Is it all AI now? Why emotional intelligence is more important than ever
“Artificial intelligence won't replace you – but the person who uses AI better will replace you,” I keep reading. It's not so easy to keep up to date with the developments of ChatGPT and the many other tools that are popping up. A reason to panic?
You are probably familiar with the intelligence quotient IQ and that it is desirable for this to be as high as possible. The emotional intelligence quotient EQ is less widely known but is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI. Because while we can increasingly count on machine support for complex logic, human intuition is still difficult to replace.
Of course, you have to take the artificial competition in the job market seriously. But while you can research new developments and learn tools relatively quickly, other skills are also important that you can't learn so quickly.
What is emotional intelligence?
In a world increasingly characterized by technological advances, emotional intelligence is becoming more and more important wherever interpersonal interactions take place, such as in the workplace.
The Emotional intelligence Quotient (EQ) refers to a person's ability to recognize, understand, and regulate their own emotions and to react empathetically to the emotions of others.
Similar to the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), EQ measures the ability to deal with challenges, except that it’s not about logical tasks but about social interactions. People with a high EQ score highly because they can correctly assess emotions from other people's faces, voices, or postures.
In detail, these 5 competencies in particular indicate a high EQ:
1
Self-knowledge
Those who know themselves and are aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and values can also understand their fellow human beings better. Knowing your inner states and reflecting on them without being overwhelmed by them enables emotionally intelligent people to be authentic and thus also influence the feelings of others.
2
Self-regulation
Self-regulation means thinking before you speak, mastering every situation, and remaining calm. People with high self-regulation can avoid impulsive behavior, even when they are frustrated or irritated. They can constructively express their emotions and keep a clear head even in stressful situations.
3
Motivation
Motivated people set themselves goals, work hard to achieve them, and are not discouraged by setbacks. They have intrinsic motivation, are driven by inner values and goals, and can remain optimistic even in difficult times. Motivation is an important component of emotional intelligence as it enables people to overcome obstacles and achieve long-term success.
4
Empathy
Empathy is about putting yourself in someone else's shoes and understanding the feelings of others. It also involves questioning your thoughts and feelings and responding compassionately to others. People with a high EQ are generally sensitive and quickly notice what makes others tick. This enables them to strengthen interpersonal relationships.
5
Social skills
These include a variety of skills that enable a person to interact effectively with others. These include communication skills such as listening, verbal and non-verbal communication, and the ability to resolve conflict and build and maintain relationships. People with strong interpersonal skills can work successfully in teams, and build and influence networks.
Economic aspects of emotional intelligence
In economic terms, emotional intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in times of AI. Personal relationships also have a massive impact on business life – yes, even in times of remote work.
Teamwork increases efficiency
Employees with a high EQ are better at listening, can deal with pressure, make well-considered decisions, and find it easier to admit mistakes and learn from them. All of this has a priceless positive effect on teamwork. This makes work processes more efficient and increases the company's ability to innovate.
And who wouldn't want to work with people who understand you, always keep a clear head, and are motivated?
An empathetic workplace for more productivity
Artificial Intelligence optimizes work processes through automation by taking over repetitive tasks, which increases efficiency and relieves employees of time-consuming tasks. I think we can all agree on that.
Nevertheless, companies should not only invest in AI alone but also in an empathetic workplace culture. When employees feel valued, they are more committed, which has a positive impact on their satisfaction and performance. If they have the feeling that they will soon be replaced by AI anyway, then the company in question will probably have no other choice in the long term.
Mastering change with EQ
Emotional intelligence also enables people to deal with failures, setbacks, and unexpected changes. This is particularly important in industries where market conditions change rapidly. For example, in the technology sector, where rapid innovation is the order of the day, or the financial sector, which is heavily influenced by global economic conditions. Ironically, it’s precisely those industries in which AI plays a major role that also need emotionally intelligent people.
Customer loyalty does not only happen through good products
Emotional intelligence becomes even more important when dealing with customers. A high EQ makes it easier to recognize customer needs, respond to them, and build a positive customer relationship. This cannot be done quickly with a video tutorial but requires human intuition. AI very quickly reaches its limits here.
I don't need to explain to you why customer loyalty is important. If you’re interested in the topic, I recommend this article.
AI + EQ = my perfect match in UX writing
So it's all bad and please don't use AI? No, of course not! Let's take my job as a UX Writer as an example:
AI helps me a lot to automate certain tasks in UX writing, such as generating standard texts. You don't always have to reinvent everything.
I prefer to use AI when I write about something I know little or nothing about. Sometimes our clients don't know exactly what they need and we have to start with very little information. Then we deliver design and text with a lot of guesswork for the first view. I like to work with AI-generated examples then. This comes closer to what we want than a "Lorem Ipsum" and we can iterate faster with little effort.
Not everything is better when automized
Human empathy, on the other hand, is difficult to automate quickly. As a UX writer, you have to put yourself in the user's shoes, understand their needs, and respond with appropriate content depending on the situation. You can also achieve empathetic content with skillful prompting, yes. But microcopy in particular should be as short and concise as possible. Assuming I know my target group, I'm faster if I write 2 sentences of microcopy myself instead of 12 sentences as a prompt in ChatGPT.
In other areas, of course, things can look very different. Here are some examples of where AI makes sense for businesses.
Prompting: proactivity and creativity are necessary
The new possibilities with AI are incredible. Nevertheless, you have to be aware that AI ultimately only does what it is asked to do. It reacts to predefined rules and algorithms and recognizes known patterns. What AI spits out to us can only ever be as good as the ability of the person who had the idea for the command. And this requires people who are proactive and creative.
Plus points for humans, who can also make ethical decisions and do not uncritically accept any biases. This is because AI doesn’t remind us that its results are only superficial, doesn’t ask about the context, and does not question prejudices. At least not without a human proactively prompting it to do so.
Conclusion: Don't panic about AI
It'is not an either/or situation. Artificial and emotional intelligence each play their important roles and complement each other with their respective strengths and areas of application.
AI is undoubtedly a powerful tool with enormous potential. It can analyze data and solve mathematical problems in a way that no human could. And it is making progress that never ceases to amaze.
But there is no need to panic, AI will not replace us all. We humans score points with our creativity and our ability to build relationships, be it with colleagues or business partners. Having ingenious ideas, experimenting with new solutions, and understanding the needs of our fellow human beings still works best with human intuition.
