When Technology Makes Us More Human
I spend a lot of my time looking at technology in the HR space, and there are some cool ones out there that make me wonder, “What will happen to HR teams once these technologies are adopted and deployed to their full potential?” Will we go the way of Moderna, where HR teams also look after the digital experience, or will we go the way of IBM, where AI tools replace hundreds of HR roles?
That train of thought took me down the rabbit hole of what does it actually mean to be a human at work? I ask this question because over the past 20+ years, it feels like we have optimized every part of work in the name of productivity and efficiency. Every process is broken down into steps, every step is scrutinized for its potential for automation, and the ability to repeat/scale a business process is applauded (writer’s note: I feel like I may have just summarized a portion of the consulting business model in that sentence). In the middle of all this, the workforce is asked to be flexible and adapt, and really find places for themselves amidst a world of automated mechanisms.
Sure, we look at employee wellbeing, engagement, etc. in the workplace in an attempt to look after the human condition at work. But if we were to define the things that make us uniquely human as our capacity for creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence, does the modern way of working really allow its workforce to utilize their capabilities on that regard, or are we use people as temporary placeholders for tasks that machines are yet able to complete?
Throughout this whole thought process, I’ve arrived at my current opinion that AI won’t replace people in the workplace; it will make us more human.
Few reasons why I say this:
People still need people to do the work in some domains, so unless robots take over the world (a different newsletter topic for another day), we still need people to serve people. Think about it, when you called a 1-800 number last time, how quickly did you say “speak to an agent” before you got tired of being routed through the phone tree? Similarly, sociologists have noted that people often expect human contact in sensitive domains (e.g., providing care)
Research has shown that while AI is great at combinational and exploratory creativity (read: combining existing ideas in new ways or generating new ideas within a known framework), it struggles with transformational creativity (read: breaking rules and creating truly novel concepts). That leap into transformational creativity still requires human intuition and imagination
Surveys have shown that while employees trust AI for raw data analysis, they still prefer human leaders for empathy and personal guidance, which means that authenticity and emotional understanding remain as critical parts of work
As it exists today, AI technology is effectively a mirror that teaches us more about ourselves. It mimics patterns and simulates reasoning based on our past behavior and data. In this process, it also exposes what machines cannot touch: emotion, intuition, ambiguity, morality, and presence. We need to see past all the automation talk and start thinking about what happens after. Because that is where humanity and real leadership sit, when all the admin and operational tasks are gone and taken care of, what is left is just us.
Now, I could just end it here and leave you feeling inspired and refreshed in the idea that you may not lose your job to AI. But, that’s not me (and you’re probably in the wrong place if you’re looking for comforting thoughts and chicken soup for the soul on this topic). Whether we like it or not, transformations and change are happening around us much faster than we have seen before. In a year’s time, if we continue to operate the same way we did a year ago, then there could be a good chance that we get replaced by machines.
So, where does that leave us? Well, speaking from an HR practitioner angle, I believe there are a few mindset changes we can make that will help us all adapt to the new world of work and find our footing in terms of what’s next:
Understand People
We have spent a lot of time as a function over the past decade in trying to ‘have our seat at the table. In the process, we have learned how to speak like the business, understand the business, talk about ROI with the business, etc. While all of these are valuable skills, ask yourself this: How much do you understand about your people? Do you really know what motivates them to show up every day? What makes them tick? Who is truly enjoying their work vs. who is just putting up with it, and why?
These may seem like mundane questions, but they are also questions that AI cannot effectively answer. Your ability to have insights on these matters will be your differentiator in the age of AI.
Stay in the Driver’s Seat
One of the most powerful things I’ve recently heard is “intelligence dictates control.” All AI tools available in the market today are what the academic world calls “tool AI” (read: they can help people do the work, but not replace humans entirely). The rise of AI has highlighted the ongoing need for human control, design, and intent behind the tools. And your ability to figure out how to be a technology orchestrator in the future will greatly determine where you end up in the new world of work.
Get into the Loop
We’ve heard the phrase “human in the loop” for a while now. While it is essential, there is a huge nuance here that not everyone is talking about: human-in-the-loop is more involved than the human-in-the-last-minute-loop activities teams take on. Human-in-the-loop means that you need to get involved in designing, testing, training, and monitoring the AI tool, not just act as an outcome-checker for AI recommendations. The sooner you figure out what role you want to play as the human in the loop with technology, the easier it is to spot opportunities for yourself in the future.
Curate Content
I had a conversation a year ago where a company wanted to bring in an AI solution to curate its content, figure out what is essential, and archive old content before they take on another AI solution to automate the presentation of that content to their workforce. That conversation still makes me cringe because in the world of AI, where machines repeat and play with patterns, one of the most important roles for people to play is to curate the content that goes into the machine (and therefore goes out to their workforce). Human content curation provides a level of trust and accountability that machines cannot replicate. So, in understanding how you can curate content for tools to consume and distribute to your workforce, you’re also curating a spot for yourself in the future organizational structure.
Rely on Your Instinct and Context
AI can analyze data at superhuman speed but lacks the lived experiences that underlie human intuition. There is enormous value in the intangible context, intuition, and gut feeling that a seasoned HR professional can provide that AI cannot replicate. Research from Harvard has shown that gut feelings can be crucial in highly uncertain circumstances, where machines will not have the data to rely on for analysis, and an expert’s intuition can recognize patterns or risks that can elude formal models. So yes, in data we trust, but start to balance the data with your instinct, and you will have a winning formula in the age of AI.
All of that said, while I do not believe that AI will take over your job, I do think that we all need to reframe our definition of work and our role at work accordingly to find a place for ourselves in the world of AI.