AI Can Support Workplace Wellbeing, Say Experts
Nagalla stressed that technological progress should be accompanied by efforts to help people manage its impact on their lives.
Hyderabad:Artificial intelligence (AI) can help employees manage workplace stress by providing access to emotional wellbeing support when they need it, though experts emphasise that supportive leadership, healthy work practices and human connections remain essential to mental health at work.
At discussions held in Hyderabad to mark World Mental Health Day on October 10, experts from different fields examined how organisations could help employees cope with changing work environments as AI takes on more tasks.
Menthra, an emotional wellbeing platform supported by NIMHANS, explored the role of human capabilities, resilience and emotional wellbeing as AI becomes part of everyday work.
Menthra founder and CEO Dinakara Nagalla said the platform offered employees an AI companion that could remember their concerns and help them work through emotional difficulties in their own language and at their own pace. Employees could also access a human expert when required.
He said this approach made support available when employees needed it, rather than requiring them to wait for appointments. Menthra’s care system, led by its India chief medical officer Dr Anjali Jaisinghani, trained at NIMHANS, identifies conversations indicating acute distress and refers them to a trained human professional.
Nagalla stressed that technological progress should be accompanied by efforts to help people manage its impact on their lives. The focus, he said, should be on using AI to improve lives rather than viewing technology as a replacement for human capabilities.
Branding expert Navneet Oberoi said organisations needed to ensure workplace practices matched their claims about employee wellbeing. Employees’ actual experiences of support, he said, carried more weight than companies’ social media communication about their initiatives.
The events explored emotional wellbeing, resilience, leadership and human relationships in the workplace, in line with the World Mental Health Day theme: Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.
Digital marketing expert Shilpa said employee wellbeing required regular attention. She cited hybrid work arrangements, health sessions and yoga programmes as measures that could help employees manage stress and develop healthier routines. Leaders, she added, needed to practise the habits they encouraged among their teams, including fitness and planned time off.
