Graham Glass is the founder & CEO of CYPHER LEARNING, which specializes in providing learning platforms for organizations around the world.
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Have you seen what I see across the AI landscape? Managers are notably enthusiastic about the possibilities—at least when it comes to streamlining and productivity potential. Rank-and-file employees, not so much.
I see this skepticism gap in my conversations with customers. And I see it reflected in quantitative data: according to BCG, 85% of C-suite executives said they intended to increase AI spending in 2024. But below decks, there’s palpable fear that AI’s a stealth job-killer: 24% of workers "are worried AI will make their job obsolete." Workers who are younger, lower-salaried or non-white are more concerned.
So that leaves me concerned. Implementing change-agent tech is harder in the face of instinctive cultural resistance. If people genuinely regard AI as an existential threat, it’s going to be even more uphill. We can’t brush this off.
Four Reasons Leaders Should Temper Their AI Enthusiasm
I’ve heard thought leaders argue that any new disruptive technology causes collateral damage, and lost jobs, while momentarily regrettable, are simply the price of doing business. I know at least some executives are lit up by the prospect of wielding AI to cut headcount. One, who like me is in the edtech space, predicted in 2023 that his company would soon be thriving with just 20% of its pre-AI engineering staff. And maybe, he said, the same axe would slice through his sales and marketing teams.
Well—and I say this as a big believer in AI; it’s at the center of my own company’s strategy and offerings—hang on a minute. I can’t tell you AI won’t cost a single job, any more than a high-performing airline can promise it won’t lose a single suitcase. But let me frame four gentle counterpoints.
1. Employees are listening.
First, and most obviously, how is talk like that going to affect your people right now, today?
Do the dynamic analysis: How effective can employees, even your best and brightest high performers, be if they see their boss fired up about getting rid of them?
Many HR and business leaders reportedly find it difficult to implement generative AI at work and see a lack of buy-in below the executive suite. I’ll give you one guess as to why.
2. It's still early days.
Second, we’re obviously still in AI’s genesis phase. It’s easy for executives on an efficiency quest to jump on the AI train, but lofty rhetoric is the easy part. Where they invest is really the key question—and the hard part. For example, a study commissioned by CYPHER Learning found that while a majority of business leaders try to use AI to train and upskill employees, many run into difficulty. For many in human resources, AI remains a big X factor.
Generally, it's the less-senior employees who get stuck figuring out how to implement AI to save time, increase productivity and maintain the organization’s integrity. And remember, some of those people may see AI as a kind of workplace Grim Reaper; perhaps they’re something short of thrilled about the task.
3. Humans are irreplaceable.
Third, while AI can help employees do their jobs more effectively, it shouldn’t be a replacement for human involvement.
I’m a fierce believer in protecting the human element of the workplace. It’s just too sweeping a vision, not to mention brutal and perhaps self-sabotaging, to enthuse about using AI to decimate whole departments. I tell my customers to keep an "80-20" rule in mind: Maybe 80% of a knowledge professional’s workload is rote, repetitive, often tedious tasks, which are candidates for delegation to AI—but the remaining 20% can only be done by people. And note that does not mean bouncing 80% of staff; it means elevating staff to overseer roles, which amplifies total systemic productivity.
4. Learn from the past.
Fourth, bear prior technology paradigm shifts in mind. They’re instructive.
We’re fond of calling the rise of AI unprecedented. But the sweeping character of this kind of change has plenty of precedent, and in prior seismic transitions, neither the best nor the worst-case scenarios resulted. In the mid-20th century, television didn’t put very many movie theaters out of business. A generation ago, internet search engines didn’t make traditional libraries and researchers moot. History suggests generative AI, implemented in well-controlled ways with human supervision, will spread in a similar net-positive fashion.
Three Ideas To Bridge The Skepticism Gap
Keep these four points in mind as you work to bridge the gap between CEO ebullience and whatever fear and loathing you might detect in the ranks. And here are three more purely tactical ideas:
• Create an AI task force: Sunlight can halt the rumor mill. Survey the workforce and see what concerns might obstruct thoughtful adoption. Invite senior managers and employees to collaborate on AI deployment ideas and initiatives, and include people from across the organization for broad representation. Listen to one another’s priorities and reservations.
• Create a company-wide AI policy: Set up clear policy guardrails on how to use AI. For example:
Should the company disclose when AI is used to generate copy or create a graphic?
Is there always a real live human editing and supervising output?
What use cases in your organization are the best candidates for adding AI? Which are off-limits?
• Hold regular training sessions: Acclimatize employees to your AI dos and don'ts. There's plenty of evidence that many are unsure about AI technology, even afraid. Demystifying it is practically a precondition for success. Work with department leads to ensure training is personalized, so it’s relevant to individual workers.
Final Thoughts
Finally, I think skepticism about unbridled generative AI is perfectly okay at this stage. There’s so much hyperbole, both the rose-colored-glasses kind and the end-is-nigh kind. As I said above, chances are neither extreme is realistic.
It looks to me like CEOs will benefit from helping employees see the whole truth, uncertainties included. In times of fundamental change, there’s no substitute for thoughtful, empathetic leadership. While generative AI can do a lot of things, leading is not among them—and it never will be.
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