AI implementation should be assisting employees, not drowning them

Executives and leaders have embarked on their own AI journey, constantly talking at length about its potential to enhance productivity. The only issue is employees didn’t seem to get the invite.

Discourse on the implementation of AI throughout Australian business is strange. On the one hand, you hear far-fetched tangents on how it can enhance you into the Michael Jordan of your workplace, then the other is how it’s going to steal your job in three years. So, what’s the middle ground?

Lack of clarity

Lack of clarity is the crux of the problem when it comes to the grandiose goals of AI implementation across Australian businesses. Ambition is one thing, execution is another, and what we are seeing is that the employees who will be using these AI tools to assist them through their roles are often in the dark about the policies, practices, and values that business leaders are after when it comes to AI usage.

Asana’s recent State of Work Innovation report touches on this lack of clarity and how businesses should approach developing that cohesion between AI and their employees. There is lots of optimism coming from Australian executives about the use of AI, with 63 per cent being enthusiastic about its potential to enhance work.

Despite the optimism and excitement that leaders and executives have for AI implementation, the fundamentals of these tools are lacking creating quite a disconnect between employees and leaders and the process of AI adoption.

The research shows that executives are far more likely than their employees to state that their organisations have an AI policy, an AI investment budget, and an AI-specific professional development budget.

The lack of clarity around this process can create several issues that will eventually plague organisational processes and business outcomes. Two of these issues that can arise are confusion around the acceptable use of AI in the workplace, and the constant development of these tools that employees can’t keep up with.

Why policy is crucial

From the Asana report, less the one quarter (24 per cent) of Australian workers say their organisation has guidelines around the acceptable use of generative AI. HR Leader spoke to Dr Rebecca Hinds, head of the Work Innovation Lab about why policy is crucial for employees and employers when it comes to AI adoption.

“I think the first step is to have those policies, the practices and the values and what we find is that when organisations communicate the values associated with AI it boosts trust, it boosts transparency within the organisation.”

“[That’s] the first step and in particular, the more they can articulate to their employees the purpose of AI, and the purpose being to enhance their capabilities as humans, that's when we see the real unlock,” said Hinds.

Policy and direct guidelines can negate these fears and anxiety that can arise about AI usage, especially for young workers.

“There's a lot of fear, there's a lot of uncertainty especially when you talk about those junior workers who are just entering the workforce there's tremendous fear and anxiety and the more you can position the technology as in service of humans the more that we see that adoption,” said Hinds.

That cohesion between AI generative tools and their human users, which in this case are the employees, is a vital aspect that leaders often neglect. It’s all well and good to ‘talk the talk’ in terms of how AI can transform your organisation and boost productivity in various sectors, but ‘walking the walk’ is often not being done. Leaders must make that connection between employees and AI and ensure that the tools are working for the employee, and not just for the sake of it.

The policies then become the blueprint, and employees know how and when it is appropriate to use the AI tools thus expelling any risks of potential security breaches and time-wasting practices when it isn’t applicable.

Drowning in constant development

Without constant input from leaders, keeping up with the flash-like quickness of AI advancement can be incredibly difficult for employees. Getting an understanding of AI software, but then pivoting to a newer, fresher update can be a strenuous task for employees who are constantly scrambling to keep up with these changes.

Development and learning tasks for employees can actively assist employees through this endeavour and offer a clearer view of this ever-changing terrain.

“Another big key is learning and development and understanding how you work with AI. We've done a couple of experiments where we've tested what happens when workers are asked to use AI for every possible task and what I love about those experiments is they consistently show that it’s not just an understanding of what AI can do, but also what AI can't do.”

“That's critical to getting the adoption and having employees understand where it can enhance their capabilities and where their uniquely human capacities still reign strong,” said Hinds.

To avoid that feeling of drowning when it comes to keeping up with the latest AI changes, it also comes back to that arrangement of the AI being an assistance to you and not the other way round. It should act as a partner or a teammate, it’s not something that employees should feel that they have to compete with or work tirelessly to understand the whole point of it is to make the employee’s role easier.

“I think the more you can invest in training, learning, development and education. [Employees will realise that] AI should be positioned alongside humans very much as a partner, and as a teammate, rather than as the ultimate decision maker,” said Hinds.

Overall, AI is going to only continue to become entrenched in workplace structures. However, if the implementation is a journey that only includes the individuals in the upper echelon of the organisation and not the organisation as a whole, then several issues and growing pains could arise for both leaders and employees. Evolvement is a team effort, not an isolated one.

“I recommend that people entering the workforce adopt and embrace learning to learn because the technology is rapidly advancing and I often say that AI right now is at the worst it will ever be in terms of its sophistication, its capabilities and look how powerful it is. I think new workers in particular have such an opportunity with a fresh mindset to keep learning, keep evolving with the technology,” concluded Hinds.