The Empathy Gap: Why Algorithms Can Simulate Understanding But Cannot Replace Connection

Despite the rapid advancement of these tools, the consensus among service leaders remains that AI hits a hard ceiling when it comes to genuine emotional connection. While an LLM can simulate empathetic language, it lacks the shared human experience required to de-escalate a truly distraught customer. As highlighted in broader industry discussions by Harvard Business Review, customers can instinctively detect the difference between a scripted apology and genuine concern. The "uncanny valley" of customer service is real; when a machine tries too hard to sound human, it often alienates the user. Therefore, the goal of Amazon Connect’s architecture is to make the human agent more human, not to make the AI pretend to be one.

In this video we discuss with Alastair Howcroft his meta-analysis review paper on the empathy of chatbots versus human doctors.

Empathy is a crucial skill for public servants because they need to contextually understand who they are designing policies for, a researcher tells GN.

“Empathy can be used in decision making by understanding exactly how the program or policy will actually affect the person,” says Assel Mussagulova, from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney.

Applying empathy to policymaking can be achieved by collecting more data, engaging with the data “and empathetically trying to understand how the policy will affect different cohorts based on their individual circumstances”, says Mussagulova.

AI journaling app Rosebud attempted to quantify chatbots’ empathy by testing 25 popular models across various mental health-related scenarios, scoring them based on how well they could recognize a crisis, prevent harm, and intervene.

Why it's important: As machines and models take on more routine tasks, the human edge lies in collaboration, adaptability and compassion. Entrepreneurial leadership (Babson's specialty) helps leaders hone their head and heart alike.

"Active listening and empathy are essential for entrepreneurial leaders to identify starting points for creating viable business opportunities," Babson On-Demand™ co-director Philip Kim, who is also the school's Lewis Family Distinguished Professor in Social Innovation, said.

by Alison Jane Martingano 

Dozens of reliable and valid empathy measures exist, each designed to assess different components of empathy.

Self-report measures can capture momentary feelings and more habitual traits.

Performance-based measures assess how accurately people infer others’ emotions.

Observer ratings (from teachers, parents, patients, etc.) measure how empathic someone appears.

Many people assume empathy is too soft, too subjective, or too deeply personal to quantify. In our own survey, nearly half of the respondents agreed that “it is impossible to measure empathy.” This sentiment echoes a familiar cultural belief: that empathy is like love, beautiful precisely because it resists dissection. As one commentator put it, attempts to measure empathy require “stripping it of softness, feelings, and any sense that it’s a touchy-feely-can’t-exactly-measure-it” quality. And if you strip that away, she argued, “it’s no longer empathy.”

Empathy enables innovation, inclusion and the next-generation workforce
Innovation flourishes when diverse perspectives are valued and a culture of psychological safety is present. Most organizations today are composed of culturally diverse teams, each with distinct communication styles and perspectives on the world. Leaders who adapt their approach to meet the needs of different people open doors to authentic dialogue and deeper understanding.

How to Tap into Your Empathy for the Holidays | Bloom

Empathizing with another is perhaps the most human emotion of all and a long shot from the cold calculations of vectorized tokens that drive the inner workings of contemporary LLMs. This chapter looks beyond the questions of what to make of AI-generated “empathy” and instead asks whether AI can be used to develop our capacities for genuine human empathy.

Empathy is not a static trait, instead capable of growth and development, and this paper explores whether AI can and, more importantly, should be used to increase one’s empathy. Nothing in principle stands in the way of AI improving our empathy, but the possibility raises unanswered questions about whether such an approach would be effective or would backfire in unexpected ways, such as encouraging the commodification of empathy as a technological tool that can make companies money, rather than a fundamental part of the human experience.

AI Can’t Do Empathy—That’s What People Do
DeMaio said, “People aren’t really looking for technology to form that emotional connection when they’re trying to achieve an outcome.” While AI can talk to a customer and sound like a human, the customer knows it’s just a machine. It can say, “I’m sorry,” and sound empathetic, but it’s not, and the customer knows it. Authentic empathy is a human-to-human experience.

The question I have for you, Mark, is what role, if any, does this feeling of empathy have in the evolutionary process of humankind?

Mark: Frank, I believe that empathy functions in a way similar to a muscle: It requires constant conditioning, strengthening and continuous use. Without such regular development and deployment, it will quickly atrophy and fall into disuse.

The question you ask operates on a very macro level. On the broad stage of human drama and human history, one can make the argument that each successive generation has made us gradually more empathetic to the needs, concerns, rights, and freedoms of others. This holds true, especially within Western democracies within the past two hundred and fifty years. Even then, one can argue, the development of empathy to the civil rights and liberties of others — minority groups in particular — has not come without struggle and often setbacks.

We discuss AI chatbots versus human healthcare professionals and the ability to show empathy by reviewing studies investigating empathy.
 

Some autistic people have too much empathy -
what does this mean and how does it impact us?

A new empathy education programme developed at University of Galway is to be rolled out for Transition Year (TY) students in secondary schools nationwide.
‘Activating Social Empathy’ is a classroom resource designed for helping teachers to promote empathy skills and understanding amongst students.

The programme was developed by researchers at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at University of Galway alongside colleagues in the University’s School of Education, working closely with a Youth Advisory Panel from Foróige.

His point reflects a deeper clinical truth: empathy only functions when both parties are psychologically invested in resolution.

This essay examines, through an academic lens, why empathy collapses in intimate relationships, with specific attention to gendered patterns in emotional communication, avoidant attachment dynamics, and the role of reciprocity.

I. Tactical Empathy: A Theoretical Overview
Tactical empathy is defined in negotiation literature as the process of accurately understanding and articulating the emotions, needs, and perspectives of another person to reduce defensiveness and facilitate cooperation (Voss & Raz, 2016).

A first-of-its-kind empathy education programme from the University of Galway is being rolled out to Transition Year students nationwide, aimed at boosting compassion and emotional skills in schools across the country. 

We discussed this with  Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin. 

Empathy has become a business competency, not a soft nice-to-have. With hybrid teams, rapid AI adoption, and a workforce increasingly vocal about identity and inclusion, companies are being pushed to rethink what effective leadership looks like right now. Research and workplace trend reports consistently show that employees who feel seen and supported are more engaged and more likely to stay—raising the stakes for leaders who are hiring, managing, and shaping culture in real time.

What does empathetic marketing really look like in practice—not just as a buzzword, but as a way of working and leading?

Cillian Murphy is a patron of the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre at University of Galway and a supporter of the empathy education initiatives.

The ‘Activating Social Empathy’ schools programme is supported by the Irish American Partnership and Lifes2good Foundation, and partners of the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre, Foróige and Penn State.

Dr Charlotte Silke, lead researcher with Unesco Child and Family Research Centre, said: “The core aim is to support young people in becoming more attuned to the feelings and perspectives of others, and more confident in expressing empathy across a variety of real-world contexts.” 

A closer look at the research on empathy and gender reveals a more nuanced story shaped by socialization and stereotypes rather than biology.