On February 28, 2024, SHRM@QU had the privilege of welcoming Britt-Marie Cole-Johnson, a partner in Robinson + Cole’s Labor and Employment Group, and Frank Wittenauer, a Global Talent Technology Leader. They offered us valuable insight into Artificial Intelligence’s rising implementation in daily life and what the consequences, good and bad, may be.
Our discussion panel with Ms. Cole-Johnson and Mr. Wittenauer was moderated by our SHRM Vice President, Claire Moreira!
- When asked how the integration of AI in HR processes influenced diversity and inclusion efforts within organizations, our panelists offered great insight.
Lawmakers are concerned about the hiring and workplace decisions being offset by AI, as it can decide who gets hired without human intervention, which may lead to bias. The bias can be applied to gender, race, disability, etc. Organizations must learn AI, including its process and limitations, before using it. Its impact on humans and bias needs to be considered, along with cost and process.
- Is there a way Human Resources can leverage AI in the recruitment and selection processes in a way that is fair and unbiased, and perhaps with human oversight for crucial decisions?
It seems that these biases of AI are seen through job descriptions that are not updated with the market, leading to resumes without those keywords being filtered out. Organizations need to be diligent in their housekeeping and maintenance of job descriptions. Interviews should still be by a human; one-sided AI interviews may work against interview responses and speech patterns that don’t align with pre-programmed algorithms. This could lead to adverse impact.
- How can HR prepare the workforce for the changing nature of work due to AI?
HR is still a polarizing topic. There is some truth in that AI is being used by companies to save money through having routine and repetitive jobs automated. Is there time for Information Technology companies to train other employees on how to use and keep up with the technology? Time should be made for this, but not all tech savvy individuals care to train employees. Investment should be made to elevate talent and prepare them for the future. Rather than spending time on tasks that can be automated, organizations should invest in development and training to allow their teams to spend more time on strategy and innovation. Human Resources is not at total risk of AI; the focus of humans is in the name!
- What challenges, if any, may arise when implementing AI tools into the workforce? What can be done to alleviate these challenges?
There are employees and leaders that are still resistant to AI. HR has to integrate AI to align with employment laws, which can be especially difficult when working across different cities/states/countries with different regulations. Employees need to be trained on how AI works, especially for their roles. Everyone (employees and leaders) needs to be involved in the AI integration process. Outside metrics should be merged with inside metrics to create accurate recruiting measures. Integrating HRIS and other AI systems can be very costly, and should be thoughtfully executed in partnership with users and developers.
- Our panelists were asked to share their day-to-day work life examples of how AI has impacted them, either positive or negative.
Law firms have a lot of restrictions regarding data/AI usage, meaning the use of it is very minimal – client data privacy is essential. Britt-Marie utilizes AI in her personal life, whether it be for finding a new recipe or just for fun to experiment with its abilities. Frank uses it to help him with idea generation, and also to test its limits and capabilities. Britt-Marie is also a professor, so one request of her students is for them to be transparent when utilizing AI in their assignments.
- Britt-Marie, in what specific ways is AI utilized at Robinson+Cole? Are there steps in place to assure the safety of combining AI with the confidentiality of practicing law?
AI is very limited at Robinson+Cole due to client privacy concerns. These privacy concerns are valid, because some AI technology companies will store user data, even if they do not state that they are doing so.
- Frank, are there any founded fears in the accounting industry that AI will ultimately take over certain positions? Or is it being seen as another tool to assist with the accuracy of data?
AI is helping accounting to regulate tedious tasks. People should not fear AI in accounting.
Lastly, Britt-Marie Cole-Johnson and Frank Wittenauer offered some advice to us young professionals. These quotes are not exact, and are paraphrased from the overall sentiment of the advice given:
Frank: “Learn a lot and fail a lot.”
Britt-Marie: “Take good training over better pay.”
Thank you so much to Frank and Brit-Marie for taking time to speak with us and fellow Quinnipiac faculty and students!!
See you next time SHRM readers for our event partnered with Bobcat Project Management and ASCM on Monday, March 4th at 6:30pm in SB119! There will be pizza! See you there!
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