When deploying AI tools, especially in sales, users exhibit no patience for mistakes. While a human making an error receives coaching and a second chance, an AI's single failure can cause users to abandon the tool permanently due to a complete loss of trust.

Leaders should anticipate active sabotage, not just passive resistance, when implementing AI. A significant percentage of employees, fearing replacement or feeling inferior to the technology, will actively undermine AI projects, leading to an estimated 80% failure rate for these initiatives.

New technologies perceived as job-destroying, like AI, face significant public and regulatory risk. A powerful defense is to make the general public owners of the technology. When people have a financial stake in a technology's success, they are far more likely to defend it than fight against it.

Initial public fear over new technologies like AI therapy, while seemingly negative, is actually productive. It creates the social and political pressure needed to establish essential safety guardrails and regulations, ultimately leading to safer long-term adoption.

The rhetoric around AI's existential risks is framed as a competitive tactic. Some labs used these narratives to scare investors, regulators, and potential competitors away, effectively 'pulling up the ladder' to cement their market lead under the guise of safety.

Venture capitalists calling creators "Luddite snooty critics" for their concerns about AI-generated content creates a hostile dynamic that could turn the entire creative industry against AI labs and their investors, hindering adoption.

In 2015-2016, major tech companies actively avoided the term "AI," fearing it was tainted from previous "AI winters." It wasn't until around 2017 that branding as an "AI company" became a positive signal, highlighting the incredible speed of the recent AI revolution and shift in public perception.

Successful AI products follow a three-stage evolution. Version 1.0 attracts 'AI tourists' who play with the tool. Version 2.0 serves early adopters who provide crucial feedback. Only version 3.0 is ready to target the mass market, which hates change and requires a truly polished, valuable product.

Despite broad, bipartisan public opposition to AI due to fears of job loss and misinformation, corporations and investors are rushing to adopt it. This push is not fueled by consumer demand but by a 'FOMO-driven gold rush' for profits, creating a dangerous disconnect between the technology's backers and the society it impacts.