Sarah Franklin’s Post

The HR grift knows no bounds. There is no technical reason to treat individual agents as personified employees. In our company, Daring Robot, we toyed with multiple personifications thinking it would make it easier for humans to relate to the software they were using. But we settled on one personification, Jill. (There's a backstory to the name I'll share one day.) But personification isn't necessary and we think it's barely helpful. Siri, Alexa and "Computer" from Star Trek are really only prompts to get the system to pay attention to your request. Even when AI agents are fully autonomous, they could still have one prompt, or name. There won't ever be a need for multiple digital workers with their own employment records. Your company will have a computer system that works with hundreds of software (with AI built in), several LLMs and hundreds (maybe thousands) of agents. You will have an interface to that one system and you'll probably call it a singular name.

HOO BOY - it was a SPICY week for the HR community and y’all know I love a debate. 🔥 Hot Take 🔥 This post by Sarah Franklin of Lattice about adding Digital Workers as employees in their system got 300+ comments before they were turned off. The comments were a mindset stew of fear relative to legal and human ramifications and discomfort around the uncertainty of treating digital workers as employees. There were also some real expert concerns about allowing AI to train on employee data. I probably wouldn’t have announced without a solid bit of strategy given that very little of the HR community is comfortable with concepts such as “experimentation”. Leading via press release isn’t how the industry rolls. That said… I think it’s smart to consider what happens to performance and productivity once a company starts to adopt AI / Digital Workers across departments. Logically, companies will be forced to think about how to redistribute responsibilities and redeploy talent resources across Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence. For most organizations this is uncharted territory - so how on Earth will we begin to think about how to reinvent organization structure unless we start to think about doing a decent job of measuring it first? How do HR gurus intend to adapt to what’s coming if they can’t mentally handle something as trifling as a press release about giving a digital worker an employee number vs asking questions with a beginners’ mind? The other spicy debate is about SHRM announcing that they’re eliminating “Equity” from their references to DE&I moving forward ostensibly because it distracts from civil discourse. Anyone who thinks equity is a distraction to civil discourse is paying too much attention to people who have a vested interest in UNcivil discourse and the wrong side of history. I predict a deep slide in SHRM membership in coming years.

Phew - what a week in #hrtech land. On Tuesday we saw Lattice announce that they're going to support the idea of "AI Employees". The feedback has been understandably "mixed". 😬 I've spent a lot of time over the past month exploring AI Agents - I'll say one thing, they aren't ready to be "Employees". This highlights the worst of so much of what we've all been seeing from HRTech vendors - a focus more on AI and less on the People. So let's instead focus on using that AI to make teams and organizations scale more effectively! At Peoplelogic we're taking a different approach - one that keeps People at the forefront of performance. Peoplelogic is designed to allow organizations to remain agile as they scale, using AI not to replace people but to enhance what their capable of. We're investing in AI to help #HR leaders offload the mundane work so they can focus on being more strategic, while also not letting that create more busy work for managers and employees. We're investing in AI to help organizations connect the dots between the employee experience and the business results. What do you think? Are we really thinking about AI within HRTech the right way?

I think we’ve reached #peakai…. The comments section is hilarious. Aside from the obvious failings Lattice has missed something I wanted to mention in the comments. But for some strange reason the comments are closed… So: By classing software as an “employee” you have made it elliigable for “employers pay related social insurance” in Ireland and similar taxes elsewhere. I am sure that after many rounds of paper correspondence with the tax authorities, whose position will be that anyone in your hr system owes tax unless you can prove they are not a human masquerading as an “AI” for tax reasons, this will work out. Eventually. Bear in mind that this is not a fanciful idea. Amazon has already set a precedent by deploying an “AI” system that turned out to be people looking at screens. Pretending to be an AI is an obvious way to avoid tax.

Over the weekend, I came across an intriguing discussion about the future capabilities of AI, and it got me thinking about the long-term potential of this technology. I spent half my career in Marketing and the other half in Customer Service, so I know the difficulties with balancing CX while trying to automate work. Kate O'Neil, Founder and CEO of Opre, (see her response to the below article on her page), and Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice, raised some excellent points about where AI is today, I see both sides but remain optimistic in the future of AI to AI collaboration. Imagine an AI version of ourselves handling tasks we dislike, such as calling a company for support or dealing with billing questions. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨: You notice an incorrect charge on your bill and ask your AI assistant, "Chadd AI," to resolve it. Chadd AI contacts the company's AI employee, trained to handle such issues. Your AI knows your acceptable outcome (I want it credited 100%), while the company’s AI follows its protocols based upon my account (willing to offer full credit due value/risk). They work together seamlessly, negotiating a resolution without you needing to get involved. This interaction not only saves you time but also ensures a swift and accurate solution. On the other hand, IRL Chadd hates to work with IVRs and ChatBots. I'm that guy who hits "0" or #, or says "agent" 5 times. As we continue to innovate and integrate AI into our daily lives, let’s strive for a future where AI enhances our capabilities, improves efficiencies, and makes our lives easier. What are your thoughts on this? askchadd.

