?
They take seconds to ask, and they’re what turn a quick answer into a good one. On the course, we build on them with the Ask, Anticipate, Act framework, a three-step way to interrogate any AI output.
Notice how you feel
Our reactions matter too. Some people are wary of a tool that seems to know more than they do. Others trust an answer simply because it sounds convincing. Both reactions are common. They aren’t verdicts, but they tell you when to dig deeper and when to move on.
Know what each brings
AI brings speed, scale and pattern-spotting. People bring context, relationships, ethical reasoning and nuance. We can read the room, we know the people involved, and we understand what a decision means for the person on the receiving end. The strongest results come when each does what it does best, and when people know their own strengths and feel able to say so.
Why it matters here
In a small community where teams are close and reputations matter, how we use AI is felt by individuals and organisations alike. For individuals, these skills mean moving from hesitation to a well-reasoned decision you can explain clearly to others. For organisations, they mean more people using AI with confidence, fewer accepting its output blindly or avoiding it altogether, and more people who can support colleagues through change.
Most of the conversation about AI is about the technology. In practice, whether it’s used well often has as much to do with the people around it. Technical skills help people use AI. Human skills help them use it well.
Build these skills in a morning
Human Skills for the AI Era is a half-day course for all sectors and levels. Through scenarios, peer dialogue and real AI agent interaction, you’ll practise questioning AI outputs, using your emotional response as useful information, recognising your strengths alongside AI’s, and responding to an AI recommendation with confidence.
10 December 2026, 9:00-13:00 | 4 CPD points | £235
Michelle Winn holds an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. She is an EMCC Global Senior Practitioner Coach and a Strengthscope® Master Practitioner. A former Mental Health Nurse, she now works with people, teams and boards in Guernsey and beyond.