Is AI just making us more efficient or is it helping us serve people better?
AI and the New Collar Worker.
Reflections from Idaho Partners for Good following the Idaho Business Review's AI & the New Collar Worker panel | October 15, 2026
Is AI just making us more efficient or is it helping us serve people better?
It’s the question I brought to the Idaho Business Review's AI & the New Collar Worker discussion on Oct 15, 2026. , alongside leaders representing Idaho's technology, workforce development, and business communities.
I appreciated learning alongside fellow panelists Diane Temple, Noah Riley, and Kimberly Gardner and moderator, Brad Frazer. Their perspectives reinforced just how quickly AI is changing the way we work and how much we still need to figure out together.
We recently conducted a brief AI Pulse Check across our network. While this wasn't a representative statewide survey, the responses offered a valuable glimpse into how people in nonprofit, philanthropic, and consulting work are using AI and what concerns them most.
The results reveal an important tension that I think we have to address: AI is a part of everyday work, but people are concerned about what we might lose along the way. This is my primary concern, as well. With loneliness and social isolation already serious concerns and the well-being of our young people at stake, we cannot afford to adopt technologies without considering how they affect real human relationships
Among respondents:
88% use AI for writing, editing, and communications, and the same percentage use it for research.
69% identified accuracy and misinformation as concerns.
62% expressed concern about privacy and confidentiality.
57% worried about losing human judgment and connection.
31% selected freeing people to focus on relationships and higher-value work as AI's greatest potential benefit; the most frequently chosen response. This finding particularly resonated with me because it is at the heart of what Idaho Partners for Good is and does.
Five Years in and We are Rethinking How We Work
At IP4G, we've spent five years challenging traditional approaches to nonprofit capacity building. Having worked with more than 220 nonprofits from across the state, we've learned that most don't need another technology platform to manage. They need access to the right expertise at the right time, trusted thought partners, and practical solutions designed around their capacity to implement and sustain them.
Our network of experts brings something AI cannot at this juncture: lived experience, professional judgment, empathy, and the ability to build trusting relationships.
AI does add another set of out-of-this-world capabilities! I use it all day to analyze information, identify patterns, accelerate research, write grants, and explore more innovative solutions that might otherwise take me considerably more time.
But it also creates new responsibilities. Humans must validate what it produces, we have to protect confidential information (donors/clients), we have to grapple with trying to understand its limitations, and ensure that we're not introducing more complexity into already overwhelmed organizations. The last thing nonprofits need is to run faster on an already overloaded treadmill. It's time to redesign the treadmill. What we propose is: Automate transactions. Augment expertise. Protect relationships.
The Opportunities AND the Responsibilities
Several insights from the panel reinforced the need for intentional adoption. Workforce changes will not affect everyone equally. As routine tasks become automated, we must pay attention and continue to provide entry-level opportunities.
We also need to consider who bears the greatest risk of displacement. Many routine administrative and entry-level positions are held by workers who may have fewer opportunities to retrain or transition quickly. As panelist Kimberly Gardner emphasized, workforce development must be part of the conversation NOT an afterthought.
As moderator and attorney Brad Frazer reminded us, the legal landscape is evolving rapidly. Organizations need to pay close attention to contracts, intellectual property, confidentiality, and the terms governing their AI tools.
Access matters, too! While AI could be a great equalizer for rural Idaho (giving communities access to specialized knowledge and resources they could not otherwise afford) without reliable connectivity, training, and human support, technology could widen existing gaps instead of closing them.
The Question We Cannot Afford to Ignore
As leaders, we have a responsibility to look beyond what technology makes possible and ask what kind of communities we want to build. The goal isn't simply greater productivity. It's stronger organizations, healthier communities, and more opportunities for people to flourish.
Artificial intelligence can make us more capable. But it's our humanity that gives those capabilities purpose.
Let's use AI to bring people closer together, not further apart. Automate transactions. Augment expertise. Protect relationships! Because technology should help us do more good, not simply more work.
Blossom Johnston
Founding Director & CEO
Idaho Partners for Good