Using AI to Make You a More Compassionate Leader

This article was originally published in Harvard Business Review.

Over the past few years, AI has made significant strides in mimicking human empathy. AI systems, through natural language processing and machine learning, can recognize and respond to emotional cues, simulate empathy, and even predict human emotional responses with increasing accuracy. In a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that AI-generated messages made recipients feel more heard than human-generated messages by offering emotional support while avoiding excessive practical suggestions.

However, AI systems still lack the capacity for authentic human understanding, which is at the core of compassionate leadership. Although AI can learn new skills, it cannot engage in self-reflection or experience personal growth. It lacks the ability to comprehend the weight of its actions or the emotional nuances of leadership. In fact, in the above study, when recipients learned that messages were AI-generated versus human-generated, they felt less heard. Mimicking empathetic responses is a far cry from leading with compassion, which involves really understanding and connecting with others.

But this isn’t an either-or situation. Even though AI can’t replace the role of compassion in leadership, AI can help leaders to lead with more heart if it is implemented and used with the right intention.

We have researched the impact of AI on leadership over the last two years. What’s clear is that AI can either make workplaces more mechanical and transactional or it can foster greater connection and engagement. The key is how leaders use AI; specifically, how they use it to supercharge their compassion to become their best, most human selves.

The starting point for any leader wanting to deepen their compassion is to first understand that we are all inherently compassionate. Research shows that we are rewarded neurologically twice as much for prosocial or compassionate acts than we are for selfish ones.

With an awareness of our compassionate nature, leaders can then take advantage of AI to enhance their expression of compassion through a number of applications.

Tailoring Leadership for Employee Diversity

A cornerstone of compassionate leadership is understanding the diverse neurological and emotional make-up of the people you lead. AI can help leaders enhance this understanding and also inform how they engage.

For example, you can use AI tools to provide you with insights on how other people might view a message you are sending or a decision you are making. Although AI isn’t going to provide you with “the” answer on how someone of a certain age, gender, nationality, etc. is going to respond, it can provide you with insights you might otherwise not consider.

One leader we work with shared how a team member has ADHD and struggles in brainstorming sessions. The team member came to her in confidence and said that when faced with a blank piece of paper, “her brain explodes with too many ideas coming all at once.” She said that she has found AI to be helpful in creating a starting list of ideas to anchor her attention. She asked her leader if it would be okay to use AI in brainstorming sessions so she could better engage. The leader never considered this application of AI but immediately said, “Yes, of course!” and decided to make it an option for everyone.

Enhancing Communications and Engagement

AI-based sentiment analysis tools can analyze emails, texts, and other digital interactions to reveal employee insights that otherwise might be missed. This could include employee concerns or areas of discontent, stress levels, or other well-being issues.

Leaders can use these insights to address underlying issues, navigate change, and manage communications to proactively address issues. AI’s ability to translate the unspoken into actionable insights enables leaders to proactively respond to employee concerns with precision and care.

One leader we know reviewed an AI-generated summary of a recent team meeting. She was surprised that the summary indicated that there was conflict. She ran the transcript through an AI tool and asked questions about her leadership style and ways of engaging the team. The analysis indicated that the leader regularly cuts people off and tends to be dismissive. She was shocked but followed through, asking her team if the AI analysis was accurate and how she could improve her interactions.

Personalized Coaching and Development

AI-coaching platforms offer leaders real-time feedback and scenario-based training, tailored to their unique emotional-intelligence needs, that can enhance compassion and leadership effectiveness in the workplace. These tools analyze a leader’s behavioral patterns to recommend targeted exercises that can improve empathy and interpersonal skills. By leveraging AI, leaders can refine compassionate responses in a controlled, private setting before applying these skills in real-world interactions.

A senior leader shared with us recently that he uses his AI coach to practice difficult conversations. Recently, he had to let someone go. He provided the context including the employee’s history, the sensitivities, and the legal considerations. He also provided his intentions for the conversation; specifically, that he wanted to do his best to show compassion. He engaged in role-play conversations with AI and practiced responses to different employee reactions and emotions. He also role-played being the employee on the receiving end of the news. Through this process, he gained insights into how he could bring clarity and heart to the conversation.

Using AI to Increase Compassion for the Greater Good

In the current climate of relentless change, organizations need compassionate leaders now more than ever. AI can greatly contribute to a leaders’ understanding of the interplay of human dynamics in the workplace, but that’s only one input into compassion. Compassion is experienced by employees when leaders demonstrate the uniquely human ability to lead with heart—to bring a genuine desire to support, guide and contribute positively to the lives of employees, customers, and the broader community.

As amazing as AI is, it will never replace human capacity for great compassion. AI is designed and programmed to mimic human beings, but real beings win the day. Rather surprisingly, artificial intelligence can make us more human but only if we actively step into the driver’s seat and embark on a journey that’s not about a new technology but about a deeper discovery and manifestation of who we can be and must be as leaders.

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This article is adapted from More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead, by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter, which will be published by Harvard Business Review Press in March 2025.