7/17/2026
Grant Professionals Are Drawing the Human-AI Line in the Wrong Places
Most grant writers use AI every day but aren't sure they're allowed to. Drawing on Instrumentl's 2026 survey of 176 grant professionals, Fielding Jezreel of Jezreel Consulting argues the field is drawing the human-AI line in the wrong places: we underestimate how much embedded AI we already rely on, we fear funder penalties more than the real risks, and we guard tasks AI handles well while under-protecting the one call that matters most, whether to pursue a funder at all. The fix is to draw the line by consequence, not comfort: own the high-stakes, hard-to-reverse decisions, and let AI carry the reversible production work in between. Includes a practical this-week inventory to reset your own line.