Council Post: The Three Bears Of AI: What Goldilocks Can Teach About Using AI Just Right
Dr. Terry Oroszi, Vice Chair and Associate Professor, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University.gettyI spend a lot of time reading work that claims to be human, from emails and reports to policy dra...
Dr. Terry Oroszi, Vice Chair and Associate Professor, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University.
getty
I spend a lot of time reading work that claims to be human, from emails and reports to policy drafts. The writing looks familiar at first glance, but then something catches my eye: a bold word in the middle of a sentence or a sudden shift into flowery phrasing.
AI is everywhere, but honesty about AI is rare. One of the biggest problems that not enough people talk about is the people using it and the fact that most will not say which kind of user they are.
The fairy tale of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" gives us a useful way to think about this, as I've come to identify three specific ways people use AI. They either hide it, rely on it too heavily or find the balance that keeps them accountable.
Papa Bear: The Denier
Papa Bear is established, respected and certain of his credibility. He insists he does not use AI. He says it on panels, in interviews, in meetings and in classrooms. However, evidence to the contrary is everywhere.
I once reviewed a senior leader’s policy memo that shifted tone three times in two paragraphs. The first section sounded like his usual clipped, pragmatic style. The second read like a corporate press release. The third included a metaphor I had never seen him use before. When I asked about the inconsistency, he brushed it off and said it had been a busy week.
The consequences of avoiding AI accountability in this way are significant. When leaders deny using AI, they create a culture where concealment becomes normal. Teams learn to hide their own use. Students assume disclosure is punished. Organizations lose visibility into the tools shaping their decisions. Risk increases, not because AI is present, but because honesty is absent.
Papa Bear wants the benefits without the transparency, the convenience without the disclosure and the output without the ownership.
Mama Bear: The Overuser
Mama Bear is the opposite problem. She uses AI for everything: every sentence, every idea and every deliverable.
I once worked with a manager who generated entire project briefs through AI, including the sections meant to reflect her team’s expertise. Her documents were long, polished and empty. When her staff tried to execute the plan, they discovered the strategy was built on generic assumptions the model had invented. Deadlines slipped, morale dropped and the team stopped trusting her judgment.
Mama Bear is drowning in AI output and calling it productivity. This overuse can erode critical thinking. It replaces expertise with templates. It trains teams to value speed over substance. It creates leaders who can produce content but cannot defend it. And it leaves organizations vulnerable to decisions built on synthetic reasoning rather than informed analysis.
Baby Bear: Just Right
Baby Bear is the "just right" user I believe we need. They are transparent, intentional and honest about the tool. I think of this approach to AI in a similar way that a good leader would use a calculator. The tool accelerates certain aspects of thinking but does not replace it as a whole. It refines ideas but does not generate identity. It supports expertise without impersonating it.
I worked with a department chair who modeled this perfectly. When she used AI to draft a message, she told her team. When she used it to brainstorm, she showed the raw output and explained what she kept and what she rejected. Her transparency strengthened trust. Her team began disclosing their own use. They developed shared norms, and they improved their judgment together.
Baby Bear is not perfect, but they're accountable. And that's the middle ground Goldilocks is looking for.
Goldilocks: The Modern Professional
Goldilocks is the employee wondering whether a performance review reflects their manager's judgment, the consumer questioning a polished product description and the reader wondering whether the author actually wrote the piece. In an AI-assisted world, authenticity has become a form of judgment. People are no longer evaluating only the output. They are evaluating the human being behind it, and whether that person is willing to own how the output was created.
Why This Matters Now
AI adoption is accelerating faster than disclosure norms. Up to 59% of employees are using unapproved or shadow AI tools in the workplace. Students use it without telling their instructors. Leaders use it without telling their teams.
The gap between use and honesty is widening. This is not a technical problem. It is a cultural one, and it encompasses everything from trust to leadership. I continue to see organizations build policies around whether they should allow AI, but the real question is how they ensure honesty about AI.
The Leadership Imperative
Leaders who deny AI risk teaching their teams to lie, while leaders who overuse AI risk teaching their teams to stop thinking. Leaders who use AI transparently can take the steps to teach their teams to adapt with integrity. The future will reward the professional who can say, "I used the tool, and here is how."
For leaders looking to achieve this, here are three questions to help reset the AI culture:
• Does my team know when and how to disclose AI use?
• Can I explain where AI helped and where I took over?
• Are we producing more content than insight?
These questions can shift teams from secrecy to clarity. They help build trust and create leaders who can be believed.
Closing
AI is not the story. The story is the human behind the keyboard. Ultimately, I believe the fairy tale is more about character than it is about porridge, and the future will be defined by which bear we choose to be.
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