Management seminar: Professor Sarah Wright on loneliness in the age of AI

We welcome professor Sarah Wright (University of Canterbury, NZ), who is an organisational behaviour researcher specialising in workplace relationships, social connection, and employee wellbeing. Her work examines work loneliness, relationship quality, and meaningful work, with a focus on how organisational factors influence social experiences and interpersonal dynamics in organisations. She publishes widely on work loneliness, leadership, organisational behaviour, and employee wellbeing, and collaborates with international researchers, industry partners, and community organisations to support evidence‑based approaches to leadership development and fostering healthy work environments. Her research informs organisational practice, HR strategy, and wellbeing initiatives across sectors.

At this seminar, she will present her paper "Work loneliness in the age of AI". Loneliness has become a familiar concern, particularly since the pandemic lockdowns, but many of the usual explanations may be too simplistic to understand what it means in a work environment. This talk draws on two recent research projects on workplace loneliness and AI use at work. It will examine why some common organisational responses to loneliness may miss the mark, and why connection cannot be assumed simply because people are co-located, assigned to teams, or given more opportunities to socialise. It will also consider how employees are increasingly turning to AI for support that has traditionally come from colleagues, managers, and workplace relationships. In doing so, I’ll discuss what happens to the social fabric of work when employees can seek advice, reassurance, companionship, and emotional validation from non-human sources. The session will invite discussion about how loneliness should be conceptualised, measured, and addressed in organisations where human and artificial forms of support now coexist.

This seminar is open for everyone. Please contact staffan.alsparr@hhs.se if you are interested in attending. Please note that the time is different than usual!