What AI Cannot Replace in Evaluation: The Role of Human Judgment: gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2026

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in evaluation practice, an important question remains: What can technology support, and what must remain fundamentally human? Featuring Aditi Chatterjee (Independent Research & MEL Specialist), Rahul Shah (Non-Profit Consultant & OD Expert), Sharon Weir (Co-founder, The 4th Wheel), and Payal Mulchandani (Co-founder, The 4th Wheel), This session explores the role of judgment, context, lived experience, ethics, and decision-making in an AI-enabled world. Learn about: • Why human judgment remains central to evaluation • The limitations of AI in understanding context and lived realities • The importance of validation and stakeholder engagement • How evaluators can balance efficiency with responsibility • Skills that will become even more important in the age of AI The session was moderated by Aivya Jain (Founders' Office, The 4th Wheel) as part of our gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2026 series. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 05:00 Can AI Design Better Evaluations? 10:30 What AI Misses About Lived Experience 18:45 Who Gets Left Out of AI-Generated Insights? 28:20 AI Can Synthesize. Humans Must Interpret. 38:15 Why Organizations Still Need Human Facilitators 49:30 Where Human Judgment Matters Most 55:00 Audience Q&A 56:00 Is AI Monitoring Your Enumerators? 01:02:00 Privacy, Safeguarding, and Evaluation Ethics 01:10:30 Training Humans Before Training AI 01:18:45 Can AI Recognize Power and Inequality? 01:26:30 Building More Human-Centered Evaluations 01:34:00 What the DPDP Act Means for Evaluators 01:40:15 The One Thing AI Cannot Replace 01:45:30 Final Takeaways For upcoming events and resources, visit: www.the4thwheel.com Follow our Substack page to stay updated on future webinars: 🔗 https://4thwheelsocialimpact.substack... #gLOCAL2026 #Evaluation #HumanJudgment #ArtificialIntelligence #MonitoringAndEvaluation #SocialImpact #The4thWheel