How AI is teaching us to be more human

At a recent retreat I was attending, I found myself in one of those “hallway moments.” Walking out of a lecture, I was engaged in conversation with a fellow attendee. Soon it became clear we had differing opinions about the topic. As I felt myself getting tense, formulating my response in my mind, I caught a glimpse of myself in a wall of mirrors as we walked by a pilates studio on the property. I didn’t like what I saw—it was not my best self. I did not look calm, cool and collected; instead, I looked tense and ready to charge. The exact opposite vibe that was the goal of this retreat. That quick glimpse of myself helped me to check myself, adjust my face, slow down my thinking and turn to the person, more readily available to consider their perspective. That moment of self-awareness—when observation sparked reflection—captures something counterintuitive emerging in workplaces today. In an era when we fear AI is making us less human, a new generation of tools is doing something unexpe