How to AI

Please join me each month as I explore what's shaping work life, culture, and tech — and how to lead through change. You can subscribe on the newsletter main page.

There's so much to talk about in the world of work. We're learning a whole new skill and a new approach. And by "we" I really mean all of us — HR teams, leaders, managers, employees, job candidates, recruiters. The skill? AI. We're learning how best to apply it so we can improve countless HR-related processes and tasks. Mostly, we're deploying it with the best of intentions.

If you're not yet on the bandwagon in terms of deliberately using AI in your work processes, chances are you're AI-curious. I'm finding that everyone wants to know more. Here's a short download of questions I keep hearing: 

Can AI help us get the work done?

Yes: AI is the obvious solution to improving workflows by automating routine operations. When it comes to talent acquisition, that's become table stakes for a majority of employers. A SHRM report found that 79% of companies deploy AI or automation of some sort for recruiting and hiring.

Can AI free me up from those endless tasks?

Yes again: AI can make room for meaningful work. It's really pretty simple: We're not going to see a rapidly growing adoption rate unless employers see a clear benefit. Why? In HR, recruiting, and hiring the stakes are too high. But using AI well frees HR teams to do the important stuff — cultivate relationships with talent, dive into strategies and find ways to improve them, and pay more attention to what employees and candidates really want. Making it possible for people-focused professionals to do more "people things" is good for all of us.

Is there a downside to AI?

Maybe: As with any nascent technology (or adolescent, if you're thinking in tech time), jumping on the bandwagon has its risks in certain areas. In this case, think of generative AI. That's where I'm seeing some missteps and misassumptions that give me pause, such as trusting it to create — or replicate — our thought leadership. Just quickly scan Google results for "factual errors integrated into ChatGPT" and you may think twice about relying on its authority to serve up a penetratingly insightful look at bias in hiring. But as a thought leader in a space that's rich with super-smart people, I can tell you generative AI does not truly replicate your individual voice with the same perspective, depth and flow that you uniquely bring to the world.

How can AI reshape working?

Here's a list of ways AI is really working:

• AI-powered recruiting and hiring tools
• Automated onboarding 
• Chatbots for employee queries
• Predictive analytics for workforce planning
• Decision-making based on data (for things like performance management, anticipating turnover, and skills mapping for internal mobility)
• Collaboration solutions for remote, flexible, and hybrid working
• Learning and development (such as assessments, upskilling and reskilling, customized learning paths, and individual skill-building)
• Wellness tools (like surveys and outreach)
• Cybersecurity and data protection
• Improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (with better screening and tools that find and scrub bias, not build-in more)

What's next?

There's no question AI is changing how we work and how we think about how we work. It's also going to expand our approach to working in ways we may not have even thought were useful, like predicting emotions (being developed by MIT neuroscientists) or assessing how well we performed in a Zoom meeting (thanks to a new tool being rolled out by Zoom, itself).

There's likely no limit to how we can use AI, and that may actually be one of the things keeping some people from adopting it. We'll see. (Meanwhile, outside of the world of work, researchers are using AI to learn how to talk to whales.)

What about you?

What's your experience bringing AI into your HR and recruiting process? What's working, what's giving you pause, what's exciting you? One thing I think we can all agree on — progress and evolution have their own momentum and it's impossible to stop. Where do we head next?

Please let me know — and thanks for being you!  

Best,

— MMB

If you enjoyed this issue of The Buzz on Work, check the #WorkTrends Podcast at TalentCulture, where I talk with leading HR experts, innovators, and practitioners about key issues and opportunities we’re facing in the modern world of work.