It used to take years of training, a few TED Talks, and the right buzzwords to sound smart in meetings.

Now ?

All you need is ChatGPT and a confident voice.

Welcome to the golden age of AI-generated brilliance where half the slides in your Monday morning meeting were written by a language model, and no one dares to question them.

Let’s get one thing straight: generative AI doesn’t make you smarter.

It just makes you sound smarter. And in corporate culture, that’s more than enough.

Today’s professionals don’t prep for meetings, they prompt.

They type “summarize this report in 5 bullet points” or “draft a strategic plan for Q3 with innovative KPIs.”

Two seconds later, they’re walking into a Zoom room nodding like sages, armed with insights they barely read.

That’s not strategy.

That’s theatre.

It’s the corporate version of karaoke except instead of belting out 80s hits, you’re reciting AI-written slides on market dynamics and stakeholder alignment.

And everyone’s playing along.

We nod. We agree. We say things like “That’s a good point, Sarah,” knowing full well Sarah asked ChatGPT to write that “point” five minutes before the call.

This is the new corporate bluff.

We’re not collaborating anymore. We’re copy-pasting intelligence and hoping no one calls us out.

Because in this new game, performance beats substance. Speed beats depth. And as long as you sound like you know what you’re talking about, nobody checks if you actually do.

Generative AI has become the ultimate meeting wingman, summarizing reports we didn’t read, drafting proposals we don’t believe in, and generating talking points we don’t understand.

And it works.

Terrifyingly well.

In fact, some managers are starting to prefer it. The slides are sharper. The language is clearer.

The ideas are cleaner.

What they don’t realize is that they’re no longer managing people.

They’re managing prompts.

But here’s the real kicker: this performance isn’t just accepted, it’s rewarded.

Suddenly, the loudest voices in the room aren’t the most prepared.

They’re the most AI-assisted.

And if you’re not using a tool to boost your presence, you’re not being efficient, you’re being outplayed.

So what does this mean for actual intelligence ?

For critical thinking ?

For, dare we say it, original ideas ?

They’re slowly being buried under a flood of polished auto-generated content.

And worst of all? We’re losing the ability to tell the difference.

Because when AI starts writing like a senior consultant, and junior consultants start sounding like McKinsey partners, who’s going to stop and say: “Wait, did anyone actually think about this ?”

No one. That would break the illusion.

We’ve entered an era where performative intelligence is more valuable than real thought.

And AI didn’t start that trend, it just supercharged it.

But here’s the plot twist: if everyone is using AI to sound smarter, the real genius might be the

person who dares to show up and think for themselves.

To ask the dumb questions. To challenge the AI-scripted plan. To say, “Hey, this sounds great but does it actually make sense ?”

Because intelligence isn’t about sounding impressive in a meeting.

It’s about knowing when to call bullshit.

And in a world where everyone’s reading from the same AI playbook, original thinking is the last unfair advantage.

So go ahead. Use the tools. Use the prompts.

But don’t forget: the best minds in the room aren’t always the ones with the best slides.

They’re the ones brave enough to think beyond them.