The article is written by Edward Murray. Edward was part of the 2019/20 cohort of MSc Management at Trinity Business School and he is currently working for Natta Building Company. Alongside Dr Jongwook Pak, assistant professor at Trinity Business School
The exponential growth and implementation of technology into the everyday life of billions worldwide has inevitably led to radical changes to large proportions of our daily functions and practices, of which the growing use and coverage of artificial intelligence has epitomised. Although, as a society, we have recently been highly open-minded towards technological advancements into our daily work and private lives, with some exceptions to the trend, AI implementation has been met with a great deal of scepticism… but why? Our research aimed to understand the mechanics behind employees’ fear of AI and how corporate managers can provide viable resolutions to this growing fear of AI adoption at an organizational level. The big question for organisations is how they can fulfil their duty of care and alleviate these fears of AI, especially when deep-rooted in society. Organisations striving to put AI into their everyday practices but are concerned that their workforce may be reluctant to adapt to working alongside AI should assess the viability of implementing two organisational HR practices of well-being and up/re-skilling practices. From our research, it was clear that both practices have significant benefits for an organisation’s economic performance.
Employees current fears of AI
The fear that has been denoted through varying sources of individuals’ fear of AI is genuine. Whilst it may seem superficial, a high proportion of employees’ fear of AI stems initially from prior media exposure to science fiction. The often damning portrayal of AI through advanced robotics in films explicitly shapes individuals’ perceptions of the power that AI harnesses. Whilst the denominations of AI that organisations are currently striving to apply into their daily practices are vastly different from the media’s portrayal, individuals have transferred these perceptions over to basic algorithms that can help resolve long-standing organisational inefficiencies. The real threat to human-AI collaboration within organisations comes from its power to usurp the basic capabilities which many professions currently depend upon. Although AI does harness the power to take over a high proportion of jobs from the existing labour markets, the portrayal of AI within science-fiction films and other media sources has vastly exasperated individuals’ fear of such technological advancements without demonstrating the upside of AI adoption, which is mass job-creation when individuals up-skill.
Organisations’ roles and responsibilities
Our research supported the idea that some individuals fear AI due to its portrayal in the media. However, it is thought that the scope for job creation through the implementation of AI is far greater than that of job loss through AI replacement of human workers. Organisations have a responsibility for both themselves and their employees to assess the areas in which AI could be integrated into their organisation and adapt their current workforce to future organisational needs. The two main options for organisations to fulfil this duty of care are either up/re-skill practices or well-being practices. Our research evaluated these two varying HR practices to ascertain which method is most viable for organisations striving to adopt AI, or whether an amalgamation of both is best for mitigating employees’ fear of AI. The implementation of these practices demonstrated clear managerial implications such as eradicating human bias and organisational inefficiencies and addressing the core fears that have burdened employees since the development of AI.
Re-skilling and up-skilling
So what exactly are up/re-skilling practices? Simplistically, they are practices put in place at an organisational level to facilitate employees’ technical development. During change initiatives such as rolling out AI within an organisation, access to up/re-skilling practices will be paramount as employees are unlikely to have previously worked with AI. Indeed, the necessity of re/up-skilling employees is evident, with the merits of implementing such training regimes benefiting employees’ capacity and likelihood to work alongside AI and other forward-thinking technology. The up/re-skilling of employees is a fundamental driver for organisational growth. It will also benefit individual development, inclusive growth, and future sustainability for employees to cope with future technological advancements. The global workforce will have to adapt to change alongside the rise of automation and AI, with the core skills that many companies will require exponentially changing in the coming years. Therefore, the success of AI adoption and subsequent organisational performance will inherently hinge on the level of offering task-specific, technical training to their employees to adapt to these new working methods.
Employee well-being
Well-being practices are essentially what it says on the tin; initiatives put in place to help improve the overall psychological state of the workforce of which could come through stress intervention programmes or through other means to boost morale. As previous research has alluded to, there is a profound fear of AI within the masses, stemming from various sources, which innately has to be tackled. Intervention initiatives such as stress intervention programmes were a viable idea put forward by many respondents to tackle the additional stress that may occur when employees complete the training required to upskill when AI is implemented into an organisation. Additionally, this will help the organisation maintain a motivated and stable workforce. In reality, employees’ well-being has often been sacrificed in favour of pursuing business-oriented performance outcomes, but neglecting employees’ well-being can be damaging. We explicitly observed from the research that implementing supportive measures such as stress intervention practices and other well-being oriented practices helped develop employees’ inclination to work in unison with AI and other forward-thinking technologies.
In closing, it was clear that the successful implementation of AI depends on organisations’ commitment to their employees – their development and well-being. Investing in up/re-skilling their employees and effective well-being initiatives will help create a unified and highly skilled workforce capable of utilising AI for all it is worth.
