Integrating artificial intelligence into the workplace offers many benefits, but moving too fast could have a negative impact on workforce experience if human needs are left unaddressed. Here, we explore four emerging tensions between the workplace opportunity inherent in AI investments and the human values potentially at risk.
of leaders indicated that they currently use AI often to make decisions
of leaders anticipate using AI often for decision-making within the next five years
TENSION 1
Efficiency vs. inclusivity
Leaders are eager to leverage AI to expedite routine tasks and remove the administrative burden for their employees. While leaders are optimistic about efficiency gains, nearly a third of conversations cited concern for the bias and inclusion challenges of AI, suggesting that the risk of further embedding systemic bias tempers their excitement.
Leaders can move forward by providing training for employees to identify and challenge biases when using AI and encourage this learning across functions and levels.
TENSION 2
Creative inspiration vs. dilligence
While the quality of work can be evaluated through many lenses, leaders in our study focused on the importance of creative inspiration and diligence in creating high-quality work. Nearly 70% of leaders we spoke to believe that AI will enhance employee creativity to some degree, with AI sparking new ideas and inspiration that can improve quality of work. However, 42% express concern that over-reliance on AI will sacrifice needed human diligence, removing the accuracy, thoroughness, and diversity of thought needed for high-quality work.
Leaders can move forward by developing AI input and output quality review processes to ensure the ethical use of AI and mitigate any risk to work quality. This guidance should be consistent and embedded across the organization, including the C-suite, HR, technology, and product teams.
TENSION 3
Personalization vs. data privacy
Many leaders (58%) see promise in using AI-driven feedback loops to learn more about their workforce and to make more informed decisions. However, scaled data-driven personalization requires more access to employee data. This requirement ties directly to the top concern for leaders, mentioned in 56% of conversations, which is the ethical use of AI for data security and privacy.
Leaders can move forward by gathering feedback about their workers using active listening tools designed with features to help mitigate risk to employee data security and privacy.
TENSION 4
Time for connections vs. quality of connections
Perhaps the most fundamental tension addresses AI’s impact on human connection. Over a third of conversations expressed optimism that AI will help unlock time for meaningful human interactions. However, this optimism is tempered by the risks, with 41% of leaders believing AI will cause a decrease in the quality of human connections. These leaders worry about an over-reliance on “the machine” for key moments that, up until now, have been made memorable through “the human touch,” human-driven empathy, and the lack of a technological presence.
Leaders can move forward by using ethnography and human-centered design research methods to identify innovative ways to spark connection at key moments that matter. Companies should be prepared for the machine-generated nature of interactions to continue to raise the bar for what meaningful human connections look like.
Protecting the future workforce experience
While many companies are adopting AI quickly to meet business needs or gain a competitive advantage, few truly know what to expect, or whether these tools will be adopted and trusted by their employees. Although leaders are excited about the opportunity, the potential costs to experience and trust are impossible to ignore.
An experience-led approach that starts with the human experience should guide the process of AI integration. Leaders find that utilizing a “humans with machines” approach drives trust with AI: a path shaped by human-centered design, guided by measuring trust, defined by safeguards to help ensure more trustworthy machines, and ultimately designed to empower employees for change.
How is your organization preparing to use AI in the workforce? Have you encountered the same tensions? If so, how are you planning to move forward? If you’d like to share your experiences, join a future roundtable discussion, or want to learn more, reach out and say hello.
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1. Deloitte TrustID™ Survey (2023).
2. Deloitte TrustID™ Workforce Survey (2021 and 2022).