The use of AI tools is increasingly influencing how humans interact. These tools are commonly used for tasks like checking grammar, copy-editing or translating, amongst many others.

How do they fit within a facilitation model focused on learning from differences and creating understanding through authentic engagement and empathy?

  • As a facilitator, your goal is to maintain a dialogue space where participants feel encouraged to explore differences by sharing opposing views, knowing they are heard and respected. This exploration depends on authentic participation, with individuals expressing their genuine thoughts and feelings.

  • Facilitation goes beyond the exact words being shared. It involves hearing the tone of voice, observing shifts in body language, assessing word choice, and understanding the timing and context of what is shared. It also means listening to what is left unsaid.

  • AI tools, however, do not understand or recognize many key elements of human communication—subtexts, hidden meanings, emotions, and unspoken hints are all beyond their grasp. AI cannot replace active listening, nor can it make people feel truly heard and welcomed.

  • When considering the use of AI tools in facilitation aiming at deeper communication and connections, always evaluate whether the use models and encourages the presence of authentic voices, including your own.

  • Reflect on the tone you set and the model of engagement you present when addressing the group with perfectly constructed, grammatically correct, read-out-loud sentences. How does this compare to a facilitator voice that conveys genuine curiosity and prioritizes connection and empathy over perfection?

  • While AI can mimic empathy, it cannot genuinely embody it. Empathy is something we, as facilitators, uniquely bring to the table - a key element in fostering empathetic communication within dialogue groups.

How to use AI responsibly to promote dialogue?

With its limitations, AI can be a tool for facilitation - amongst other tools - if used responsibly and with a purpose. You can use AI tools for example to:

  • Prepare for a session

  • Provide additional ideas 

  • Provide additional discussion frames and angles

  • Support the various language abilities in a group 

When preparing for a session, AI tools can be great for ideation. For example, you can get ideas for ice-breakers, diverse discussion frames or perspectives.

The use of AI tools such as ChatGPT is less recommended during sessions, although they may serve as a source of additional ideas during active facilitation. It is important to distinguish between an idea and an intervention: while AI tools can provide suggestions for additional ideas, they should not be relied upon to deliver direct facilitation interventions during sessions.

For instance, AI-generated summaries of discussions lack the multiple layers of human communication that are essential to capture. If you use these summaries without applying your active listening skills, they focus solely on the technical aspects of what was said, missing the deeper, core elements of human communication.

What to avoid when using AI?

  • Trusting the content blindly

  • Solely relying on AI to lead meaningful human communication

  • Inserting AI-suggested interventions into facilitation without assessment and vetting

  • Reading out loud suggestions from AI without your authentic facilitator voice

Is AI neutral or multipartial?

What is paramount to remember is that technology is not a neutral tool - neither is AI. AI has background and biases - just like the humans that created it do - but it lacks the self-awareness to recognise and work on those biases.

AI also does not have all the ‘facts’ correct - and what tools like ChatGPT respond to you, may be different to another user with the same prompt. For example, on the eve of the US presidential election in November 2024, ChatGPT shared that it was a close race between Biden and Trump, clearly getting this widely known fact of the candidates wrong.

In short, AI can’t be considered neutral or multipartial, so when using the tool for facilitation in a facilitation model that rests on these two premises, this is crucial to keep this in mind.