"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth"...or whatever Mike Tyson said. I had a good plan: 1) Write a newsletter weekly. 2) Send the newsletter out. But this week I got punched in the mouth. Whether it was a quick summer flu or allergies, I was down for the count and didn't get a newsletter out last week. While this newsletter will focus on how AI keeps things moving without manual intervention, it's important to be aware that workflows exist where "everything stops when one person stops". That one person is the "Human-In-The-Loop".

The "Human-In-The-Loop (HITL)" is an important AI concept for all business owners to understand. While AI can remove a significant amount of manual tasks from your workload, recommended best practice is to ensure the HITL provides guardrails to protect yourself, your business, and your customers. Plainly spoken, AI does the heavy lift, but you hold the "send" button.

How do you determine what tasks AI should complete vs. what tasks will require human oversight? Ask yourself: "If this outcome is wrong, what's the damage? Can I undo it?" If the damage is negligible and can be undone, this is an AI task. If the damage has significant negative impacts or can't be undone, this is where the HITL should step in. Using my newsletter example, here's the breakdown:

AI

1. Gathers Research
2. Writes first drafts
3. Stages drafts
4. Sorts through e-mails
5. Transcribes
6. Drafts summaries

Human-In-The-Loop

1. Hits the final "Publish" button on anything with your name
2. Provides Customer/Client advice
3. Commits to anything
4. Checks for accuracy/compliance
5. Makes decisions

Going back to my missed newsletter last week. That is a design flaw in my process, solely because I research and write for my own enjoyment. For most business owners, the newsletter would have gone out as expected because AI would have completed 80% of the work - gathering the research, writing the draft, and staging the draft for publishing. The HITL task would simply be to read the draft for accuracy and compliance, then make edits as necessary or approve the article for publishing.

As you think through your own content creation and other processes, start to parse out where the machine can do the work, and where you can make the big calls. Do this so a sick day only costs you a few minutes, not lost opportunities.