6 answers
CareerVillage Office Hours
Student
Palo Alto, California
574
Questions
Updated
3697 views
Why is empathy important at work as AI does more tasks, and how do you encourage it in your team?
Why is empathy important at work as AI does more tasks, and how do you encourage it in your team?
Login to comment
6 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1942
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
Showing empathy and respect for your colleagues is essential for creating a supportive work environment. When you put yourself in your coworkers' shoes and acknowledge their feelings and concerns, it helps build trust, understanding, and stronger relationships. Ultimately, a workplace that values emotional expression and support is one where individuals feel truly understood and valued. This is fundamental for team cohesion, effective collaboration, and overall job satisfaction. These skills are vital for navigating complex interpersonal dynamics, fostering deeper connections, and communicating more effectively. It's not enough to just have empathy — you also need to take action and turn that empathy into compassion. Empathy and emotional intelligence are key drivers of effective workplace communication. An environment where discussing and acknowledging emotions is normalized is crucial for developing these skills. This openness helps prevent misunderstandings and builds stronger, more empathetic connections among colleagues.
AI CAPABILITIES WITH EMPATHY
While AI has made great strides in identifying and recognizing the emotions a employee or coworker may be experiencing, AI cannot currently meet the need to have emotions to experience genuine empathy. Empathy is interpersonal, with continued cues and feedback helping to hone the empathiser’s response. It also requires some degree of intuitive awareness — no matter how fleeting – of an individual and their situation. So at the moment AI is not capable of genuine empathy. Artificial empathy lacks personal experiences, subjective consciousness, and the ability to draw from a reservoir of personal experiences leaving open the question of whether this might be possible in the future.
AI CAPABILITIES WITH EMPATHY
While AI has made great strides in identifying and recognizing the emotions a employee or coworker may be experiencing, AI cannot currently meet the need to have emotions to experience genuine empathy. Empathy is interpersonal, with continued cues and feedback helping to hone the empathiser’s response. It also requires some degree of intuitive awareness — no matter how fleeting – of an individual and their situation. So at the moment AI is not capable of genuine empathy. Artificial empathy lacks personal experiences, subjective consciousness, and the ability to draw from a reservoir of personal experiences leaving open the question of whether this might be possible in the future.
Thank You Chelsey. Your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
Jackson Lagerwey
Consulting
32
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Jackson’s Answer
One important thing to keep in mind is that AI can never fully replace the face to face aspect of human interaction. Building real relationships, whether in school, work, or everyday life, requires personal connection, empathy, and trust, which technology cannot truly replicate. Whether you are working with a coworker or with a client, think about the way you would feel if you were to interact with a human vs. AI. Think about the relationship that you would have with a person who can understand your emotions, build trust over time, and show empathy in ways that AI cannot.
Another limitation is that AI does not always understand context or nuance, so it may provide answers that sound correct but miss the deeper meaning of a situation. AI is also dependent on the data it is trained on, which means it can carry biases or outdated information.
I think that improving the level of empathy within your team is dependent upon a few things and doesn't have one clear straightforward answer. I think the best way to encourage it is to have social activities as a team such as a lunch or doing a service activity all together, as this can build strong bonds between your team members and develop a sense of care for one another. Also its important to make sure people are aware of the potential to become overdependent on AI, so they are able to utilize it but not to overdo it.
Hope this helps!
Another limitation is that AI does not always understand context or nuance, so it may provide answers that sound correct but miss the deeper meaning of a situation. AI is also dependent on the data it is trained on, which means it can carry biases or outdated information.
I think that improving the level of empathy within your team is dependent upon a few things and doesn't have one clear straightforward answer. I think the best way to encourage it is to have social activities as a team such as a lunch or doing a service activity all together, as this can build strong bonds between your team members and develop a sense of care for one another. Also its important to make sure people are aware of the potential to become overdependent on AI, so they are able to utilize it but not to overdo it.
Hope this helps!
Kandace Turner
Sales Optimization
6
Answers
Houston, Texas
Updated
Kandace’s Answer
No matter how advanced technology gets, you’re still spending a huge part of your life working with other humans. Your team isn’t just who you work for — it’s who you work with every day.
AI can do tasks faster, but it can’t understand how someone is feeling, what motivates them, or when they’re overwhelmed, discouraged, or need support. Empathy helps teams communicate better, solve problems together, and trust each other. When people feel understood and respected, they do better work and enjoy it more.
To encourage empathy on a team, I try to listen first and assume positive intent. I make space for people to share ideas and ask questions without feeling judged. I also remind the team that everyone is balancing work with real life, and that being kind and patient goes a long way. Small things — like checking in, giving credit, and truly listening — make a big difference.
At the end of the day, your career is a big part of your life. Building empathy at work makes that time healthier, more meaningful, and more human — even in an AI-powered world.
AI can do tasks faster, but it can’t understand how someone is feeling, what motivates them, or when they’re overwhelmed, discouraged, or need support. Empathy helps teams communicate better, solve problems together, and trust each other. When people feel understood and respected, they do better work and enjoy it more.
To encourage empathy on a team, I try to listen first and assume positive intent. I make space for people to share ideas and ask questions without feeling judged. I also remind the team that everyone is balancing work with real life, and that being kind and patient goes a long way. Small things — like checking in, giving credit, and truly listening — make a big difference.
At the end of the day, your career is a big part of your life. Building empathy at work makes that time healthier, more meaningful, and more human — even in an AI-powered world.
Caitlin Canton
Human Resources Manager
31
Answers
Cleveland, Ohio
Updated
Caitlin’s Answer
Wow, this is a great question! While AI is really helpful and can create efficiencies, it cannot replace human emotion that is necessary to execute so many of our tasks and in building meaningful relationships. It can also make mistakes or misinterpret your prompt causing the results to not be accurate for what you needed. It requires validation and critical thinking / review to make sure that the end result makes sense and feels reasonable with what you know.
Empathy will come across in your communications, even if they are electronic. It helps you better understand other people's perspectives, and approach tasks and situations with curiosity. It will enable you to apply judgement and problem solve. If we just copy and paste what we get from AI, we lose the human connection that we all need. It will also make it harder to learn new things if we are not fully understanding the results and processing how they addressed the issue / helped you complete the task.
Empathy will come across in your communications, even if they are electronic. It helps you better understand other people's perspectives, and approach tasks and situations with curiosity. It will enable you to apply judgement and problem solve. If we just copy and paste what we get from AI, we lose the human connection that we all need. It will also make it harder to learn new things if we are not fully understanding the results and processing how they addressed the issue / helped you complete the task.
Abbie Tanguay
Insurance Supervisor
2
Answers
Gorham, Maine
Updated
Abbie’s Answer
Showing empathy is a way to remain connected to your target client/customer. This is how we connect as humans and make a customer feel important and "more than a number." It can be as simple as calling someone by their first name or replying to a story they tell you with a nice statement such as, "thank you for sharing," or "I am so sorry you had that experience." Think of how you would want to be treated by an employee that would make you feel valued as a customer or client. This is the experience we want to continue to give, even as AI is integrated into our lives.
tech conference
22
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
tech’s Answer
Fear of the unknown can make people feel uneasy. It's important to show empathy and understanding to support the team's well-being. Involving everyone in the process helps them feel included and valued, rather than feeling like decisions are made without their input.