Artificial Intelligence: The Orientation Process with Our New Colleague
Throughout history, many researchers have explored the relationship between humans and evolving technologies, often highlighting concerns about machines taking over human jobs. This fear, which started with industrialization, has sometimes driven employees to behave differently. While it's true that many professions have vanished and the need for human labor has diminished in certain areas, this process has also led to the creation of new jobs and skills. The rise of the information society, driven by technological advancements, has introduced a new worker profile following industrialization.
With the development of the internet, the importance of data has increased, making processes that once required extensive bureaucracy much more efficient. Additionally, artificial intelligence and similar tools have significantly reduced human error in the workplace. Considering that the primary goal of businesses is profit maximization, minimizing error is crucial. And then there’s speed—the backbone of globalization and technological progress. AI can drastically reduce the time it takes to complete tasks, achieving in minutes what used to take hours, thus enhancing productivity.
The shortening path to information and the reduction of intermediary roles between information providers and receivers are natural outcomes of this technological evolution. While every innovation leads to obsolescence, it also paves the way for new advancements.
In the world of competition, you have two choices. You either lose, or if you want to win, you change." - Lester C. Thurow
What Has Technological Advancements Done to Professions? From Where to Where? The Madness of "What Are We Now?" in a Changing World
With the advent of technology, changes in many areas became inevitable. This dizzying pace of change constantly makes way for the new, rapidly aging the old and replacing it with yet another innovation. This cycle of constant renewal has had both positive and negative impacts on our lives.
This new world order leaves us with many unanswered questions, doesn't it? For example, "Where do professions, ways of working, and skills stand in the face of this rapid change? Will I lose my job? Will AI take over my job? Will I become unemployed? What will happen to me now? Can I keep up with this pace, or will I be left behind? How do I integrate into the system? What do I need to learn? Who do I need to become? Who am I, and what am I doing here?" Wake Up Neo :)
If we trace the roots of this anxiety back a few centuries to the late 18th century and look at the Industrial Revolution, we can understand where the workers' fears originated. Briefly, the introduction of the steam engine and the establishment of factories marked a new Industrial Revolution, shifting work from agriculture to industry and introducing the human-machine relationship. Change, transformation, and a new working class emerged. But where does fear come into play? The fear lay in machines replacing physical labor, leading to unemployment.
As time passed and computer-based systems became widespread, what happened to us? Why were we afraid? Fundamentally, we feared the same thing as the people of the 18th century: that technological tools would ultimately lead to unemployment, hunger, and poverty. For instance, a worker responsible for archiving might take hours to find a necessary file, but with digitalization, the information could be accessed quickly without human effort. The archiving profession thus vanished, which was very concerning for its time. However, it was replaced by a new worker profile responsible for data entry and maintenance.
It appears that while technological advancements initially caused distress, they also opened new doors and balanced themselves out over time. Therefore, it's not wrong to say that the process of change and transformation in labor markets eventually finds its own equilibrium.
How Should We Face the Reality of Artificial Intelligence? "Our New Colleague Accompanying Our Working Lives
Artificial intelligence is a tool. It is up to us how we choose to deploy it." - Oren Etzioni
Facing Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Greater Courage in the New Era: Insights for HR Professionals and Businesses
Let's explore what Human Resources (HR) professionals suggest for us, HR departments, and businesses to effectively collaborate with our new colleague, Artificial Intelligence (AI), in this brave new world.
David Green's compilation "20 Best Articles on People Analytics February 2024" encapsulates the works of many HR professionals revolving around the theme of "AI and Work Life."
These studies cover crucial insights into the future of work life, focal points for HR departments, the new focus of jobs, changes in productivity methods, and the transformation brought by AI in these processes.
Deloitte's "2023 Global Human Capital Trends" report examines how leaders are dealing with global economic and sociological challenges and how HR policies will evolve. The opening words of Deloitte's 2024 Global Human Capital Trends report highlight how traditional definitions of work life are fading, with work no longer confined to specific tasks, workplaces not limited to a single physical location, and many employees not fitting into traditional definitions.
