Australian survey finds ‘lack of knowledge on AI and its potential implications for HR'
A majority of HR leaders in Australia are confident that artificial intelligence won't be replacing them at work despite reports that employers could be reducing their headcount due to AI.
A recent survey found that 82.1% of HR professionals disagreed with the notion that they might lose their job in the wake of AI adoption.
Only 8.5% of the report's 236 respondents said they agreed with the notion.
HR's confidence on job security also extends to other roles in the organisation, with 64.7% of the respondents disagreeing that other employees will lose their jobs because of AI, found the Australian HR Institute (AHRI).
On the other hand, only 21.8% of HR professionals agreed that other employees could lose work.
The findings come after the World Economic Forum revealed that 41% of employers worldwide are planning to downsize their workforce where AI can replicate people's work.
A possible explanation for HR professionals' strong sense of job security is the current use of AI at work, where it remains limited to drafting documents, such as job descriptions, policies, emails, and reports, according to the AHRI report.
"These low-level tasks are not perceived as a risk for HR employees in more senior positions," the report read. "However, there also seems to be a lack of knowledge on AI and its potential implications for HR (or other) roles."
In fact, the report found that HR professionals who believe that employees would lose jobs because of AI were most likely to be late adopters. Early adopters, on the other hand, were least concerned about job losses.
"These results suggest that even though concerns about job losses and slow adoption are linked, these concerns may be unfounded given that early adopters were more likely to disagree that AI leads to job losses," the report read.
Overall, perception towards AI remains optimistic for many HR professionals, according to the report.
More than eight in 10 respondents believe that AI will improve productivity (86%) and job performance (81%). Remaining concerns, however, were on the following:
Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO of AHRI, underscored that adopting AI alone won't automatically lead to productivity gains.
"We have seen the adoption of automation and AI for some time now, but this has not translated into additional productivity growth for the Australian economy," McCann-Bartlett said in a statement.
In order to lead the AI adoption, the AHRI CEO urged HR professionals to upskill and remain fully up to date with the technology's latest developments.
"To unlock its full potential, organisations should adopt a suite of complementary HR practices, such as widespread investment in training, information sharing, employee consultation and empowerment as well as ethical guidelines, to ensure AI adoption is both productive and equitable," the CEO said.
