Understand the true benefits of AI in the workforce and how it can be used by HR to improve hiring, uplevel employees and drive innovation.
Before John McCarthy coined the phrase “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) in 1956, work was underway that led to the irrevocable advances we now see in the modern world. Today, AI evokes connotations of change, replacement, productivity, and scale. Advances in technology, even early-stage AI, have contributed countless times to changes in the way we work. Milestones like Deep Blue, Watson, and AlphaGo stood as leaps forward in progress, but incremental innovation in AI was occurring all along the way. With every advance, potential changes stoked both fear and excitement among workers.
While the advances of AI can be tallied over decades, the story of the day appears to be more concerned about the current speed of AI development and adoption. For workers, it can feel like an encroachment on their livelihoods rather than a benefit to their productivity. It’s the speed of AI’s adoption at this juncture that makes workers question whether they are replaceable by it. The 2023 Work in America Survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) uncovered that nearly four out of 10 workers worry AI could make some or all of their job functions obsolete. Workers want to know “Is my job replaceable at all?” and “Can I get ahead of the AI wave, so I have a job that won’t be replaced?”
Are they right to worry? The Future of Jobs report from the World Economic Forum did previously estimate that by 2025 (just 1 year away now) AI will replace 85 million jobs. However, that same report predicts we will see the creation of 97 million new jobs by then, too. It is fair to say the uncertainty in these projections should give us pause before we accept them outright. Some have speculated that AI’s adoption is a case of short-term loss (jobs) and larger long-term gain (different jobs and increased productivity). That aggregate thinking is fine, even helpful, but macroeconomic calculus isn’t likely to wash away an individual employee’s concerns. It’s reasonable to expect that AI tools can replace certain skillsets entirely, but we haven’t seen that inflection point yet.
Employers have thus far not been able to adequately explain or signal what all of this means for their employees. If employees have a skillset that can largely be moved to AI tools, then they need to be upskilled as those tools are implemented. If employees have a skillset that can be supplemented by AI tools, then employers need to begin that training now. Both cases offer productivity boosts on a per-employee basis and individual growth, so the interests of the employee and the employer appear relatively aligned. Can employers make the case that AI offers augmentation more than replacement?
To be clear, it is difficult to discuss AI solely within the vacuum of employees and our workplaces. There are discourse-dominating ways that generative AI has been used which rightfully deserve thorough review or outright condemnation. Recent examples include attempts at electioneering, fraud, and the viral AI-generated images of Taylor Swift spread on X (formerly, Twitter). OpenAI itself recognizes the potential misuse of AI, for example. While I am not considering those issues here, we should recognize that they directly impact our workplaces and the workforce.
AI’s role in upskilling the workforce
The productivity benefits of AI are standard talking points now. Analyze vast amounts of detailed data quickly. Automate routine tasks, complex or otherwise. Find signal in a cloud of noise. It’s important to note that, throughout our technological advances and cultural and workplace changes, productivity growth continues to rise. Employers that capitalize on the mixture of ingredients that increase per-employee productivity growth will maintain an edge.
For Human Resources, AI tools can contribute to HR Business Partners’ true role: as a strategic partner to the business. HR teams’ clever use of AI tools can help them provide regular feedback to business leaders on a continuous basis. Teams can review segments or cross sections of an employee base and find that certain efforts by an employer are more successful than others. Complex local regulations relating to pay transparency can be analyzed against a large employee base and a change can be instituted quickly, tested thoroughly, and reviewed by both HR team members and AI tools alike. Routine audits can be performed with less manual labor and free up time for strategic planning and ideation.
HR can deploy AI tools that assist with the safety of employees’ privacy. Note that these scenarios do not imply that an HR Business Partner is suddenly able to perform their role with lessknowledge. It’s the opposite! HR Business Partners will require the same knowledge, but they will be able to do more with it in the same amount of time. Most employees have a skillset that exceeds their role. If the opposite were true, it would be unlikely they could keep that role, so supplemental tools like AI would portend to increase how they can use their various skills.
To that point, how well do employers really capitalize on their employees’ various skills? Each individual in an organization brings a different set of skills that are difficult to track within typical HRMs. With detailed information, AI tools can help us identify employees that are primed for an internal lateral move. “Tiger teams” of cross-functional specialties can be identified quickly to resolve issues and gameplan for future product development. Virtual workforces may be able to tap into more engaging and personal environments to address the isolation of working from home and maintain the benefits. Stretch goals can be identified for high potential employees with less guesswork.
Employees value the opportunity for growth and development. They largely resent the feeling of stagnation and what it signals from their employer.The next horizon for Learning and Development (L&D) might come from the injection of AI tools. Individualized L&D modules can be created for each employee. The goal is growth; training can be individualized to a point where we can ensure each employee is charted on a continuously updated path that points them towards their growth goal, regardless of their starting place. Employers can invest in employees in a truly personal way.
When employers need additional labor, AI has the potential to greatly increase our ability to access a broader range of candidates, assess them in more ways, and with better matching capabilities. Areas of the labor market that are historically underappreciated can be targeted with greater ease and hiring patterns can be analyzed thoroughly for bias, with AI making laborious data analysis techniques easier. Skill assessments can be created for specific roles. Predictive analytics for hiring success can be placed into a hiring workflow without creating additional lag in the hiring process. Training recommendations can be part of the pre-employment stage rather than relying on post-hire reviews. The labor pool can become bigger, and a more sophisticated funnel to review those candidates would result in a more refined version of that pool. The labor market can become more efficient for both employers and employees.
The next step in driving the workforce forward
We have a lot to look forward to – and a lot to solve. Employers that lean forward into and empower their employees with AI tools will find productivity gains, employee satisfaction, and be able to maximize unique individual skillsets. They’ll also need to tackle new challenges, some of which seem obvious already… and others which we have yet to recognize at all. The uncertainty won’t go away and a mountain of ethical issues seem inevitable, but the opportunities that accompany the uncertainty may become ripe soon.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Stanush , Head of People at Vericast
Head of People, Talent, Performance, and Culture, and Corporate Counsel at Vericast, Michael leads a team of amazing people, focusing on HR, DEI, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, and Employee Engagement. Michael also spends time as Corporate Counsel at Vericast, where he helps guide the organization through employment and real estate matters. Michael is an advocate for ensuring access to opportunity and quality mental healthcare.