Exploring the Intersection of AI and Emotional Intelligence: Navigating the Promise and Peril

An emerging area of research explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers' emotional intelligence (EQ) in the workplace. EQ encompasses the ability to perceive, process, manage, and effectively utilize one's own and others' emotional states, crucial for deep interpersonal understanding. Leadership, teamwork, conflict resolution, and employee well-being are domains significantly influenced by EQ in the workplace. The utilization of AI tools such as chatbots, emotion analysis, and sentiment detection in the workplace is an evolving topic. Emotion AI is gaining traction in organizational settings and holds great potential for enhancing productivity. However, there is limited understanding of employees' perceptions and experiences regarding its implementation. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with 80 IT professionals in Pune. Our findings reveal that (1) participants perceive emotion AI as a potential intrusion into the privacy of their emotional data, (2) it may compel adherence to personal work expectations, and (3) employees may engage in personal work to safeguard their emotional privacy. These results underscore the importance of research and policy considerations concerning the preservation of personal privacy in the workplace, as well as the recognition and delineation of an individual's right to what we term emotional autonomy.