More and more company leaders are looking into artificial intelligence, wondering how it can help their organisation. While they see the possibilities of AI, many managers still refrain from taking the leap. Fear is holding them back. Let’s explore three common fears and how you can tackle them.
The fear: change
Humans don’t like change. We prefer to stick to what we know. After all, change oftentimes brings uncertainty. We don’t need to tell you that implementing artificial intelligence will bring some changes to your organisation. Certain manual tasks will be automated or done differently, new skills will be needed while others are no longer necessary, people will leave and new recruits will enter the scene. You’ll have to adapt your strategy, make some big investments and change people’s minds. Long story short: AI adoption is a big challenge for those who are change-averse.
→ To make things easier, it’s a good idea to kick things off with a solid (change management) plan. Don’t jump in blindly, but know what you’re getting yourself into. Understand the technology and the investment, decide what you want AI to do in your company and write down the results you want to achieve. Listen to your employees’ concerns, talk openly about your plans and upcoming developments, offer solutions and coach them towards accepting AI as part of their job.
The fear: controlling behaviour
Artificial intelligence allows us to create safer (work) environments, increased efficiency and faster results. But AI doesn’t just magically do these things on its own. It needs data to work. Data like personal information, camera images or other types of sensor records. This leaves many people wondering: what exactly happens with this data — my data? If, for example, you install cameras on your production floor with an AI system that detects when an employee has fainted. Then your employees will no doubt wonder if these images are also used to check up on them for other reasons. Certain AI tools, like a safety system, might build fear within your company that you’ll be controlling behaviour. This fear could lead to a serious setback in your AI plans, as people might not be as welcoming to these new tools.
→ Data isn’t and shouldn’t be accessible to just anyone. Create a system where only a limited number of people have access, depending on their role in the company. If you install a safety system, then only your safety advisor or production floor manager should be able to check the data. Not you, not Jim from accounting, but only the person whose job it is to take safety measures in your company. Communicate openly with your employees and your management team about how and why you’ll implement artificial intelligence. Be transparent.
The fear: job loss
Maybe one of the biggest fears yet, certainly one that’s been talked about most, is the fear of job losses. AI will take over our jobs, our lives and, eventually, the world. That is, at least, if you believe the doom-mongering of some so-called experts. Of course, this isn’t true. But what is true, is that certain professions will disappear or at least change. What’s important to remember is that the jobs we’ll lose are the ones that shouldn’t be done by humans anyway. Think of dangerous or tedious professions. For example: in the case of a carpet tile manufacturer AI was able to take over a job that wasn’t particularly safe or interesting for employees. In this role, an employee had to bend over the assembly line to check the quality of each carpet tile. The task was so strenuous that a co-worker had to take over every fifteen minutes. Now, an AI system checks the tiles on the assembly line. Clearly, that’s the better option for this task.
→ The only thing to do when it comes to the fear of job losses is to accept that it’s going to happen. You can’t control it, you can’t avoid it. What’s important to remember is that, while AI will make certain professions disappear, new jobs will be created because of the technology. The tasks people will be left with will also be more rewarding and challenging. They will be better suited to our strengths and our knowledge.