Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of daily life. Mass amounts of complicated information can quickly be synthesized, producing immediate answers about almost any topic. Efficiency and accuracy make AI a promising addition to many industries. You may be wondering if AI is going take over. It is a possibility, but AI lacks one essential capability: emotional intelligence (EI). Although AI can certainly define and explain what emotional intelligence is, it does not possess it.

Emotions fuel a person’s motivation, influencing up to 95 percent of their choices. For example, a person is compelled to go to work every day, so they can feel content about taking care of their loved ones. Fear may prevent them from engaging in risky situations that can jeopardize their livelihood. Emotions also signal to a person what is significant about some scenarios. They provide the energy that is necessary to work hard and succeed, and whether they are negative or positive, emotions largely guide a person’s decisions and impact their thoughts.

Emotionally intelligent individuals are usually efficient at recognizing their own complicated emotions and the nuanced emotions of others. Most of the time, processing this information allows them to act on their own emotions constructively as well as succinctly understand those around them. Instead of immediately becoming defensive and deflecting any incoming data that makes them uncomfortable, they grapple with it and typically produce something insightful and useful. They have a deep level of awareness about themselves, and because they are open to hearing how someone else feels, a strong understanding of the people with whom they interact.

This ability makes them exemplary leaders in business, medicine, healthcare, sales, education, and human resources. They actively listen (even when they may not agree), which makes them a receptacle for huge amounts of important information that a highly defensive leader may miss. Their fairness, empathy, and ability to connect foster trust with others and motivate the people around them to strive to be better. Emotionally intelligent leaders make more money for their employers because they tend to retain employees, inspire others to perform at a high level, keep a team thriving, and help to create a healthy work environment. Medical personnel who have EI heal their patients more efficiently and with superior results.

How a person experiences their emotions is completely unique. Interactions with childhood attachment figures, cultural influences, genetics, trauma, and millions of other personal experiences create a highly individualized internal landscape, which is completely idiosyncratic. Lucky for us, AI has never experienced emotion, so it cannot possess EI.

AI can instruct a person on how to act in an emotionally intelligent manner in a particular situation, but by the time the person has done the research, the moment has passed. Also, every situation is unique and layered with its own set of complex emotional dynamics. The person asking AI for help may be inquiring because they are not good at understanding these emotional undercurrents. Thus, they are providing AI with a very limited picture of the scenario. Lastly, an extremely defensive person may reject AI’s advice because this type of individual usually lacks empathy and rejects a perspective that differs from their own.

It may be safe to identify EI as uniquely and exquisitely human, and one of the most sophisticated forms of intelligence. Although AI may know a lot, it has not experienced the depth and brilliance of emotion. That is where we can shine.

References

Fernandez-Abascal, G. Enrique and Martin-Diaz, Maria Dolores. Relations Between Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence, Specific Aspects of Empathy, and Non-verbal Sensitivity. 2019. *Frontiers In Psychology. *10:1066.

Goleman, Daniel. Working With Emotional Intelligence. 2000. Bantam.

Ioannidou, F. and Konstantikaki, V. 2008. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: What Is It Really About? International Journal of Caring Sciences. 1(3):118–123.

Ringwald, R. Whitney and Wright, G.C. Aidan. 2021. The Affiliative Role of Empathy in Everyday Interpersonal Interactions. European Journal of Personality. 35(2): 197–211.

Riess, Helen. 2017. The Science of Empathy. Journal of Patient Experience. 4(2):74–77.

Salovey, Peter and Mayer, D. John. 1989-90. Emotional Intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, Vol. 9(3):185–211.