Can AI Make Us More Human?

In today’s AI-driven world, the big question isn’t just what AI can do - it’s what it helps us become. While most discussions focus on automation, productivity, and cost-cutting, the deeper transformation is about something far more human.

What if AI’s greatest value isn’t efficiency - but empathy? What if AI could help us become more human at work, not less?

  In the AI Race, Humanity Is the Real Advantage

As companies race to adopt AI, the tools will eventually become the same across the board. Every business will access similar models, platforms, and systems. The playing field is leveling.

So what sets you apart? The only true competitive edge is your people. Empathy, trust, emotional intelligence, and culture - these are the elements no algorithm can replicate.

The Bold Idea: Management by Love

More than 20 years ago, in my second week as Global Head of HR at Delta Galil Industries, our founder, Dov Lautman, walked into my office, wrote three big letters on the whiteboard - MBL - and asked me to guess what it meant. “Management. By. Love.”

This was 2000. Back then, emotions didn’t belong in the workplace. But Dov believed otherwise. He saw leadership as a deeply human act - not just managing performance, but caring about people. He believed leaders should see their teams as individuals, support their growth, and love them for who they are.

That belief created a culture strong enough to scale globally. Today, AI can help reinforce that same human-centered leadership.

The Human Paradox

Every person is driven by a unique mix of motivators - often invisible. No leader can track all of them. That’s why human complexity feels overwhelming. And yet, this very complexity is what makes teams great.

Here’s the paradox: The thing that makes us most powerful - our individuality - is also the hardest to manage.

That’s where AI comes in.

AI That Listens, Not Judges

AI doesn’t feel love. But it can listen without bias. It can process signals at scale. It can spot early signs of stress or disengagement. And it can guide leaders to respond with empathy.

Take Sarah, a young manager in a fully remote company. Her team is scattered across time zones. With help from an AI platform that monitors motivation levels, she spotted early signs of burnout in a top performer - something she would’ve missed in Zoom meetings. The platform showed “red batteries,” alerting her that this person’s motivators were being unfulfilled.

Instead of waiting for a performance dip, she reached out, had a real conversation, and changed the trajectory - not just of that employee’s experience, but of her team’s trust.

The Data Is Telling

• 70% of people in peer-support groups felt more confident writing empathetic responses when guided by AI

• In emotional intelligence tests, AI scored 82%, while humans averaged 56%

• 77% of employees believe AI can help managers be more empathetic - if used transparently

AI doesn’t replace empathy - it helps scale it. It makes emotional intelligence visible, timely, and actionable.

But There’s a Warning

Used without care, AI can do damage. When it becomes just another monitoring tool, it creates isolation and distrust.

Gartner found that 50% of employees would quit if AI feels like surveillance.

And it gets worse:

• 88% of top AI performers report burnout

• They’re 2× more likely to quit

• 67% trust AI more than coworkers

• 64% say they have better relationships with AI than with people

This isn’t a coding issue. It’s a human issue. When AI is used only for productivity, we forget the most complex, powerful system of all - people.

The Real Choice Ahead

We’re at a crossroads. And it’s not AI vs. humans.

It’s: Automation vs. Humanization.

Automation is now expected. It’s the baseline. Humanization - that’s the true differentiator.

Used well, AI can help us:

• Spot emotional signals before they become crises

• Navigate difficult conversations with empathy

• Free leaders from admin so they can focus on trust, care, and connection

At Claro Mentor, this is exactly what we’re building - an AI people partner that surfaces motivators, coaches leaders in real time, and helps employees design growth journeys. Not to replace human conversation, but to enable it.

So Here’s the Question:

If AI can help us be better humans at work... why aren’t we using it that way?

Let’s stop asking what AI can do to us - and start asking what it can do for us. Because in the end, the future won’t belong to the fastest algorithm. It will belong to the most human organization