Consulting firm delivers workshop exploring AI and human connection

Solihull based Jam People Consultancy recently delivered a session to Safehinge Primera which explored technology, AI, and human connection.

Led by chartered psychologists Jane Arthur-McGuire and Katie Johns, the session explored how AI is changing the way people think, work and connect, and how organisations can maximise its benefits while reducing unintended consequences.

The session looked at some of the psychological implications of increasing AI use, including cognitive offloading, attention and our growing ability to delegate thinking to technology.

It also explored what becomes more valuable about being human as AI becomes increasingly capable, including judgement, wisdom, context, ethics, relationships and the ability to ask better questions.

Jane Arthur-McGuire, managing director of JAM People Consulting, said:“There is understandably a huge amount of excitement about what AI can do, but we think organisations need to be equally interested in what humans need to do well.

“The starting point shouldn't simply be, ‘What can we automate?’ It should be, ‘What are we trying to make better and what must we protect or strengthen in the process?’

“Our philosophy is about consciously designing work around humans: what we're good at, what gives us meaning and motivation, and the conditions we need to think, connect and perform at our best. We can then make much more deliberate decisions about where technology can genuinely add value.”

That philosophy is captured in JAM's VALUE framework for Conscious Work Design, introduced during the session.

The framework encourages organisations to define the business and human value they want to create; allocate work consciously between people and AI; establish appropriate norms and rules; underpin people and teams with the right capabilities and conditions; and continually evaluate the impact on areas including performance, risk, workload, capability, wellbeing and connection.

Jane added: “AI is extraordinarily good at some things and humans are extraordinarily good at others.

“The opportunity is not to make people work more like machines. It is to design work so that technology takes away the things it makes sense for it to take away, while creating more space for human judgement, creativity, relationships and connection.

“That requires organisations to keep humans firmly in the design loop.

“It was a real privilege to work with the Safehinge Primera team. Their work is fundamentally about solving problems that matter to people, so conversations about human-centred design aren't abstract for them, they're already embedded in how they think about their products, their purpose and their impact.

“What impressed us was their willingness to bring that same thinking to AI and to ask not just where they could use it, but how they could use it well.”

Dave Stewart, CEO of Safehinge Primera, said: “I asked Jane and Katie to develop a session for our team because I feel it's important to remember that AI isn't the story. People are. AI is already here, and the question for leaders is not whether we use it, but how we use it.

“Used well, AI can enhance human capability, improve decision-making and create new opportunities. Our responsibility as leaders is to ensure it serves people, supports organisations and is adopted thoughtfully and responsibly.

“The session struck the right balance, moving beyond both hype and fear to focus on how people and technology can work together.”

Pictured from left to right: Katie Johns, Jane Arthur-McGuire, and Charley Johnson