We've taught AI to sound human, but we all need to remind ourselves to be better ones

"AI has made us faster and more productive at work. It drafts our emails, summarizes our meetings, and even reminds us to take breaks. But here's the problem: in our rush to embrace AI, it's quietly eroding our relationships and how we build human connections at work and in our everyday lives. People are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT to help them write, coach, and communicate. And many are also turning to it for therapy and relationship advice."

"The problem is, AI doesn't truly understand people as unique individuals. It can mimic empathy, but it can't understand it. It can predict tone, but it can't sense intent. The way we communicate with one person shouldn't be the same as the way we communicate with the next, yet that's exactly what happens when we hand over the nuances of being human to a machine. And it's showing up at work: 82% of employees now report burnout, and 85% have experienced conflict at work."

AI increases speed and productivity at work by drafting emails, summarizing meetings, and providing reminders. Widespread use of AI tools for writing, coaching, and even therapy is changing interpersonal communication. AI can mimic empathy and predict tone but cannot truly understand individuals or sense intent. Applying uniform, optimized language across diverse people erodes nuance and contributes to miscommunication, burnout, and workplace conflict. Many employees attribute burnout and conflicts to misunderstandings and feeling unseen. Teams are turning to personality science and the Five-Factor Model to recognize individual feedback preferences and stress responses. AI should act as a mirror to improve human understanding, not replace emotional intelligence.

Read at Fast Company