While AI presents opportunities for increased efficiency – such as automating tasks and analysing data – it also raises issues regarding job security and data privacy. The need for human oversight remains critical, Colin Wheeler from Survey Solutions explains
The opportunities with AI seem fabulous, and the potential impact, for good or for ill, seems huge.
For all the discussion, there are still differences of opinion regarding how much change is going to come from AI, how much change has already occurred, and how quickly changes that haven’t yet happened will arrive.
Without a doubt, there are likely to be far-reaching impacts, and they are already causing change within organisations. Certain functional areas are well-suited to be made more efficient and effective, but this also causes concerns for staff nervous about job security or that they won’t have the skillset to adapt.
For companies, there are risks of staff using AI apps and uploading sensitive and confidential data to third-party systems.
It’s a significant change for staff and employers, whichever point of view you take, and ramifications are hard to predict, differing often on a case-by- case basis.
Working it out
With all the advances in AI capabilities, more and more people are experimenting with AI tools in personal and work situations. Tools that automatically create transcripts of calls for post-meeting notes, draft automatic replies to emails, even analyse data and identify patterns, and create images to share on social media with friends.
However, risks abound with using LLMs to help create marketing copy – with search engines ‘downgrading’ content that is considered to be highly likely to be AI-generated. Also, the tendency to genericism – reduces the differentiation of messaging.
Is data that appears in AI-generated business reporting accurate, or has the LLM ‘inferred’ or ‘hallucinated’ the numbers? Details need to be checked, which can be as time-consuming as creating a more traditional report.
Also, remembering chat based AI and generating visual or text content isn’t the only approach – for business reporting, established Machine- Learning methodologies are already working well and are more suited than newer tools.
Human involvement in the process isn’t going away, and nor should it, but making the process more effective and using the ‘human insight’ where it’s most useful is making the individual more effective, and that’s not a bad thing.
Classic change management
HR teams have had constant waves of change to manage over the last few years, such as COVID regulations, flexible working and return-to-office policies, changing government priorities, social pressures, cost-of-living increases, etc. So, is AI ‘just another’ change to address?
Yes, it’s another change that’s happening fast, and the ‘end destination’ is not at all well-defined, to a greater extent than other recent issues.
At the same time, HR is being disrupted as much as any other part of the working world. Dealing with Machine Learning /AI assessing and screening CVs isn’t new, but the tools are getting more sophisticated. Addressing issues such as CVs themselves being generated substantially by AI tools.
Drafting standard policies… sounds like an easy use of LLM tools, which can then be refined and customised to suit the specific needs of a particular organisation.
There is an opportunity to ‘grasp the nettle’ and enable valuable and effective practices for introducing AI tools and testing/learning cycles which move quickly and build on what works, discarding what doesn’t. With new capabilities being offered all the time, adding new elements for testing into an established process will be relatively easy, and as evaluation is standardised, prioritise what will be most beneficial for the organisation.
Staff involved can then reduce the anxiety and concerns of the wider workforce by demonstrating how such tools can make work easier and more manageable, reduce the tedious aspects, and allow time to focus on where value can be added.
Why do I care about this?
If you know something will affect your team, you can get ahead by involving them in managing the change and getting their feedback and ideas in the rapidly changing environment.
That’s where a business like Survey Solutions can help specialists capture and manage feedback. While using AI tools, we should never forget that the focus is on people and creating effective and positive working environments.
About Survey Solutions
Survey Solutions helps organisations check in with their staff through various survey approaches, from big annual surveys to minor topic or pulse surveys. We can also help with easy 360 feedback collection and analysis when surveys are not the right approach.
- Designed to your specification by expert researchers
- Questions relevant to your organisation
- Full range of topics, leadership, wellbeing, diversity, communications, etc.
- Customised topics based on specific concerns
- The whole process is delivered and managed for you
- Analysis and reporting of results from our experts and direct access to the data
- Solutions for all types of workers, whether office-based or deskless/ without email
- Fully supported from start to finish and beyond
