- Being skeptical of new technologies, like AI, is healthy and part of understanding where it fits into your organization.
- Leaders may be buying in, but most employees are still unconvinced of the power of AI and its lasting impact on jobs.
- Becoming a good student of AI is important to successful implementations.
Is AI really the earth-shattering technology here to revolutionize the world of work?
That’s the question Mark Feffer is asking these days as an independent editor and journalist covering the HR industry. His work appears on the HCM Technology Report, WorkforceAI.News, and other publications such as HR Magazine and SHRM.org.
Feffer joins Ligia Zamora and Jason Cerrato in the latest episode of The New Talent Code to discuss changing attitudes of leaders and employees toward AI, the evolution of regulations, and why self-education is essential to getting started.
Here are some top takeaways from the conversation.
Related content: Journalist Mark Feffer shares his thoughts on AI’s impact on the HR industry in this episode of The New Talent Code.
1. It’s good to be skeptical of new technologies
Feffer has spent most of his career covering HR, which means he’s seen a lot of technologies come and go. He’s interested in how AI has become a regular part of the HR conversation, but isn’t convinced we’ve seen its full capabilities just yet.
“AI is definitely top of mind for me and a focus [of] my website,” he said. “I’m not yet convinced that AI is at a point where it’s going to be earth-shattering. It’s definitely an amazing technology, and it’s definitely going to get more advanced, but I think there’s so much that’s unknown about its impact. For example, we keep talking about how jobs won’t be replaced, they’ll just change. I’m skeptical about that. A lot of employees are too.”
2. We haven’t seen AI’s full potential yet
All industries, not just HR, are in the earliest stages of AI adoption. Fittingly, there are many conversations around appropriate and practical applications for AI in a business environment.
Feffer says there is also speculation, especially from employees, on best use cases for AI and how it will impact their jobs. The only way to answer those questions is with time and testing the technology in real-world scenarios.
“It reminds me of when personal computers first came out,” he said. “Microsoft wasn’t running around selling MS-DOS. They were selling computers, and they were selling what the computers could do. It seems to me AI is part of an operating system, and you have to ask yourself, ‘Can an operating system have the impact that people say AI is going to have?’ ”
3. HR finally has a seat at the table
For years, HR professionals have looked for ways to have a real impact on their businesses. Based on his reporting and view into companies around the U.S., Feffer says HR teams finally have a seat at the table to help make strategic decisions.
“The question is, how effective are they going to be used when talking with the others at that table?” he said. “And that just needs time. There’ll be some companies that do it very well. There’ll be others who won’t, but I think there’s definitely a change in attitude about HR and what they can do with technology to help the greater business.”
4. Regulation is needed now
One missing piece to the conversation on AI, Feffer said, is regulation. While Europe has created the EU AI Act, the U.S. has lots of room to catch up.
Individual U.S. cities and states are putting AI regulations in place, but figuring out what to regulate and how to enforce it — including from the consumer perspective — is still being worked on at a federal level.
“Privacy and letting the individual have a say in how the data is being used is going to be the focus for probably quite some time,” Feffer said. “The technology may evolve to a point where people know that different flavors of AI do different things or behave in different ways. Some regulation may start to be applied to that, just like how the EPA governs emissions, but I think right now, especially in Europe, the focus really is on using the capabilities of AI properly.”
Related content: Learn about our approach to Responsible AI.
5. Be a student of AI
The final piece of advice Feffer shared was for those who are skeptical of AI to study it any way they can. Documents from tech companies, like e-books and white papers are a starting place, but he suggests seeking out learning opportunities on AI, such as continuing education classes at local universities.
He also recommends looking to HR leaders already using it to learn from their experiences.
“Talk to other people in your space who are anywhere in the process, but you want to get the complete process,” he said. “Talk to others who may be just considering it to see how they’re approaching it. Talk to others who’ve had a successful implementation. Talk to people who did not have a successful implementation. I think the more stories you can get from the real world, the better off you’re going to be.”
Listen to the full episode of The New Talent Code with Mark Feffer on our website or wherever you listen to podcasts.
