Insights from our Ask the Expert Session with Catherine Breslin.

Using AI can be both exciting and overwhelming. So we invited Catherine Breslin, a leading voice in AI and former Amazon Alexa scientist, to share her experience, wisdom and clarity to this much discussed topic.

Here’s what we covered in this practical session. An honest look at how we can use AI tools like ChatGPT to support our business without the overwhelm, the hype, or the copy/ paste content.

👩‍💻 It’s not about replacing you. It’s about supporting you.

Catherine was clear: AI is not here to take your place, especially not if you’re building a personal brand business where your story, your style, and you are at it’s heart.

However tempting, don’t hand over your entire business voice to ChatGPT.

“Start with your own thinking. Then use AI to help refine it.”

If you’re writing a blog post, social media caption, or a new offer, use AI as a critique partner, not your creative director. Make sure you stay in the driver’s seat.

🔍 Be deliberate about how you use it

Catherine stressed the importance of intentional experimentation:

•  Start small
•  Pick one area (like blog / post writing or brainstorming your marketing strategy)
•  Test and observe what works
•  Don't automate important tasks straight away

Using AI effectively means playing with it rather than relying on it. You’ll learn what it’s good at, where it struggles, and how to use it in ways that actually make your life easier.

She gave examples of solopreneurs using it for:

•  Getting feedback on recorded coaching sessions
•  Improving the tone and clarity of blog posts
•  Brainstorming new business ideas or messaging
•  Reflecting on challenging client interactions
•  Transcribing and summarising meetings

📉 Common mistakes and how to avoid them

There were a few big traps that Catherine encouraged us to avoid:

1. Outsourcing your thinking:
   AI will happily give you a generic answer. That’s why your starting point matters. You have to know what you want to say. And perhaps more importantly, why.
   
   
2. Assuming it’s always accurate:
   It isn’t. Even when it sounds confident. Catherine calls AI “an overconfident friend” good advice, but always worth a fact check.
   
   
3. Giving it too much data:
   Be mindful of data privacy. Even if you delete a chat, it may still live on OpenAI or Google’s servers (if you’re using Gemini). Avoid inputting personal or client-identifiable information unless you fully understand the risks.
   
   
4. Thinking one tool is “the best”:
   Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok… it changes every week. Instead of chasing the latest trend, find what works for you and your workflow.

⚠️ Watch out for these biases

We also talked about bias in AI especially around gender, race and assumptions embedded in the data.

“These tools are trained from content on the internet. They reflect its biases, which reflect biases in real life of course.”

You can counter this by being specific in your prompts, removing gendered language, or asking for a balanced view (e.g. “give me the pros and cons for… ”).

🛡️ Future proof your business

A big takeaway was if you’re just using AI to do what anyone else could do, your clients will catch on. And they might just cut you out altogether. The edge you bring is your perspective, your expertise, and your human touch.

So stay in your lane. Use AI to elevate your ideas, not replace them.

🌱 Final thought from Catherine

“Be deliberate. Try one thing. Use it for a week. Then stop and ask: did this actually help me?”

✨ Get more expert sessions like this

This Ask The Expert session is part of The Women Entrepreneurs Group membership.

Join us for conversations that help you run your business with more clarity, confidence, and connection. Learn more here www.thewomenentrepreneursgroup.com