Since its beginning, AI has taken the technology world by storm and has created several exciting and interesting opportunities for development within the technology industry. It is estimated that AI will create 133 million jobs worldwide, so it is very important that HR recognise this growing industry and adopt it into their strategy. Currently at least 50% of the workforce are using AI within their business compared to only 32% in 2018, showing the growth of the industry in a short period of time.
Originally, HR technology was used to improve efficiency and provide cost-savings, however, today it can aid in solving critical business challenges, driving improvements in performance and can also aid in impacting wider business outcomes such as profitability.
There are several challenges that present themselves to HR surrounding AI and machine learning, which need to be considered to ensure that the two departments work cohesively.
Firstly, there is a lack of expertise surrounding AI and machine learning and therefore HR needs to home in on these skills to ensure they have the most knowledgeable people within their business. However, due to this shortage there is a lot of competition within the industry and businesses must understand how to stand out from the crowd as an innovative employer. This may pose as a challenge to businesses and HR professionals, however 65% of the workforce are said to be optimistic about having ‘robot’ co-workers, suggesting that with the correct messaging, businesses will be able to successfully integrate AI and machine learning into their future business plans.
The second issue involving HR is that people often, due to a lack of expertise, need to be re-skilled and re-trained to begin to understand AI and machine learning as it becomes a larger part of modern business today. This therefore poses the question; How do we integrate learning & development to ensure that employees are valued but becoming re-skilled to meet the needs of modern, technological business?
It is therefore HR’s role to ensure that AI and machine learning is accelerated and engaged with by employees within the organisation; how can HR do this? By producing a clear message about what benefits AI can give a business and reassurance that AI will not be a threat to people’s job roles, but instead, a benefit to the business’ development.
Further to this, businesses need to ensure that they engage in training employees, no matter what their role, expertise, or experience, so that they can understand what AI is and what it can provide a business. 29% of HR managers said they were using AI to aid their training of employees; therefore, a level of trust needs to be built around using this technology to ensure all employees are on board. This can be done through internal training courses, strategic partnerships with AI-focused businesses and universities or with organisations, such as Maiple, who can not only provide solutions to businesses AI needs but also educate on the finer details surrounding AI.
In addition, HR does not only need to see AI as being beneficial to other areas of the business, but also beneficial within the HR department itself. Integrating AI into the HR department can; reduce time spent on administrative tasks, reduce the burden on help desks by performing HR transactions, aid in recruitment and retention, measure return on investments and reduce bias within HR decision-making.
Now, more than ever, it is paramount that due to the implications of COVID-19, businesses and their HR departments focus on looking after their employees, especially with a move to working-from-home becoming more likely for many. Time saved by using AI to complete everyday tasks means more time can be taken for the human elements of HR to ensure mental wellbeing is at an excellent level.
In conclusion, AI is a rapidly growing technology that will play a major role in most businesses within the near future, therefore employees need to become more familiar and trusting of this technology, something which mostly rests on the shoulders of HR. Therefore, building innovative partnerships with forward thinking companies such as Maiple is a crucial element to ensure that employers have the full support of their employees. There is no doubt that AI is a major technological change we are all bound to face within our working lives, and we have to rise to meet this challenge.