Beyond Diversity Training: Leveraging Generative AI to Promote Diversity at Work

Diversity training has been a widely used yet increasingly scrutinized tool for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at work. Despite its popularity, its effects are often modest, short-lived, and highly dependent on training characteristics. This paper identifies seven limitations of traditional diversity training, including its short-term focus, coercive nature, and lack of personalization. To address these shortcomings, I propose leveraging Generative AI (GenAI) to foster workplace diversity through “synthetic contact” with counter-stereotypical AI agents. Unlike diversity training, interactions with GenAI are long-term, collaborative, direct, private, need-satisfying, and highly personalized. Synthetic contact challenges entrenched biases by providing repeated exposure to counter-stereotypical representations in low-risk, everyday work settings. By embedding diversity-enhancing interactions into daily workflows, GenAI offers a scalable, engaging, and more effective alternative for reducing prejudice and promoting inclusion in organizations.