As Artificial Intelligence appears everywhere and seems to influence everything, leaders face the singular challenge of guiding their organisations through rapid technological advancements while maintaining a human touch.

The importance of AI in sectors from customer service to internal operations is undeniable, driving significant investment and advancement, but at the same time driving anxiety from employees.

AI isn’t going anywhere, that’s for sure

With any change, however, comes fear and resistance. Leaders have to address the fear, and proactively manage the resistance.

Good leaders recognise that AI can be useful for handling mundane tasks and boosting productivity. Human Resource departments can use a chatbot for policy enquiries, Tech Support can create a custom LLM that contains all the user manuals for every piece of software, and then use it to figure out error messages instantly.

But AI cannot replicate nuanced human interactions which are an essential component of effective human relations and leadership.

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For leaders looking to leverage AI for their own day-to-day tasks, the core challenge lies in leveraging AI’s capabilities without losing emotional intelligence.

We already know that AI can’t be trusted to give the correct answer every time. When it is not sure, it makes stuff up. But, even if it were 100% accurate, we should also remember that AI can’t be relied upon to deliver the answer in the correct way. AI cannot and should not replace the vital human element in decision-making.

What is the 'Uncanny Valley'?

One of the overlooked risks of AI is whether the “uncanny valley” extends to writing as well as visuals. The Uncanny Valley is the theory that, as something becomes more and more human-like, we have an increasingly positive emotional response. But at the point of “almost” but “not quite” human, people have a strong revulsion to it.

We know we feel this way about robots. And it’s almost certainly true that we feel that way about AI-generated ‘avatars’ that look ‘mostly human’ but ‘entirely creepy’.

We don’t know yet whether readers get the same feeling about AI writing. But it is likely true that if managers use AI for all of their communication, it will be devoid of personality, emotion and any of the subtle traits that make it sound human.

As a leader, we can use AI in many ways to improve our efficiency. However, we must ensure that we keep the emotional intelligence, and human connection, in the way we communicate to the people we manage.

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Humans having the final say

To navigate this, leaders should use AI for preliminary tasks and retain the final say in communications and decisions. For example, writing an email, then using AI tools to assess its tone, ensures messages remain human-centric; or getting our AI to help us do a first draft of feedback for a performance appraisal. But the final draft needs to have a human touch.

So leaders, how can you use AI to help you be a better leader? What drudge work will you outsource to your bot, so that you have the time to bring the nuanced, subtle, human aspects back to our leadership.

The key to leading in an AI-driven world is balancing technological benefits with the irreplaceable human touch, ensuring AI supports and enhances leadership rather than undermining it.