From the beginning of the year, Headai has cooperated with the students of Laurea University of Applied Sciences. A project that was executed as student work, was set up to study AI in the field of talent management where Headai is strongly operating. The mission was to explore, how AI and a data-driven approach affect the HR scene. The student group consisted of Seven students studying in the degree programme of Bachelor of Business Administration: Linda Saarinen, Jenna Heino, Roosa Niemiaho, Ilmari Hiidenniemi, Isabella Blaurock, Anja Baumruck, and Joanna Willström. Headai’s Head of Growth, Anu Passi-Rauste was the person coaching the student group and sharing her insights from the AI business field.
The students learned a lot during the project. They took a deep dive into Headai’s playfield to analyze e.g. the change in the future workforce, talent management, and HR. The group summarized their insights of the effects of AI for an employee into an article that can be read below. Headai wants to thank the student group and their teachers for the efforts.
Automation gives tools to employees instead of taking jobs away from humans – AI should be seen as an opportunity that can give extra value to the organization.
What impact does cognitive AI have on you as an employee?
Published 02/05/2021
By Jenna Heino, Roosa Niemiaho, Linda Saarinen, Ilmari Hiidenniemi, Isabella Blaurock, Anja Baumruck & Joanna Willström
Artificial Intelligence can help companies through the whole employee lifecycle and give efficient predictions of employees’ performance. This can mean multiple different things to the employee. It can mean for example internal mobility which helps employees to find internal jobs they may have never even considered, perhaps in a different department, based on their capabilities. It can also mean succession planning which can identify replacements for people based on employee’s capabilities. AI can also accomplish screening people based on their capabilities, not based on a vague sense that someone is for example conscientious or passionate. In other words, cognitive AI enables finding employees’ hidden talents and capabilities.
One kind of the downside of AI is that it can be biased if it is set up to be biased or if the data is biased. Yet preventing the possibility of biased AI is quite simple. For unbiased AI is important to educate carefully selected candidates, invest in systems that optimize fairness and accuracy, and develop open-source systems for third-party audits. Automation gives tools to employees instead of taking jobs away from humans – AI should be seen as an opportunity that can give extra value to the organization.
Robotics and automation are ever more spreading to all fields of business. Automation has increased accuracy, efficiency, and profitability. Vital and growing companies are crucial for Finland and onwards for its citizens by providing, for example, workplaces, tax incomes, and innovations. Especially robotics and AI have a constantly growing role in supporting innovations. AI has changed even organisation structures and also caused redundancies, but with or without modern technology companies need to ensure prolongation of their business. The baseline is that good employers enable their employee’s development hand in hand with modern technology. Instead of being a threat to humans’ workplaces, AI can release time, for example, creative tasks or responsibilities that require critical thinking. In the future, required skills from employees are mostly related to social, emotional, and higher cognitive skills, for example, problem-solving ability. Thus, can be said that AI is more a beneficial tool than a rival enemy.
It will be increasingly critical to train new machine intelligence experts and acquaint every employee with the capabilities, boundaries, and concepts of intelligent systems. All companies do not have the capacity and knowledge to develop their programs or systems, yet they still need robotics to boost their business and for remaining their competitiveness. Luckily, there are technology companies that are centralizing their operations in providing innovative programs, systems, and platforms for other companies and institutions. Taking advantage of ready-made solutions is a profitable and sustainable way to utilize modern technology. Partnerships are flexible approaches for leveraging technology to transform business life.
Read more on the student project in the Laurea project showcase blog.