Is AI Making Your Leadership Feel Less Human?

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A team member sent me a reel recently that made me laugh: set in 2050, two people are standing face-to-face…but instead of talking to each other naturally, they’re whispering prompts into ChatGPT first, waiting for the app to tell them what to say next.

Funny, until you realise it's not that far-fetched. I'm thinking it's more 2030 with an AirPod feeding you AI-generated lines in real time. But maybe we're talking even sooner than that.

Just last week, a friend told me how they’d started noticing AI-generated replies sneaking into text conversations - especially when things got a little tense or the subject matter became a bit too deep. The words were smooth and perfectly phrased. But they didn’t sound like the person.

I've been noticing the same trend creeping into workplace communications. Messages that hit all the right notes but somehow feel... hollow. Because increasingly, they are.

The future of “outsourced conversation” isn’t decades away. It’s creeping in right now.

The Muscle We're Already Losing

Conversation is quietly disappearing from the workplace:

• Inside organisations, just 6% of communication happens face-to-face,  and only another 6% by phone. 
• Externally, it’s even more digital: only 11% of communication with clients happen through phone calls or in-person meetings. The rest is handled through email, chat, or project tools.
• Leaders and employees alike are defaulting to async: 84% of business leaders and 72% of knowledge workers globally rely on email, chat, or project tools instead of real-time calls or meetings.
• And when it comes to the next generation: 74% of Gen Z employees say they struggle with small talk, and half admit they’ll message a colleague even when they’re sitting right next to them.

Real-time conversation is becoming optional - even awkward. That’s a problem because conversation is a muscle. And the less we use it, the weaker it gets.

And now with AI, we may be skipping the reps entirely. If hard conversations are delegated to tools, prompts, or scripts - when do we learn to lead through discomfort? When do we build the presence, empathy, and resilience that leadership requires?

The stakes are higher than efficiency. We're talking about the fundamental ability to have human conversations that build trust, create clarity, and move people forward - conversations that no algorithm can replicate.

"The art of communication is the language of leadership." - James Humes, author and former presidential speechwriter.

How to Lead in the Age of AI — Without Losing Your Voice

Gallup’s research found that the #1 factor for strengthening team communication is the manager. 

And LinkedIn data confirms that while AI literacy is the most in-demand skill of 2025, the skills rising alongside it are distinctly human: conflict resolution, public speaking, customer engagement and support, and innovative thinking.

The future isn’t either/or. It’s both. The leaders who will thrive are the ones who know when to lean on technology and when to lead with humanity.

So how do we keep the human edge in leadership while embracing the tools that make us more efficient?

1. Design for Connection, Not Just Efficiency

Yes email is more efficient, but not everything should be typed and sent. If what’s being discussed impacts how people feel, collaborate, or trust each other, it deserves more than a message. It deserves your presence, your attention, and your willingness to slow down and show up. 

Efficiency matters, but leadership is relational. The most effective leaders know when to shift from quick communication to meaningful conversation. And the only way to stay confident in real-time conversations is to keep having them.

Next time you're about to write it out (or ask AI to), ask yourself: Could, or should, this be a conversation instead?

2. Prep With AI, Show Up Human

AI can be a powerful tool to help you prepare for important conversations - whether you're giving tough feedback, navigating change, or aligning your team. Use it to think through scenarios, anticipate objections, and organise your thoughts before you step into the room.

You might ask things like: "What are three key points I need to cover?" "How might they push back on this decision?" "What's the best way to frame this feedback?" 

Once you're in the conversation, set the AI aside. Real leadership happens in the moment - listening actively, adjusting based on what you hear, and showing up with emotional intelligence.

The Leadership Work That Can’t Be Automated

I keep coming back to this: as AI gets smarter, what becomes more valuable are the things it can’t do for us.

The check-in that builds trust. The question that sparks a new idea. The conversation that clears the air. That’s where leadership happens. Conversation isn’t just how we communicate. It’s how we lead.

Just this morning I had breakfast with a CEO who makes a point of personally taking team members who leave the organisation after significant periods of service out for lunch to say “thank you”. 

He showed me a truly moving text message he had received from an employee who was leaving after 17 years: a heartfelt note about how much those personal touches, like that one, had meant throughout their working journey. 

He could have delegated this. HR could have handled the farewell process. But he understood that some leadership moments require your actual presence, not just your signature on a card. And in an age where everything can be automated, scheduled, and optimised, he chose to show up personally. That's the irreplaceable human work of leadership.