AI is becoming increasingly embedded into the way businesses run and adoption will only accelerate as investment in the technology mounts. Especially as the majority of business leaders now expect to turn to technology to plug productivity gaps amid rising hiring costs.
This also comes as workers are growing more comfortable – and eager – to use AI themselves, with or without their employers providing it for them. More than 80% of ChatGPT users now use the tool for work-related tasks, with two-thirds saying it helps them brainstorm or explore ideas.
However, this enthusiasm raises questions about striking the right balance between human expertise and technology. AI can undoubtedly improve efficiency, but if an increased use of technology makes customers feel like less of a priority, or get in the way of colleagues collaborating and building rapport, those productivity gains could be negated.
Marrying AI with the human touch
This dynamic places HR teams – many of whom are using AI themselves – at the heart of a solution. Leaders must ensure teams across the organisations are using AI to enhance their own operations without neglecting the jobs that require honest, human input like onboarding hires or new customers.
Looking at the use of AI within HR itself is a useful case study. Over two-thirds of HR professionals believe AI simplifies the process of finding qualified candidates, but doesn’t mean the hiring process as a whole can – or should – be automated. While AI is valuable for taking over the tedious, repetitive parts of the process like sifting through resumes, the same can’t be said for communicating with candidates as they progress. Sending a robotic, impersonal rejection for example, sends the wrong message about the organisation and impacts its reputation. Similarly, no successful candidate would want their entire onboarding process to be virtual, even if that would save HR even more time.
Instead, HR teams that have integrated AI effectively are saving time where they can and investing it back into human-centric tasks that AI cannot fulfill. Freed from repetitive administrative tasks, they can focus on what really matters – engaging top talent and fostering the strong culture that together, form the foundation of every successful business.
The same approach applies whether in sales, the legal department or software development. Entirely removing the human touch in favour of efficiency gains would be a mistake. For as long as businesses need to deal with people, having skilled, motivated employees to meet their demands is an irreplaceable asset.
Evolving at the same pace as AI does
How AI is used will continue to evolve in ways we cannot anticipate today, which will mean that making the most of it will require continuous learning and development.
While technical upskilling and AI literacy are vital, there’s equal, if not greater, demand for capabilities that AI can’t replicate, such as creativity, emotional intelligence and leadership. It’s critical that businesses encourage their employees to work alongside AI to enhance their work, but ensure that soft skill development is not compromised.
Creating personalised learning journeys is no mean feat and is something that will again be HR’s job to get right. If organisations don’t offer regular training, they risk allowing skills to become outdated or imbalanced, as some may take their AI skills into their own hands while peers fall behind.
This is another great example of how to drive the best results, people and AI need to work in tandem. The technology might help to design training plans or build basic templates, but delivery and personalisation need human expertise and tact.
It doesn’t stop there however. AI is improving at such a fast pace that skills learned today might not be relevant in a year, or even within a matter of months. Remember, when ChatGPT first caught people’s attention it was a far cry from the tool it is today, and that’s just one tool in a deepening pool of AI products.
A long – but worthwhile – road to success
There’s no escaping that AI will be the factor defining how businesses evolve their operations over the coming years. Stakeholders expect investment and workers are eager to reap the benefits, but striking the right balance between technology and people will be a challenge leaders run into again and again.
How successfully organisations are able to deploy AI won’t be decided based on their speed of adoption, it will depend on how well it harnesses the right mix of skills to maximise its potential. And while this might naturally fall into the remit of HR, leaders across business units need to take on some responsibility for guiding their teams and making sure tasks that need a personal touch aren’t being delegated to AI.
This won’t happen overnight. Getting it right will be an ongoing process or monitoring for the latest developments, understanding what the benefits are and identifying how they can create more time for employees to tackle more valuable tasks.
