There are a flood of articles about how AI is going to replace so many roles, including HR. How? Because when a manager asks about complying with legislation, an AI can answer. It can quote legislation. It can give an overview of ways which a manager can comply.
But they’re missing one thing.
What it can’t deal with, is the weird shit that HR gets asked all the time. It can’t deal with the grey areas!!
It’s all very well asking an AI how you comply with privacy laws around doing reference checks. It’s quite another when a manager is at a weekend BBQ, and a mate of a mate tells him something about someone he’s just interviewed to employ. And on Monday that manager comes to HR to ask what he should do.
For New Zealand an AI might say ‘you cannot collect information about a candidate without their authority. This breaches principle X of the Privacy Act’.
An HR Advisor or recruitment professional you might sit down with the manager and review who the candidate has provided as referees and where they work. Then discuss what other references might be useful to get, and how the candidate will need to give authority, and what the manager should say to explain to the candidate why more referees are needed. They might also do a risk analysis of hiring the candidate.
In short – an HR or recruiter will be able to discuss the complexities of the situation. The grey stuff. Not the black and white answer.
An AI might be great for regurgitating facts. But not for making real life recommendations.
It’s like with qualifications. Schools and universities panicked with the introduction of AI. Students could use it to answer exams or submit papers. Because at school and university you’re often regurgitating facts and figures.
Why weren’t we worried about this at Elephant? Because our Certificate assignments have no regurgitation in them! Our learning is output based and practical. So an assignment might have you trying out a particular tool and then analysing what worked well and what you found was a challenge. You might have to meet with people in your business and ask them some questions, and then discuss what you discovered. You might have to watch a manager complete a process to see what issues there are.
An AI can’t do any of that.
And an AI can’t relate real life situations they’ve experienced to answer a weird and wonderful HR query.
So for the time being, we’re confident that HR is safe from being replaced. Because managers want a real life solution to an issue. They want an HR person who say ‘Okay here’s 3 things you can do here. Here’s what I’ve seen work, and here’s what might go wrong….”
And likewise, we don’t believe Elephant Certificate assignments could be passed by an AI. Until AI’s can sit down and discuss real life situations, feel human emotions and analyse what’s happening in bizarre circumstances. And isn’t then when Judgement Day happens? (This is from the movie Terminator 2, which predicted the computers will take over. And this movie was made back in 1991 – before wifi even existed and dinosaurs still roamed the earth).
So what do you think? Do you think the human aspects of HR and recruiting will ensure that both professionals will be about for the foreseeable future? Or will AI catch up and put us out of business?
Elephant Group 