Photo courtesy of iStock/David Gyung
Imagine this: You’re prepping for a strategic planning retreat. The pre-work is compiled, stakeholders confirmed, objectives crystal clear. Your digital assistant has already synthesized years of board meeting notes, generated a participant survey based on DEIB best practices, and flagged potential interpersonal challenges using sentiment analysis from past feedback forms.
Sounds impressive, right?
Artificial intelligence is increasingly showing up in the world of facilitation—from automating admin tasks to offering real-time insights. But the question isn't just "Can we use AI?" It's "When should we?"
Drawing on the eight facilitation domains from the FACILIT8me: Association Facilitator Certificate Course that I co-teach with Lowell Aplebaum of Vista Cova, let’s explore how AI can support—or sometimes derail—our work as facilitators, and consider a human-centered framework for deciding when and how to integrate it.
Where AI Excels in the Facilitation Lifecycle
1. Pre-Facilitation Planning
In our course, we suggest that effective facilitation begins long before the meeting room doors open. Developing collaborative stakeholder relationships (Domain 1) means gaining clarity on goals, roles, and cultural dynamics. Here, AI can be a superpowered partner.
Where AI helps:
Human still required:
2. Designing for Inclusion & Participation
Domains 2 and 3—creating a participatory and inclusive environment—are deeply human endeavors. But AI has a supporting role.
Where AI helps:
Human still required:
3. Documentation & Follow-Through
Supporting implementation through quality documentation (Domain 7) is another space where AI shines.
Where AI helps:
Human still required:
Where AI Risks Undermining the Facilitation Process
Despite these powerful supports, there are clear moments where AI can do more harm than good.
1. Presupposing outcomes
In our course, we warn against entering a session with pre-determined conclusions. If AI-generated agendas or recommendations drive the process too heavily, we risk robbing participants of agency, co-creation, and discovery. In Domain 4, we emphasize establishing clear aims—not fixed answers.
2. Erasing marginalized voices
Domain 3 pushes us to “bake inclusion into design.” AI tools often replicate the biases of their training data. Left unchecked, they may reinforce dominant cultural norms or minimize the perspectives of marginalized voices.
As facilitators, we must actively audit AI outputs for equity, voice, and power—something no plug-in or prompt can guarantee.
3. Creating the illusion of neutrality
Facilitation is not neutral. We are active stewards of process, group dynamics, and values. Relying too heavily on AI for decision-making risks abdicating our responsibility to ask hard questions, challenge assumptions, or stand in solidarity when harm occurs.
So… Should You Use AI in Your Facilitation Practice?
Here’s a working decision tree, inspired by the facilitation domains:
Question | If YES | If NO |
Does this task require emotional intelligence, ethics, or relationship-building? | Human-led | AI-supported |
Could AI increase access, clarity, or participation? | AI-supported (with oversight) | Human-led |
Does AI reinforce or risk distorting group dynamics or equity? | Human-vetted or discarded | Safer to use |
Would using AI undermine curiosity, co-creation, or surprise? | Human-led | AI can augment |
The Future of AI + Facilitation: Co-Creation, Not Automation
As facilitators, we sit at the intersection of process, people, and possibility. AI isn’t coming to replace us—but it is changing what’s possible.
Our role is not to resist or romanticize. It’s to explore intentionally: What makes facilitation deeply human? What tools can free us to do more of that? And how can we wield AI not as a shortcut—but as a co-creator of more inclusive, participatory, and impactful gatherings?
In short: Use AI to edit, organize, and illuminate. But keep your eyes—and heart—on the room.
Curious to explore more?
Join our next FACILIT8me cohort. View the Fall 2025 syllabus and register today. We’re experimenting, learning, and evolving—just like you.
Can’t make a 2025 cohort work? No worries! Register your interest in a future cohort or reach out with any questions at [email protected].