Head of Marketing
4 Minutes Read
This blog is based on an episode of Kara Connect with CEO and Founder Tobba Vigfusdottir, featuring Lorraine Hunt, founder of AI Automation Department. Lorraine brings more than 30 years of hands-on HR and learning & development experience, specialising in teaching teams how to use AI tools for better, more humane workplaces.
In a field flooded with admin and compliance, Lorraine has seen the workplace wellbeing benefits and the limits of AI up close. Here’s what’s actually working, where HR is stumbling, and why wellbeing should stay front and centre as AI enters the conversation.
Here are five practical lessons for HR and wellbeing teams from Lorraine’s interview.
1. Use AI to Win Back Time for People Conversations
“For me, it’s around HR professionals freeing up their time so that they can really focus on the things that matter… If they can spend less time doing all the admin, all the reporting, all of the things that bog them down, they can be more strategic.”
Lorraine’s main advice: let AI take on repetitive admin tasks, report writing, or even drafting health and occupational referrals. This frees HR teams (and managers) to focus on strategy and genuine employee support—areas that drive real change for workplace wellbeing.
2. Use AI Thoughtfully to Spot Wellbeing Risks
“There are AI platforms now that can go in, for example, and analyse Slack messages or Teams messages… to see whether there’s any toxic patterns, whether there’s any wellbeing issues, etc. That’s… a bit of a dilemma.”
AI can highlight worrying trends – like patterns of overtime, team stress, or signs of burnout—before they become crises. But Lorraine cautions that using AI to monitor employee messages or behaviour must be handled with care. Any approach must protect privacy and maintain trust: anonymise data, focus on supportive (not punitive) interventions, and ensure your AI tools align with company values.
3. AI is a Creative Brainstormer – But Needs Human Guidance
“It’s only limited by your imagination… but we need to be quite critical and ask it to critically analyse and to be more human.”
AI is a powerful sounding board for brainstorming wellbeing strategies, comparing policies, or managing difficult situations—but it defaults to being agreeable. Lorraine suggests getting the most from AI by asking it for brutal honesty or to provide constructive criticism instead of only positive feedback. This helps HR challenge their own assumptions, but human judgement is still essential.
4. Make Data Actionable – and Keep it Ethical
“What HR is great at is collecting data. What we’re not so good at traditionally… is doing anything with that data.”
Lorraine emphasises that the real value of employee data comes from using it to spot trends, guide interventions, and tailor wellbeing efforts to real needs. When supporting one manufacturing client, Lorraine used AI to help analyse absenteeism, overtime and survey data to identify teams at risk of burnout. By anonymising data (using age brackets and removing names/divisions), she could quickly flag and support those teams, leading to higher morale and lower sick leave. Always prioritise ethical data use and transparency.
5. Start Small and Build Confidence – Overwhelm Is the Enemy.
“Don’t try to do all of the things. Start simply with just one HR process, one task, one activity, one tool, building up confidence before they then move on.”
Lorraine finds that most HR teams fall into two camps: those overwhelmed by AI, and those avoiding it. Neither approach works. Her advice: pick one key process to automate, learn how the AI works, see the results, and then expand. Creativity and wellbeing will both benefit if you keep it simple and grow your skills gradually.
Conclusion
The message is clear: AI in HR should never replace human empathy or judgement, but it can be a practical, ethical tool for freeing up time, spotting risks early, and making data-driven wellbeing decisions. Start small, lead with trust, and let AI support, not substitute, the best bits of being human at work.
Listen to the full episode of Kara Connect with Lorraine Hunt for more thoughtful discussion on people-first AI in HR.
Whether you’re leading HR, supporting teams, or simply interested in how AI is changing workplace wellbeing, this conversation is full of ideas to try, and pitfalls to avoid.
