Michael Sippitt comment for the HR Director on complex world of workplace AI

“Artificial intelligence”. It’s in the news, it’s in our homes and will change the world of work as we know it. For Human Resource Professionals, knowing what’s coming has never been so important. Ensuring you are ahead of the game in preparing for the changes that are coming is paramount. Contributors Michael Sippitt, chairman Clarkslegal and Georgia Roberts, Solicitor – Clarkslegal.

HR are “people people”. Attributes of empathy, intuition and human experience are what makes you good at your job. These are not necessarily skills matched to implementing and utilising new technologies and upskilling your workforce to do the same. The attributes mentioned above are, for the moment, the skills that the robots are struggling to grasp. However, they may get there; there’s no time to waste

The predicted shift people often speak of is how mundane tasks will be automated, leaving humans to use their intuition, creativity and imagination. That may prove simply a phase in the evolution of how, long-term, AI proves better than humans at most workplace tasks. 

However, more immediately, what implications will introducing new technologies have on the working day? We all know the constant pressure to be more productive, and as technology reinforces productivity this could make our days more intensive. Employers may expect 8+ hours of constant “brain work”, with increased output the pay back for expensive investment in innovation will be getting more out of a smaller workforce. How will this impact employee well-being? Will employees want to work in such an environment and for how long? These are questions for HR.

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