In the era of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), decisions can significantly impact a business’s success or failure. The integration of AI in the present world powers the ability to make any decision, from big companies to small, from the corporate world to healthcare, from the education sector to agriculture, from employers to employees. We cannot ignore the question: What human qualities, such as emotional intelligence (EI), influence decision-making in today’s world? What do we feel? How do we feel? Can AI identify emotions like fear, anxiety, or nervousness and assist individuals in making decisions? In the heart of human decision-making, emotional intelligence and AI are in fierce competition. This read highlights the nuances of human decision-making that machines have yet to fully understand—or perhaps never will.
Presently, many big brands, from Amazon to Netflix, have embraced advanced technologies by integrating AI-powered recommendation systems to improve their customers’ experiences. However, this approach may not be beneficial for all companies. For instance, McDonald’s ended its AI experiment in June 2024 after a drive-thru ordering blunder. A video on social media shows confused and frustrated customers trying to get the AI to understand their orders. This case clearly highlights the inability of AI to understand human behavior and their preferences.
What’s Missing?
The famous psychologist Daniel Goleman, a leader in this field, defines EI as consisting of five elements: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills. These aspects allow humans to manage their emotions and respond to others’, which AI lacks. Real-life situations sometimes demand not only technical solutions but also emotional insights and human connections.
Consider a hospital’s emergency room, where a doctor treating a patient with a severe illness uses both medical knowledge and emotional intelligence (EI) to manage the patient’s reaction. The empathetic approach of a doctor towards his patient can have a significant impact on his health, aiding in his recuperation. AI can only identify the disease and provide medical recommendations; it lacks empathy for the patient.
Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a Chinese multinational conglomerate, famously stated: “Having a high emotional quotient (EQ) is essential for success.” This is due to your ability to collaborate effectively with others. Regardless of your intelligence, if you lack the ability to collaborate effectively with others, you will never achieve success.
A must-have skill
The concepts of emotional intelligence and artificial intelligence have also gained traction in the corporate sector. Unbelievably, companies reap the benefits of having employees with high emotional intelligence. The truth is that organizations achieve returns up to four times higher by investing in EI skills. Speaking of the significance of EI in the context of the evolving job landscape, Ramnarayan Subramaniam, clinical professor, Indian School of Business, says, “Organizations are constantly changing, and the demands from employees are shifting. All these changes impact individuals, so it’s crucial for employees to comprehend the impact of these changes. ‘Am I feeling nervous?’ ‘Am I feeling fearful?’ ‘How am I reacting to this change?’ That really is emotional self-awareness. At the same time, it is also essential to put yourself in the shoes of the other people going through changes and reflect, ‘What is the other person going through?’ ‘How is this person dealing with it?’ This has to do with empathy, which is also a critical skill today.”
According to the Capgemini Research Institute’s Emotional Intelligence Research executive survey, more than 80% of executives from India, the US, and China believe that EI skills will become essential with the advent of automation and AI. The data clearly points out that emotional intelligence can do what AI can’t.
Striking the Balance
Both EI and AI cannot completely replace or outperform each other. Many experts believe that the future lies in combining the analytical power of AI with the empathy of human decision-makers. As AI continues to advance, it can act as a tool to support decision-making by offering valuable insights and data, while humans can make the final decisions based on emotional intelligence or vice versa. Ultimately, human decision-making relies heavily on emotions, feelings, empathy, and the capacity to comprehend them, even though expectations are always present. Again, having an in-depth understanding of AI and EI while making decisions can ensure final decisions are both smart and deeply human.