I think the backlash to this Lattice’s CEO post actually underscores a deeper problem companies trying to integrate #ai are facing—how do you make artificial intelligence friendly? Or, even better: should we really make it that? This is such a novel technology that everyone, from people, to companies, to governments, are scrambling to make sense of it. It has such a disruptive potential that, apparently, no area of expertise is left untouched by AI arrival. In Lattice’s case, I think the premise was good, but somewhat misguided. Artificial intelligence can be much more than your average software, therefore it should be approached with fresh eyes. It is new, and therefore everybody is still learning how to best integrate it in everyday workflows. And I’m not talking about slapping an AI tag to a product and calling it a day—deep, foundational changes brought by artificial intelligence require time, patience, commitment and careful dedication. It represents a key enabler in #modernworkplace transitions within companies; and since such a change is brought by a deep and close-knit collaboration between Human Resources, #Communication and #IT depts, it is only natural for companies, large and small, to test waters and bring AI beyond the borders of mere software. Of course, doing this unlocks an entirely new set of questions—should such a technology be humanised? Should it be approached differently even though it is essentially tech? Is it really disruptive or it’ll be another Silicon Valley fad? For me, Lattice’s announcement underscores a willingness to give an answer to such questions, and more. Sarah Franklin is first in line to admit there are still boundaries to make out, and the comments section below her post show just that. But—should there only be backlash at new initiatives, or is it about time we sit down and think different about our approach with tech? There was a time when a company could be more successful only through fast technology adoption. But now things are moving in a different direction, and at a much faster pace than before: information technology is no longer siloed, and cross-pollination with the humanities, social studies, psychology is becoming integral for the purpose of a company’s technological (r)evolution. Admittedly, it is uncharted territory, and only a couple of pioneers already have the upper hand in this transition, but that is because they took the chance and ventured into it at a time where most businesses were not really thinking about it. #Marketing has gone through great lengths to make AI cool to people, as Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI, Midjourney and so many others have demonstrated. But there have been so many missteps already that it is only natural for people to be increasingly wary of “AI stealing our jobs”. In my opinion, we should not stop investing resources in deploying AI in new ways, but we should focus on creating experiences fueled by creativity, ingenuity and thoughtfulness.

#HRTechnology vendor Lattice tried to leap to the next phase of integrating #AI #digitalworkers into the workforce by onboarding them into the platform, establishing employee records, setting performance goals and implementing feedback processes. The ensuing backlash led them to suspend those plans within three days of the announcement! Comments in the LinkedIn post illustrate the broad range of opinions on AI workers in general – from excited support to shocked disbelief! While Lattice may have been a little early, it’s the right time to start thinking about how AI workers are incorporated into enterprise processes, job architectures and #workforceplanning. https://lnkd.in/ekGtJ475

The post has been locked, but I could not NOT share this with the rest of you. Today for the series: "The world is a freight train and the pilot is asleep" we have: HR-tech company sees everyone and their dog introduce AI in their products, decides to follow suit. But instead of adding AI to their product, they decided to make their product capable of hiring AI workers. Yeah you read that right. Comment section is better than a comedy show.

The year is 2035. I'm the only remaining human on my team. I'm mostly debugging code (and sometimes presentations, because for some reason, they still need that, old habits) when the bots run out of patience. Technically it's more a timeout, but we are not allowed to say. They say it's too bot-ist. (they still don't know...) Meetings are mostly in their machine-language, so when people said bots will save us time, they were somewhat right. No one was paying attention anyway. My boss is also an AI bot. I have a nagging feeling it only tells me what I want to hear and sometimes starts its responses with "As a large language mo... apologies, let me start again." My team are two bots. They are doing things that one bot could do and best described as "a thing that should have been a meeting that should have been an e-mail, why don't you just call dammit!" It's mostly about telling humans to find other bots that got lost in the warehouse. (Don't ask which one, we said "lost" already.) Sometimes they hallucinate things too, which I found quite human. Today, I'm playing hide and seek with Braggy, the marketing bot (strange but fitting name, I think it is from the last batch that could still choose a human-readable one) because they said a good employee is hard to find these days. I have no idea where they read that, but they _really_ shouldn't believe everything that's on the internet. So yes, the little f**kers need a HR system like lasagna needed that "g"... (ps.: of course, since then, Lattice changed their mind, but this post is absolutely not about visionary leadersheep)

■ The Fear Within: The Lattice Case ■ The post by Sarah Franklin of #Lattice revealed the underlying fear humans have about #AI not just being a tool but becoming an equal partner. It’s the fear of losing status, benefits, and more: losing control and power. Nobody could foresee the human backlash independent AI entities would cause. Humans are not good at thinking a generation ahead (consider climate change, health, and pension reform, etc.). All they care about is the here and now (just look at political election campaigns). But what does continuous development in AI mean? It means AI is becoming more capable of doing jobs, more reliable, and better than humans. "#Superintelligence", "#Singularity" - ever heard of those? With every development that brings AI closer to our reality, we start to shiver. We begin to worry more and more and ask ourselves: What will it do to me? Is AI threatening me? And so people start arguing against AI-created content, claiming it's not trustworthy, AI copies my appearance and voice, AI takes away my soul! But AI isn't bad and it's not going anywhere. The gains in efficiency and profit are too substantial, and AI can solve too many problems (hunger, diseases, energy) and answer many questions for it to disappear. So, it's important not to act hastily, to acknowledge and formulate what we really fear, and not only to accept but actively contribute to the #transformation that's coming. We must adapt to a new world where AI is in partnership with humans. And about AI employees? It's too early for this outcry, but not too early to start the discussion about AI #ethics and conscious AI. Eventually, AI might need rights similar to ours. We must begin to establish frameworks and guidelines that ensure AI is deployed responsibly, respecting both human and AI entities. This includes creating ethical standards and ensuring transparency in AI decision-making processes. By starting these conversations now, we can pave the way for a future where humans and AI coexist harmoniously, leveraging the strengths of both to solve the world's most pressing issues. This proactive approach will help mitigate fears and ensure that the integration of AI into our lives brings about positive change for everyone. Start today by treating AI with dignity in your communication. Learning respectful behavior towards AI might be essential in the future. https://lnkd.in/dG6s3axJ