In most schools, the students who thrived were the ones who learned how to perform the standard. Raise your hand the right way. Format your essay correctly. Test well. Don't take up too much space. Don't be too different
Organizations aren't much different. Performance review systems reward those who fit the mold. Hiring criteria filters for familiarity. Conformity and bias disguised as unwritten culture determines who belongs and who is discarded.AI is using this same data and we act surprised that it doesn’t make recommendations and decisions that acknowledge differences either.
Sameness Was Always The Plan
The erosion of genuine individuality in institutions isn't a new problem. Standards and ideal states existed in education, on the job, and in societal norms. Straying too far from the loudest and most dominant definition of normal has always resulted in negative consequences. DEI initiatives were an attempt to interrupt the sameness pattern, increasing diverse thought. However, those initiatives were dismantled across organizations, universities, and government agencies at an overwhelming scale and speed.
The Tool Is Not the Culprit
I want to be clear: this is not a defense of AI systems that produce biased or harmful outputs. Those outcomes are real and they require real accountability, but accountability directed only at the tool, without interrogating the values embedded in its training data, the institutions that deployed it, and the social context it was built inside misses the point.
AI, at its core, is a very sophisticated mirror. We just don’t like what it reflects. If we want AI that actually makes room for human variation, neurodivergence, cultural difference, and the full spectrum of human expression, we must:
Revisit what we've elevated as 'ideal' in our organizations
Rebuild what we may have dismantled and doing it through an AI lens
Ensure we’re not actually asking AI to optimize for standards of sameness
The Root Is Still the Root
Blaming AI doesn't fix what AI is reflecting. We must build organizations that genuinely value individuality, and this desire for diversity shows up in organizational culture, company policies, and leadership behaviors.
If your organization is thinking about what responsible, human-centered AI actually requires and means for its culture, I'd love to be part of that conversation. Visit TawanaTownsend.com.