The Balance of Artificial and Authentic Intelligence in Today's World
- mandy27216
- Sep 5, 2025
- 3 min read
Artificial Intelligence vs. Authentic Intelligence: Why we need both.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved beyond the hype stage. It has quickly become embedded in how we search, shop, recruit, diagnose, and even make decisions. For Leaders the question is no longer “Should we use AI?” but “How do we use it wisely?”
In this world of computer generated knowledge and answers, where does automation end and authenticity begin? That’s why the distinction between Artificial Intelligence and Authentic Intelligence is critical.
Artificial Intelligence
AI thrives on vast data sources, speed, and patterns and can:
Analyse vast data sets in seconds
Pull out insights that people would overlook
Drive efficiencies by following detailed instructions
We can think of it as the Engine of a car.
But a car without a driver doesn’t know where to go—or why.
Authentic Intelligence
Authentic Intelligence is the uniquely human element that guides us. It’s not about pure data; it’s about values, empathy, and lived experience. This includes:
Intuition seeing possibilities beyond the algorithm
Ethics that make us question; “We can” but “Should we?”
Empathy to ensure innovation serves people, not just processes
Creativity to bring originality, applying imagination and context
Think of this as the driver or Navigator for the car.
Machines can process, but they cannot care. That is the essence of Authentic Intelligence.
Why it Matters
When organisations over rely on AI, they risk efficiency without meaning. Decisions may be accurate but lack nuance. Processes may be optimised but feel dehumanised.
Consider recruitment. AI can screen CVs at speed, but without Authentic Intelligence, it can reinforce biases rather than break them. For example an ATS discriminating against gender. In healthcare—AI may detect anomalies in a scan, but only a doctor can deliver the news with compassion and context.
Given that most of AI data come from scanned public sources do we run the risk of regurgitating the same information. What are the risks of this data containing bias. Is AI intelligent enough to source viable data over socially generated information?
AI gives us power but we need Authentic Intelligence to ensure we use it with purpose and don’t dehumanise everything we deliver.
The Leadership Imperative
The leaders who will thrive in the age of AI are those who:
Champion human skills as much as digital tools—empathy, creativity, and ethical reasoning.
Design cultures of co-intelligence, ensure people elevate AI based decisions with judgment and care.
Communicate the “why” create a vision beyond the technology, so teams see AI as an enabler, not a threat.
Educate Teams on how to verify authenticity before acting upon it. Be mindful of misinformation and don’t rely on AI generated insights without question.
There are obvious management challenges and these are layered with morale ones burning in the minds of many. Technology moves forward at such speed we don’t often realise the consequences until much later when the tide has already turned.
The responsibility of leadership is to ensure technology amplifies both business and humanity, not erode it.
Final Thought
In a world, speed and efficiency (Digitalisation) are important but then so is Authentic reality (Social Media).
Artificial Intelligence can make us faster, smarter, and more productive. But only Authentic Intelligence can make us wiser.
The future doesn’t belong to the organisations that adopt AI the quickest—it belongs to those who use AI to compliment the best of what makes us human.
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