Ernest Ng's article "What Should HR Departments Focus on in 2024?" forecasts various aspects of the future and focal points in the HR field, emphasizing combining efforts to increase productivity, integrate AI into our business processes, and support guiding employees through change. These include:
Allison Baum Gates, in her article "Six Predictions for Health, Wealth, and the Future of Business in 2024," predicts, "The primary impact of AI in 2024 will be to accelerate the shift to skill-focused organizations."
According to Oliver Wyman Forum's study "How Productive AI is Changing the Future of Work," AI now supports human skills across various sectors. Law firms use this technology to synthesize case law, while marketers leverage it for targeted campaigns.
The Burning Glass Institute's report "Productive AI and the Workforce" predicts AI's influence on many roles. However, its impact is more about enhancing productivity and reshaping job roles rather than replacing humans entirely. Workforce reductions may become more common, not due to machines replacing humans entirely, but possibly because economic growth lags behind labor productivity. Early adopters of GenAI may see increased productivity, but this increase may not match the increase in demand, potentially leading to overemployment in many industries. Disruptions may be temporary, corporate profits may increase, prices may decrease, and new jobs may be created.
According to Upwork's study "How Productive AI Adds Value to the Future of Work," the impact of technological advancement on the workforce has long been debated. Acemoglu and Restrepo (2019) argue that while technological advancement initially automates certain tasks that could lead to job loss, it also creates gains through the creation of new jobs and tasks. This indicates a dynamic effect in the labor market. While job losses may initially be apparent with the introduction of new technologies, there tends to be an increase in gains with the creation of new jobs and tasks. This dynamic process may take years in the overall labor market, but it is already observed in fast-paced and active platforms like the independent job market.
In their Harvard Business Review article "Find the Right AI Approach to Solve the Problem You're Trying to Solve," George Westerman, Sam Ransbotham, and Chiara Farronato say, "Rather than getting caught up in technology, focus on the problems you need to solve." The idea that a tool like GenAI will solve all problems can be misleading. What matters is not how you will use generative artificial intelligence in your company, but what you want to achieve. AI can assist in areas such as exploration, prediction, optimization, and recommendation, but not every problem is a problem that can be solved with AI. Therefore, it is more important to focus on the problem and determine the tool you need.
In Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic's article "7 Strategies to Align Your Employees with GenAI" published in the Harvard Business Review, he provides important tips for leaders and managers on how employees can be aligned with AI.
领英推荐
Martha Curioni's article "Why Explainable AI is Important for HR" discusses how companies worldwide are aiming to integrate and expand AI into HR processes by purchasing HR technologies with embedded AI, joining human analytics teams, or supporting data scientists.
Curino emphasizes in her article on the various applications of AI in the field of Human Resources (HR) that such solutions are aimed at explaining why it is important to integrate these solutions into a company's HR processes.
In the article titled "Identifying Time-Based Role Competency Needs Using ChatGPT4 and Tableau," Scott Reida, a workforce strategist at AWS, offers practical and technical guidance on how ChatGPT can be used to determine current and future developments for key roles within an organization.
In Brent Dykes's Forbes article "Why AI Won't Solve All Your Data Culture Problems," the importance of creating a data-driven culture is emphasized. It is believed that a strong data culture will improve corporate decision-making processes. On the other hand, it is not easy to address the challenges of creating a data-driven culture. It is believed that AI technology can help overcome these challenges; however, research shows that cultural and human-related challenges pose a bigger obstacle. Recent studies show that companies' efforts to create a data-driven culture have increased, and this increase is believed to be influenced by AI technology; however, it is important to remember that technology alone is not enough. The study suggests that creating a strong data culture requires strong leadership support and adequate resource allocation.
The Changing Face of Work with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Inevitable Change
We are changing, evolving, and learning; just like our journey through life, isn't it? In our world where work life encompasses a significant part of our lives both today and in the past, capturing and keeping up with changes holds crucial importance for basic life functions. Recognizing requirements, perceiving them, organizing ourselves and our organizations according to these requirements are especially vital to remain within the economic system and not become obsolete, thus ending our journey of life. Moreover, the resistance to change and fear of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are seen to be behind the losses experienced by some employee profiles pushed out of work life and many businesses that have terminated their activities.
