How AI can make us more human

Welcome to the first post in our 'Women in AI series'. These articles are rooted in conversations with women deeply involved in the field of AI in research. Today draws from our discussion with Leslie Pagel, Chief Evangelist at Authenticx, which delved beautifully into how we can find the humanity in AI and use it to improve the human experience.

In the never-ending quest to create intelligence that can replicate and even supersede human intelligence, the question is often posed as to how AI will impact humanity. Many fear that AI will slowly replace us in the workforce due to its ability to draw from seemingly unending data sets and complete basic tasks in seconds. Furthermore, research demonstrates that people find conversations with AI more rewarding, empathetic and insightful when they don't know they are talking to a bot. So, if AI continues to become faster, smarter, and more empathetic, where does that leave us?

Across industries such as healthcare, retail and tech, the past 10 years have seen a slow realization that all the information these organizations need to better serve their customers is already in their possession. Whether through contact centers or social media, real, human conversations are happening every day with customers or patients who are voicing their fears and concerns. This data holds the key to unlock barriers and improve patient and customer their experiences. But it also comes with its own extreme barriers.

The key to this data is conversation. People will tell you what you need to know if you just listen. But the kicker is that you must create a space to get to the heart of these issues; to get the true aspect that is limiting their experience. And that results in millions of hours of data to trawl through - a feat that is impossible for even a whole team of trained humans.

This is where the true power of AI can be used to serve a highly specific and meaningful problem. AI has the capacity to analyze a combination of both complex unstructured data and high volumes of data. That means identifying the key barriers that people experience most often, the improvements suggested to us, and the topics that evoke the strongest level of emotion. Put simply, AI enables us to truly listen to each conversation.

Is there anything more human than really listening to the person you are serving?

"It's funny because in talking about AI … I find myself talking about love all the time. This is because feeling love and feeling heard are virtually indistinguishable." - Leslie Pagel

 AI is helping us accomplish what we never could on our own – ensuring all people served by organizations feel seen and heard. But AI's value in improving our humanity has the potential to expand far beyond the act of listening to others. Its ability to recognize emotion, analyze conversation and deliver key summaries of conversation, in turn, can help us become better listeners, better employees, and better companies.

If we think back to the blinded study where people actually felt that AI was more empathetic in conversations than a human … We can entertain the possibility that in teaching AI how to be human, perhaps AI can reflect what it means to be human, and how we can adapt our own behaviors to create more meaningful connections.

One thing is abundantly clear, it is down to us how we perceive and wield AI as to the impact it will have on the world. And both Leslie and Jade Kite remain optimistic that the tools and new abilities we choose to delve into as a community, are the ones that will bring more meaning to what it is to be truly human.