Last week, Xiaomei's client saw through it in 30 seconds
My designer friend Xiaomei delivered a private logo gig last week. The client looked up 30 seconds after opening the file: "This was generated by AI, right?" Xiaomei froze for 3 seconds, then squeezed out "It's assisted..." The room went cold. I felt my stomach drop hearing this — I'd been in that exact spot before, and it took me a while to recover.
Anthropic's CEO is wrestling with the same thing
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei broke his silence on X last week to respond to critics. He said "we're safe" PR alone won't rebuild trust — the only way is to "actually cure cancer," letting users see real, tangible results. He also addressed the question "is AI safety talk backfiring," admitting it's a real problem.
Translated: clients don't care what tools you used behind the scenes, they care whether the deliverable is useful. Xiaomei slipped up by dodging the question. If she'd said "I used AI to draft 3 directions, then I manually color-graded this final version," it would have scored her points.
One step you can try today
- Money: $0
- Time: 30 minutes
- Technical barrier: none — if you can write, you can do this
- First step: grab a piece of paper, write down 3 things you used AI to help with this week, and after each one write "what the client got out of it"
Not for posting on social media — this is for you to know in your own head. Next time someone asks, you can answer in 3 seconds flat.
Pick based on where you are
- Just starting, few clients: no need to publicly say "I use AI" right now. Make the work good first; tools come later.
- 1–2 stable clients: proactively mention "I compared 3 directions for this version" on delivery — putting the process on the table feels more solid than hiding it.
- Scaling up, signing long-term contracts: write your AI usage into your service description, e.g., "AI-assisted drafts, human-vetted finals." Saying it upfront saves you from explaining later.
I also got stuck on the "do I admit it when asked" hurdle. This approach isn't for everyone, and it's fine to skip for now. But next time a client opens their mouth to ask, at least don't freeze for those 3 seconds again.