There is a secret in change, focusing all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. — Socrates
So let's take a look at the World Economic Forum's report "Future of Jobs 2023-2027." The "Future of Jobs" report is a regularly published report by the World Economic Forum. This report analyzes changes in the global workforce and future employment trends. It attempts to determine how automation, artificial intelligence, and other technological advancements are affecting the business world and which skills will be in higher demand in the future. It also evaluates the impact of these changes on the labor market, workforce preparedness, and working conditions in workplaces. This report is considered an important resource for policymakers, employers, and individuals to adapt to future needs of the business world.
In the "Future of Jobs Survey" study titled "Expected Impact of Technology Adoption on Jobs," the expected impact of adopting technology on employment is examined. Almost all technologies are expected to be job creators in the next five years. Big data analytics, climate change and environmental management technologies, encryption, and cybersecurity emerge as the biggest drivers of job growth. In contrast, technologies such as agricultural technologies, digital platforms and applications, e-commerce and digital trade, and artificial intelligence (AI) are predicted to disrupt a significant portion of the labor market. This situation anticipates automation of some jobs and job loss in certain areas, while growth in other fields is expected. There are concerns particularly about robots; humanoid or non-humanoid robots are generally expected to have a negative impact on employment. While technology adoption trends vary across industries, industries such as electronics and advanced materials are more open to new technologies, while industries like business services, insurance, and retirement management appear more cautious. Adoption rates vary greatly among industries, especially for technologies such as environmental management and augmented virtual reality. Regarding industrial robots, industries such as electronics, energy technology and services, and consumer goods industries have the highest adoption rates, while expectations differ in terms of job loss or creation in information and technology services and oil/gas industries.
It is projected for the period 2023-2027 that 83 million jobs will be lost while 69 million jobs will be created, resulting in a net decrease of 14 million jobs, or approximately 2% of the 673 million workforce examined, representing a structural labor market shift of 152 million jobs, which constitutes 23% of the workforce.
Analytical thinking is widely recognized as a foundational skill by companies, comprising 9% of reported core skills on average. Alongside three self-efficacy skills—creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, and agility—it holds a significant place. Within self-efficacy skills, reliability, attention to detail, and technological literacy are prominently featured. Other top core skills include teamwork and attitudes related to working with others, as well as quality control. Quality control, though making up 5% of worker skill sets, is notably important for specific business cohorts. Skills like management, engagement, technology, ethics, and physical abilities are generally considered crucial. While core skill sets often exhibit similarities across sectors, distinct characteristics are observed in certain industries.
The figure below illustrates the shift in skill importance for employees over the next five years. Complex problem-solving abilities are increasingly valued, alongside growing emphasis on creative thinking and technological literacy. Self-efficacy skills are rising faster than interpersonal skills, highlighting socio-emotional attitudes such as curiosity, resilience, and motivation. Some skills show a declining importance, notably foundational skills like reading, writing, and mathematics. Ethical skills are gaining prominence, although efforts to develop these skills through training are not yet widespread.
Companies prioritize skill strategies in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and other technical domains with a higher emphasis compared to other foundational skills. They plan to allocate an estimated 9% of their training efforts to these areas, indicating they have a larger impact despite being less prominent in strategy than skills like creative thinking. Leadership and social impact rank higher than other skills and emerge as the most significant attitudes. Businesses also attribute strategic importance to skills such as design and user experience, environmental protection, marketing and media, and networks and cybersecurity, prioritizing these over other skills.
Finally...
As inevitable as change is in every aspect of life, we witness its impact on the workplace and consequently on employee competencies. The emerging trend of a differentiated world brings transformation, which, akin to many pages of history, opens new doors for us. Many Human Resources (HR) professionals have recognized this, observing concerns among employees and businesses alike, prompting them to conduct research aimed at shedding light on solutions to these concerns. Additionally, studies by the World Economic Forum have laid out a roadmap to harness the winds of change and guide us to new territories. Now, adapting this roadmap to our own opportunities in the world of "old today, new tomorrow" lies within our grasp.
#humanresources #ONA #organizationalnetworkanalyses #peopleanalytics #hranalytics #??züm #de?er #insankaynaklar? #hr #ik #ai