5 Questions to Ask Before You Use AI

Written by Jenny Kay Pollock, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of WOMEN x AI (WxAI) and Founder of Luminizing Growth. Through her work with executives, founders, and AI practitioners, she helps organizations navigate AI-driven transformation and adoption. Knowing when to use AI, how to use it, and when not to trust it is becoming much more valuable. We think of that as AI judgment.

As AI tools become easier to access and more embedded in the way we work, the advantage won’t come from using AI for everything. It will come from knowing what to delegate, what to direct, and what to decide for yourself.

Before you reach for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, an agent, or another AI tool, ask yourself these five questions.

1. Should I use AI for this?

Believe it or not, not every task needs AI.

Sometimes the fastest path is simply doing the work yourself. Other times, AI can help you move faster, see more possibilities, organize information, or get unstuck.

Before opening a tool, get clear on what you’re actually trying to accomplish.

Ask:

• Is this task repetitive or time-consuming?

• Would generating options help me think?

• Do I need synthesis, structure, or a starting point?

• Is this something where accuracy or sensitivity makes AI a poor fit?

Using AI intentionally starts with recognizing when it can add value and when it might just add another step.

2. What’s the right AI approach?

Using AI doesn’t always mean typing a prompt into a chatbot.

The right approach might be:

• A one-time prompt

• A reusable project or workspace

• Deep research

• A custom assistant

• An automated workflow

• An AI agent

• Or no AI at all

As we move from simply chatting with AI toward building workflows where AI can take on more complex pieces of work it's important to know the answer to this question.

3. What context does AI need from me?

One of the biggest differences between mediocre AI output and useful AI output is context.

AI can only work with what it knows.

That could include:

• Your goal

• Your audience

• Relevant examples

• Previous work

• Constraints

• Tone or style

• Data or documents

• What you’ve already tried

• What a good outcome looks like

Instead of spending all your energy trying to find the “perfect prompt,” ask yourself:

What does AI need to understand about this situation to help me well?

Better context leads to better output.

4. Where does human judgment matter most?

AI can generate, summarize, analyze, suggest, and increasingly take action.

That doesn’t mean every output should be accepted at face value.

Think about where your judgment is especially important:

• Accuracy: Is the information correct?

• Bias: What assumptions might be built into the response?

• Tone: Is this appropriate for the person, audience, or situation?

• Consequences: What happens if the AI gets this wrong?

• Decision-making: Is AI informing the decision, or quietly making the decision for you?

The higher the stakes, the more important human review becomes.

While AI can help you think, you still need to decide what to believe, what to use, and what to own.

5. What did I actually learn?

It’s easy to measure AI by how much time it saved.

While that's useful, it’s only one measure.

After using AI, ask: Did AI simply give me an answer, or did it help me make a better decision?

• Maybe it showed you an approach you hadn’t considered.

• Maybe it helped you clarify your thinking.

• Maybe you discovered a task that could become a repeatable workflow.

• Maybe you learned that AI wasn’t the right tool for that particular problem.
  

AI fluency is becoming AI judgment

AI fluency isn’t about knowing every tool.

Tools change. Features come and go. The models we use today will continue to evolve.

What lasts longer is your ability to understand:

• What to ask

• What context to provide

• What to delegate

• What to question

• What to verify

• What decisions still belong to you
  

That’s why we believe AI judgment is becoming an increasingly important leadership skill.

The goal is to get better at knowing when and how to use it.

Try the AI Judgment Check

Pick one real task this week and pause before opening an AI tool.

Ask yourself:

1. Should I use AI for this?

2. What’s the right approach?

3. What context does AI need from me?

4. Where does human judgment matter most?

5. What did I actually learn?
   

Then, when you’re finished, ask one final question: Did AI simply give me an answer, or did it help me make a better decision?

That’s a lens we at WOMEN x AI think is important. If this way of thinking about AI is useful to you, it’s the kind of work we do inside AI Advantage: helping women move beyond experimenting with AI and build the judgment to use it confidently in their work and leadership.