CHROs around the world are implementing AI into their teams and employees with varying degrees of success, but there’s one important pitfall to remember: a deploy-and-forget approach to any new technology won’t work.
This is according to Karin Twaronite, EY global vice chair of diversity, equity and inclusion, who said: luck During this month’s CHRO Virtual Series, her company was using AI to screen job applicants, and the system automatically sent a rejection letter to a highly qualified candidate who had all the skills needed for the job. The problem was, the candidate’s resume and cover letter didn’t match all of the keywords the AI was trained to search for.
“AI needs human input, and humans need to be able to hold up their hands and say, ‘Wrong, wrong,'” she says. “We can learn from our mistakes along the way, and technology systems get it right most of the time. But great recruiters, DEI and HR professionals can help take these systems from good to great.”
While the team at Twaronite realized this oversight and quickly reached out to candidates to move the hiring process forward, not every company is equally lucky.
According to an April report from SHRM, roughly 25% of organizations are currently using AI to support HR-related activities. However, the current knowledge gap is sizable, with 43% of HR leaders recently reporting that they have limited or no theoretical knowledge about AI, and only 54% have an intermediate-level understanding of AI fundamentals.
Kelly Steven Weiss, chief transformation officer at ServiceNow, stressed that leaders need to ensure accountability for the ethical use of AI across the business, spanning people, process and technology. Technology cannot tell good from bad, but most humans know that.
“The role of HR executives in AI strategy is to act as the conscience of the organisation,” she says.
Kristin Stoller
kristin.stoler@fortune.com
Today’s edition is curated by Emma Burley.
Around the table
We’ve rounded up the most important HR headlines.
Air Canada pilots have voted to begin a strike in mid-September if the airline fails to reach an agreement with workers in new wage negotiations. The Wall Street Journal
The agricultural conglomerates and the United Farm Workers are fighting allegations that some employees were tricked into joining the union, which the union denies was the case. The New York Times
Cutting HR budgets are putting a strain on managers, and employees are overwhelmed by a tsunami of work apps and products, forcing them to turn to technology to fill gaps in their talent needs. Business Insider
Water cooler
Everything you need to know luck.
Spy on comfort. A new report says a significant number of workers You are comfortable with your employer monitoring your work-related messages and communications—The results exceeded HR leaders’ expectations.—Marco Quiroz Gutierrez
Football progress. of National Women’s Soccer League agrees to new terms He worked with the players’ union to eliminate the draft and revenue caps and give newcomers the choice of which league to play in.Paolo Confino
It attracts big egos. Companies often use words like “ambitious” and “results-oriented” in job ads to describe their ideal candidate. Research shows that narcissists tend to be attracted to this language.. —Lindsay Leake
