As Cheryl Strauss Einhorn shows, AI can either simplify complex problems or obscure them, expand your thinking or constrain it. With AI becoming more embedded in our work and personal lives, the challenge we face is no longer about using AI—it is about leading AI with clarity, discernment, and a commitment to human agency.

This approachable guide for professionals, leaders, and teams who want to make better, more confident choices when using AI systems, offers practical tools to help frame problems and surface solutions, using AI to augment—not replace—your judgment. Urgent, empowering, and grounded in real-world examples, The Human Edge will show you and your organization how to confidently make use of AI's vast capabilities for smart decision-making by emphasizing the importance of human curiosity, perspectives, values and the courage to define and achieve success.

The excerpt below comes from Chapter 10 of the book, and discusses accountability and decision-making in an age of ascendent AI.

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When an AI-influenced decision goes wrong, accountability becomes murky. If a recommendation causes harm, is it the fault of the programmer, the organization, or the individual who acted on the advice? This question is critical because accountability is the foundation of trust—both in AI systems and in the people using them. 

Imagine a financial advisor using AI to suggest investment strategies. If a client loses money because of the AI tool’s recommendation, who is responsible? The advisor cannot simply point to the tool and absolve themselves. They must remain actively engaged, understanding its limitations and communicating risks transparently. Consider: 

• Who holds ultimate responsibility for decisions made with AI input?
• How do we ensure oversight so that human accountability is never fully replaced?
• What systems can we put in place to audit AI recommendations and catch errors before they escalate? 

By addressing accountability proactively, decision-makers can foster trust in both their systems and themselves. 

At its core, many of these questions about AI’s future circle back to the central argument of this book: Your decisions are uniquely yours. 

If we rely too heavily on AI to handle the critical, human-centered aspects of decision-making, we not only risk making a subpar decision but also risk losing something far more significant than efficiency—we risk diminishing our capacity to dream, deliberate, and define our own ambitions. These skills, honed through practice and reflection, are not just tools for solving problems. They are the very muscles that empower us to pursue grand goals and navigate the complexities of deeply meaningful choices. Like any muscle, they grow only through use, and when left idle, they inevitably weaken. 

Think of decision-making as a form of weight training for your mind and spirit. Each time you wrestle with defining a problem, assess priorities, or identify what truly matters, you’re flexing and strengthening the muscles of introspection and prioritization. Like lifting weights, the effort isn’t always comfortable. It takes focus and sometimes even leaves you a little sore, especially when decisions involve trade-offs or uncertainties. 

But just as physical exercise makes you stronger and more capable over time, so does the practice of thoughtful decision-making. When you skip that practice—when you hand over these steps to AI instead of yourself—those muscles can weaken, leaving you with decisions that may not be what you wanted and being less equipped to handle future challenges that require human nuance and care. 

Consider Molly grappling with a life-altering decision: whether to sell the company she’d spent decades building. AI can be a remarkable ally, offering precise valuations, analyzing market trends, forecasting future growth, and identifying potential buyers. It can simulate various scenarios, showing what might happen if the sale goes through or if she holds on for a few more years. But no algorithm can answer the deeper, more profound questions: What does this company mean to me? What will my life look like after I let it go? How do I balance the financial opportunity with the emotional weight of saying goodbye? These are not technical problems. They are questions of identity, purpose, and legacy. 

For Molly, introspection is not just helpful—it is essential. She must wrestle with the motivation driving her decision. Is the desire to sell rooted in exhaustion, a longing for freedom, or a strategic opportunity to grow the company in ways she can no longer manage? Is she prepared for the emotional shift that comes with stepping away from something that has defined her for so long? These are deeply human considerations, ones that AI cannot calculate or predict because they come from a place of personal reflection and values. 

If Molly leans too heavily on AI, treating its insights as definitive rather than complementary to her own, she might walk away with a financially satisfying deal but one that has lost sight of what truly matters to her. Selling to the highest bidder could mean selling to someone who sees the business as a springboard, rather than a business with a personal touch—the wrong choice for Molly. Selling the business because the offer is great may leave Molly feeling an unexpected emptiness when her life no longer revolves around the company she’s nurtured. Or not selling the business out of indecision could leave Molly missing an opportunity to transition her business into capable hands. 

When Molly used AI as a tool rather than a crutch, the possibilities expanded. By leveraging AI to uncover practical insights—market conditions, buyer profiles, financial projections—she also freed herself to focus more deeply on the questions only she can answer. How does the decision align with her long-term goals? Does she want to retire and travel? Start a new venture? Stay involved in an advisory role? AI provided the structure and analysis, but Molly remained in charge, making decisions based on not just data but on meaning and purpose. 

This human leadership is where the true power lies. AI illuminates the terrain it is directed to examine while Molly’s judgment—shaped by decades of experience, passion, and introspection—gives the decision its soul. The best choices are not only logical; they are deeply personal. They honor both the facts and the feelings, the probabilities and the possibilities. For a decision as monumental as this, Molly’s experience is not just a factor—it is the foundation. 

Pursuing grand goals requires more than intelligence or tools. It requires the courage to grapple with your thoughts and the discipline to practice the skills that keep you centered in your unique humanness. The ability to reflect on what truly matters, to reconcile competing priorities, and to inspire others to follow—these are not things we can afford to lose to automation. They are the essence of leadership and decision-making at its highest level. 

So by all means use your AI tool to complement your thinking and introspection—after you’ve taken the time to clarify what truly matters to you. From there AI can provide powerful support for the heavy lifting of data and logistics, leaving you free to focus on the elements of decision-making that are uniquely yours. 

The key is a future of leadership rather than dependence on AI. Direct it with intention. Ensure it serves as a tool for clarity and progress rather than a replacement for the thoughtful, value-driven work that only humans can do. Achieving this vision will require collaboration across disciplines—engineers, ethicists, policymakers, and everyday citizens working together to shape AI that serves humanity rather than subverts it. 

The stakes are high, but so is the potential. By addressing these questions thoughtfully, we can build a world where AI complements human judgment, enhances fairness, and respects the rich diversity of human experience. Stay rooted in what makes your choices uniquely yours, and continue to exercise agency over your decisions. Weaving AI thoughtfully into the fabric of our decision-making, we can unlock its immense promise while ensuring the compass of empathy, purpose, and integrity continues to guide us, anchoring humanity at the helm of innovation. 

Excerpted from The Human Edge: Smarter Decisions in the Age of AI by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, published by Cornell University Press. Copyright © 2026 by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Cheryl Strauss Einhorn is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University and the founder and CEO of Decisive, a decision sciences company that trains people and teams in complex problem solving. An award-winning investigative journalist, she is the author of three books: Problem Solved, Investing in Financial Research, and Problem Solver. Visit her website at areamethod.com.