?Half of U.S. workers believe that automating some of their job duties using artificial intelligence technology would give them more time to focus on other areas of their work, while nearly a quarter are concerned their job will be replaced by AI in the next few years, according to a SHRM survey.
The poll of 521 U.S. workers was conducted in March and April by SHRM in response to the rising awareness of and adoption of automation, machine learning and AI tools.
HR professionals are at the intersection of AI and an increasingly complex workplace as policymakers begin to regulate and address the technology’s use across the country.
The SHRM survey data also shows that over one-third (35 percent) of respondents think workplace automation and AI will become even more prevalent in U.S. workplaces in the next few years.
“We know that people have fears about job loss depending on what part of the economy they are in,” said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, a market research company in Cambridge, Mass. “We know that people are not always able to adapt to new tools quickly, and in the case of something as different as AI, that can be challenging. The disruption caused by this kind of shift is an opportunity, but it can also create mayhem if not managed with an intentional strategy that brings people along on the journey.”
Gownder said introducing automation and AI in the workplace requires a big investment in the workforce and leadership. “People don’t just walk into their job ready to deal with AI,” he said. “And when AI comes into someone’s job, people are not ready to contend with it right away.”
The majority of SHRM survey respondents (57 percent) are confident their organization could train them to properly use AI at their job.
“There is opportunity with these tools to be more productive and more strategic, assuming people are trained properly,” said Jeanne Meister, executive vice president at Executive Networks, a San Francisco-based resource group for HR leaders. She is also the founder of the Future Workplace Academy, which provides learning and research on the future of work.
“Companies have to focus on communication and need to do a better job reframing how AI is not a threat but a tool,” Meister said. “People will not be replaced by AI as much as they may be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI.”
Additionally, new roles related to AI will be developed. Meister said these could include a human-machine manager, who works with the talent acquisition team to make sure chatbots are programmed properly, or an algorithm bias officer, who makes sure the AI being used is fair, legal and ethical.
Another problem for organizations is how some employees are using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT at work. “HR needs to be on top of this trend,” Meister said.
Gownder agreed, noting that computer work up until now has largely been deterministic, meaning the user can determine what the outcome of pressing a button will be. But using generative AI is probabilistic, meaning the user is not completely sure what the result will be and has no way to evaluate the result that the machine spits out.
“At the end of the day, companies need to keep humans in the loop on all of this, because AI systems are making things up, they are producing misleading results, they can violate copyright laws,” Gownder said. “There is a lot of risk in letting AI run roughshod over your enterprise without the proper governance and training.”
