Artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace has seemed like the wild west so far. There were no apparent rules, and employees wondered if they would be supplanted by AI bots.
But now, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has guidelines to offer employers. These guidelines are designed to ensure employees are treated ethically, but following these recommendations also could help your organization optimize AI to its fullest potential.
Make Employees Part of the Process
The guidelines state that employees should be fully informed of how AI will be used, and should be a part of the design process:
“Centering Worker Empowerment: Workers and their representatives, especially those from underserved communities, should be informed of and have genuine input in the design, development, testing, training, use, and oversight of AI systems for use in the workplace.”
Letting workers know you are using AI, and how you plan to use it, is the right thing to do, but it’s also in the company’s self-interest. Making employees part of the process makes it more likely you will use an AI system that increases productivity and quality of employee output.
The employee knows best where they could use extra help and where AI technology would mostly be a nuisance or added chore.
For example, an employee could point out the busy work they do that they would like to be freed from to do more substantive tasks, or where and how the addition of an AI system could finally solve the problem of needing an additional employee in the department that the company has said for years it can’t afford.
AI as a Benefit Rather than a Threat
Following the guidelines also can help reassure nervous employees. Regardless of the industry, as soon as AI is discussed, the first questions are: Will I be replaced? Will my hours and pay be cut? What if an AI system can do everything I do for a fraction of the cost?
The DOL guideline, “Ethically Developing AI,” helps offset those concerns, as it recommends that companies create and use AI systems in a way that benefits, rather than threatens, employees: “AI systems should be designed, developed, and trained in a way that protects workers.”
If employees are threatened by an AI system, they will be unlikely to use it. They will see it as the enemy rather than as a job aid.
In the rollout of AI technology, educational sessions with employees could be set up. These sessions could start off with the many ways this technology is designed to make employees’ work lives better, and not to potentially replace them.
When employees understand the built-in protections for them, they may be more likely to buy into use of the technology.
Be Transparent About Plans for AI
Whatever the plans for AI, the DOL recommends that employers be upfront about it: “Employers should be transparent with workers and job seekers about the AI systems that are being used in the workplace.”
The worst way to manage AI as an employer is to test it out as a secret pilot program. Secrets in organizations tend to leak out. There are few things employees are excited to hear about through a leak. A secret plan to increase everyone’s salaries would trigger happiness; a secret AI pilot would not. The assumption would be that it’s a secret because it will negatively impact employees.
If an organization is testing AI that could replace employees, it should avoid making false promises, and it should be honest about the test that is taking place. Employees then can make their minds up about whether it’s time to start looking for a new employer.
At first glance, this policy of transparency about AI can seem foolish. You would be practically inviting employees to look for new work. You may lose some employees, but I bet most will stay to see how it plays out. And those who stay most likely will be more loyal to the company for being honest with them and not making false reassurances of security.
The more intelligent employees will reason that the same AI tests likely are occurring at most other companies they would apply to for work. The important thing is to have an employer that keeps you updated on how the test is playing out, so if your job is going to evolve, or even end, you can make plans to transition your skills.
A company that is really on top of things would have training plans in place to transition the job roles that will be deeply affected by AI. If you can upskill or reskill your employees with the help, rather than the threat, of AI, employees may thank you for adding this technology to your workplace.
Do you already use AI in your organization? If so, do you make your employees part of the process in developing and implementing it?