What AI Can't Do (Yet)

Three limits to keep in mind

1. It can make things up. When the AI doesn't know, it often guesses — fluently. Names, dates, statistics, quotes, and links are the usual suspects. Treat any specific fact as "verify before you rely on it."

2. It only sees what you give it. The AI has no memory of your business and can only "see" the text in front of it (its context window). If a detail matters, paste it in. If you start a brand-new chat, assume it remembers nothing.

3. It's frozen in time. A model was trained up to a certain date and doesn't know what happened after — unless a tool gives it live access. For anything recent, check a real source.

How to stay safe

• Ask it to show its reasoning for anything important.
• Keep a human in the loop for decisions, money, and anything customer-facing.
• Use AI for the first 80% (the draft, the structure, the options) and your judgment for the last 20%.

None of these are reasons to avoid AI — they're just the guardrails that turn it from a party trick into a reliable tool.

Next: a simple way to actually fold AI into your week.