How much reliance on ChatGPT, or any other AI chatbot, is good for decision makers? Anupam Mittal, who is the CEO and founder of Shaadi.com and People Group, has issued a cautionary tale on how decision makers are overtly using AI to generate ideas. Mittal, who rose to fame for his prominent role as the judge on “Shark Tank India,” has issued a caution to entrepreneurs, warning how generative AI tools could mark themselves as a huge weakness for the individual.
In a LinkedIn post, Mittal shared an anecdote where a fellow founder confessed to getting all their business ideas from ChatGPT. Far from being impressed, Mittal viewed this as a significant red flag, highlighting a weakness rather than a strength.
“I get all my ideas from ChatGPT’. He thought it was a flex. I saw a red flag. Because Gen AI mostly averages existing knowledge. It sounds brilliant > smooth, confident, articulate but too often it’s just platitudes and polite sycophancy,” wrote Mittal.
Shaadi.com CEO considers AI chatbots as red flags
Mittal argues that while AI can generate brilliant-sounding content, it fundamentally lacks the core human elements of courage and a truly original point of view. “I’ve seen AI-written mails from senior leaders that read like genius… and meant nothing. In fact, its pretty obvious its a senseless Ctrl C Ctrl V,” he added.
“Same with decks, pitches, even ‘strategy notes’ churned out start-to-finish by a model,” says Mittal about most communications from other founders.
Mittal isn’t dismissing AI’s potential. “Outsourcing judgement isn’t leadership. The best managers and founders I know use AI for speed and structure but the instinct, the angles, the contrarian call, the uncomfortable decision? That’s all on them,” he added. These attributes, he stresses, are what define a true leader and drive genuine innovation.
AI can fake intelligence
Ending his note, Mittal wrote, “My take – AI can fake intelligence. It can’t fake courage or an original point of view.”
On the whole, Mittal suggested that decision makers and founders should prefer using AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini only as tools, not the sole source of creativity. With all the training data available on the internet, AI can pretend to have intelligence. However, these tools can’t suggest courage or give rise to an original point of view.
