3 Reasons Workers Shouldn’t Fear AI

Think of artificial intelligence as your colleague, not your competition

Artificial intelligence (AI) as we know it today is still in its infancy stages. It is yet to fully make its way into society to the point where AI is an integral part of everyone’s everyday life. At this point, it still remains to be seen whether the future is a world where AI is the key to enabling people to live happier, more productive lives or it hurts society more than it helps.
 

And while we (obviously) hope it’s the former and not the latter, one thing is clear – American workers are a bit fearful for what comes next.

Recently, Yoh conducted a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults through The Harris Poll and found that while nearly all Americans (90 percent) feel AI will change the workplace in some form, 63 percent feel that AI will have negative impacts on the future of the workplace.

The results of the study also indicated a disconnect between the way employed Americans feel AI will affect other people’s jobs when compared to their own jobs. Of the more than 1,100 employed adults surveyed, 46 percent said they feel AI will eliminate the jobs of others, while only 23 percent feel AI may eliminate their job or make their job less essential. And while 31 percent of employed Americans say AI will help other people do their jobs better and faster, only 21 percent say AI will help them do their own jobs better and faster. Essentially, this “you, not me” attitude indicates that employed Americans are only half as worried about their own jobs being made irrelevant as a result of AI. In total, just 24% of employed adults say AI may make it more difficult for them to get a job of their own in the future.

And while results did show a large portion of Americans to be at least a bit fearful of technology’s advancement, the forecast wasn’t all bleak. Of those same 2,000 surveyed, 54 percent also believe AI will have some positive impacts on the workplace. Nearly a quarter of Americans (24 percent) feel that AI will allow businesses to grow and create more jobs.

As the experts in hiring people we are at Yoh, we agree more with the 54 percent. According to the research firm Gartner, by 2020, AI is expected to generate 2.3 million jobs, while taking out 1.8 million.¹ That’s a net gain of 500,000 jobs as a result of AI’s emergence. For the work Yoh does in the talent space, we are already seeing how artificial intelligence is improving the way companies recruit, the way people get jobs and the way people work.

Here are just three ways AI and automation are making (or will soon make) life easier for those looking to get hired, those looking to fill positions, and everyone in between.

1. Automated and AI onboarding are making new employees feel more comfortable in new positions faster

Over the past few years, HR departments have worked especially hard to improve their haphazard and unorganized onboarding processes. We’ve helped many companies make significant changes first-hand. But with so many different learning styles, speeds, and job intricacies people simply don’t think about, onboarding will never be entirely perfect. But AI is getting us much closer.

AI and other advanced algorithms are helping to create custom learning plans for individual employees. Onboarding programs can take an individual through the onboarding process step-by-step so no job task or requirement, no matter how small, is forgotten. Technology can aid in determining a path for professional development using the employee’s existing proficiencies, knowledge, interests, and skills gaps to build an onboarding and professional development program that helps the individual grow into their role quicker.

In turn, companies can start to see returns on employee investments faster. Using various sources of data about a specific employee, AI can also now make predictions about the level of engagement an employee will need and make individual suggestions based on specific factors to create the best possible experience for workers.

2. AI will help to eliminate tedious tasks from the workday

Ask any recruiter, and chances are they’ll tell you the worst part of their job is often the most time-consuming—the administrative tasks of screening candidates and scheduling interviews. The same goes for almost all employees across all industries—tedious tasks are always preventing workers from doing actual, important work.

In the recruiting industry alone, AI is helping recruiters and hiring managers reduce wasted time by automatically screening obviously unqualified candidates’ resumes using keyword and qualification searches. AI can also help schedule meetings, shorten the sales cycle for salespeople, improve programmers’ workflows, and help marketers deliver a better, faster customer experience. Ultimately, those that adopt these AI technologies will give companies an advantage when competing with others.

3. AI will help organizations hire the right people for the right job and ensure the best candidates stand out

Finding the right candidate for the right job has always been the hallmark of a quality recruiting and talent management firm. But moving into the future, the organizations that supplement their sourcing skills with AI have the opportunity to completely reinvent the way people think about recruiting.

Today, data collected on new hires is being analyzed by AI technology against job performance, retention and success to create a constant feedback loop that continuously updates and defines the qualities of a successful employee. The once-arduous process of discovering the best employees, which once took months and sometimes years to identify, can now be completed before the employee is even hired with the support of AI.

With this software, companies can more accurately measure the return on investment of HR and its impact on the company’s overall revenue stream. However, it’s important to remember that in order to prevent unintentional discrimination and to avoid missing those under-the-radar candidates, HR must remember that this is to be used only as a tool—not a definitive solution for picking and choosing candidates.

With the help of AI and other automation software, the future is bright for both companies and candidates, despite what may Americans may think. It has the opportunity to make life easier for people to not only get jobs but get jobs that are better suited to their skillsets, personalities and career goals.

To those who are fearful of what the future of AI looks like, we’ll say this: Think of artificial intelligence as your colleague, not your competition, and you’ll be much more prepared for the changes coming to the future of the workforce.

Note
  ¹ https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3837763