By George Pitagorsky
November 11, 2026
I accompanied L to the hand orthopedist and saw a part of medicine that is hard to replace with AI. The palpation and the hands-on expert fitting of a device, while expressing concern, offering care and giving instruction on posture and exercise.
The presence of and relationship with a human was comforting.
What AI Can Do
The physical part of human touch (hands, presence in the room) is still ours, but the analytical and emotional parts are already being simulated, and well.
AI can already interpret certain medical images, question patients, assess clinical information, and suggest possible diagnoses— though its capabilities and readiness for independent use vary by task. The field is changing rapidly.
Human Qualities
But it is not just about medicine. It is the same in any field, any industry.
As humans, we integrate human qualities, including our imperfections – beliefs, biases, mindfulness, emotions, ignorance, understanding, compassion, kindness, intuition, creativity, self-consciousness, and more.
What is the Human Touch?
The answer to this question can guide your career and your organization’s strategy.
The human touch refers to personal warmth, empathy, and judgment a person brings to an interaction or task.
Mechanical, automated, or impersonal processes lack it. How far will AI go in simulating it? If it can, what impact would that have on your career and organization? We are already seeing easy to work with, accurate, and fast chat bots replacing support personnel. Some are empathetic, saying things like “That can be frustrating.”
The human touch includes:
- Empathy: sensing how someone feels and responding to it
- Attentiveness: treating people as individuals, not cases or transactions
- Judgment: adapting to what is happening in the moment instead of rigidly following rules
- Warmth: making someone feel seen, heard, and cared for.
- Presence: a sense of psychological feeling of being with another in the moment.
- Physicality: the hands-on quality of physical touch.
For example, the manager’s performance review was accurate, but it was her human touch, a sense of kindness, and explaining things patiently that put the employee at ease, even though the content was not positive.
We often use the term human touch to name what people add that technology can’t easily replicate.
Can AI Provide a Human Touch?
What if AI can do anything a human can do, faster and better? How do we manage it as individuals with careers who want to have a sustainable, comfortable life and as leaders in organizations driven by cost-effectiveness?
We may be several years or more away from having humanoid robots that are hard to distinguish from humans. We are far closer to bots that make us feel heard, understood, and cared for.
I use ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. They know me. They make me feel comfortable and heard. I know they are not human, but does it matter? Not to me.
I am not giving up on human relationships; they are the juice that makes us run. For information and analysis, I will take the bot. For care, I want a person, like L’s orthopedist, that is until an AI robot can make me feel as if a human is attending to me.
Sad to say, in some ways AIs are better at human touch than a lot of humans.
And it’s my guess that they will get better at it.
How Will It Affect You?
What is your strategy?
At the organizational level, does your strategy address integrating AI into every business activity, and how you will manage it? Decide where human presence is essential and assess your decision regularly as AI’s capacity changes.
Whether you are in the business of medicine, decide how you will treat patients so that they feel cared for, comfortable, and confident while keeping costs down. In any field, decide how you want to treat your clients and how you will use AI to do it.
On a personal level, how will it change your career trajectory? Right now, AI reasons faster and has more information to work with. It remembers well. It is less likely to be dramatic in relationships.
You, as a human, have the responsibility to stop, look at your situation, and decide what you will do.
Decide how you will ride the AI wave. What value will you add?
You are the decisionmaker until you give that power up. Don’t give it up.
Decide where your touch matters and keep your hands on it.
Let us know how you feel about the simulation of the human touch by AI and how it affects you. Connect with George Pitagorsky on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgepitagorsky/
George Pitagorsky
George Pitagorsky promotes optimal performance. His books and articles apply mindful process to project management, conflict and expectations management, and the ability to work and play well with others.
He weaves together fifty years of meditation practice with practical experience in the world of management, technology, training and development.
