Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in Human Resources has the enormous potential to upend work, yield off-the-charts productivity and efficiency, lower costs, and result in fewer, if any, errors on the job. However, before people let the robots take over, scientists and those who have studied GAI for decades are warning them to build guardrails through regulations and standards of use. They want leaders to be thoughtful and careful as they start applying GAI to various parts of their business.
This new age of AI is an opportunity for Human Resources to lead the workforce by understanding AI, setting standards, enforcing rules, and recognizing the best ways to use the technology both in HR and other areas of the business. HR, through learning and development, can also help prepare the workforce for the transformation that AI is forcing upon recruits and employees alike.
In this guide to generative AI in HR, you will learn about:
- Generative AI Versus AI
- Recruiting and Talent Acquisition
- Employee Engagement and Life Cycle
- Learning and Development
- Bias, Data Privacy, and Ethical Concerns
- Keeping the Human in Human Resources
Generative AI Versus AI
To begin, HR must understand the difference between GAI and AI. Both kinds of artificial intelligence use machine learning algorithms to recognize patterns to create content, according to Google search, which is leveraging AI itself. GAI can create written content, photos, images, audio, video, and synthetic data.
Forbes breaks it down in an even simpler manner by explaining that AI shares what it sees with users, whereas GAI uses the information to create new content. However, what has people talking the most about GAI is the fact that it has the potential to replicate and surpass the human brain. That's why business leaders, especially those in HR, must pay close attention and begin taking action swiftly to prepare for the future.
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark is a dense book on the HR Summer Reading List, which provides hypothetical situations that could become reality as the technology advances. Really, however, what Tegmark is trying to do is get the public to recognize the many ways GAI will transform work and life.
His reason for doing so is to compel people to decide now - before the tsunami of change happens as the technology improves - how they want to confront ethical dilemmas and standards of use. As a result, Human Resources leaders can heed the call and seize the moment and lead people into the future.
Recruiting and Talent Acquisition
After people understand the difference between GAI and AI, they must learn about how to apply these technologies to their work. By most accounts, the most popular area for applying AI is in the hiring process. One of the first ways HR professionals used artificial intelligence was to scour job applications to find certain baseline qualifications and eliminate those people who would not be a good fit.
There are also chat bots for answering basic questions about the application process, the company, and culture. Some are using GAI prompts to come up with interview questions. Some experts have suggested that GAI will eventually be able to interview potential workers itself. The question then becomes whether HR leaders feel comfortable leaving the responsibility of narrowing down the potential hires - or even choosing one - to a machine. How will humans participate? Will humans be the check on the robots?
Employee Engagement and Life Cycle
Traditional AI already has provided employers with the possibility of tracking employee engagement. HR Thought Leader and HR Exchange Network Advisory Board member Michael Arena has warned about this in a previous report about machine learning and AI.
He explained how people can use this technology to recognize patterns in on-the-job behavior to predict whether someone is ready for a promotion or may be looking for another job. Arena's concern is that once HR leaders have information, such as the possibility that an employee is itching to leave the organization, what do they do with it? As Arena suggested, they could talk to the employee, start looking for a replacement, or try to find ways to get the person to stay.
Learning and Development
GAI is already having a huge impact on learning, from K to 12 and beyond. Certainly, it is being applied to learning and development at work. In fact, many organizations have shifted from a learning management system (LMS) to a learning experience platform (LXP), which is leveraging AI, to put employees in charge of their training and education. It allows for them to pick and choose the curriculum and delivery method - written materials, videos, gamification, etc. - that will help them achieve their unique goals. Learn more in What is an LXP?
Arena has said that learning and development is the area in which GAI has much potential for growth but is still in its early stages. Markus Bernhardt, and AI in learning thought leader, often reminds people that humans are vital to L&D, and he sees the technology's ability to adapt to a learner's style and skills gaps as a tool to enhance education. In other words, teachers and trainers are still going to be a big part of the process.
Watch Bernhardt Discuss AI at HR Tech North America 2023
Bias, Data Privacy, and Ethical Concerns
With great power comes great responsibility. If HR is to take on the gargantuan task of preparing the workforce for this tsunami of change, then it must consider the downsides of artificial intelligence. The one that gets the most attention among HR professionals at this time is bias. Humans program AI, so it is prone to the flaws and biases inherent in society.
"At its core, generative AI is essentially a technologically advanced mirror. What goes into it is what comes out, and if the inputs are biased, the outputs will be too," says Kieran Snyder, Co-Founder and CEO of Textio in an article about how to use generative AI in ways that don’t perpetuate harm.
In addition to bias, people are showing concern about data privacy. After all, tools like ChatGPT are subject to hacking like any other app or website. There are other ethical concerns about how man and machine can get on together. Humans still need to earn a living, so what role will they play as GAI grows ever smarter. There are many questions to answer. People have not even come up with all the questions that will arise yet. Human Resources can start conversations, set guidelines, and create enforceable rules about how to use the technology in an ethical way, while keeping data safe and secure.
Keeping the Human in Human Resources
The first step is anticipating what's coming as much as possible. Goldman Sachs famously predicted that AI will degrade or eliminate 300 million jobs. The McKinsey Global Institute reports that by 2030, activities that account for up to 30% of hours currently worked across the U.S. economy could be automated, a trend accelerated by GAI. In addition, in that same timeframe, the United States may need 12 million occupational transitions.
HR, which is the leader of hiring and talent management in organizations, can take charge of this historical transition in how people work and the jobs they do. There is no more time to wax philosophical. Now is the time to begin to have these conversations and take action.
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