Home » Blog » Chat GPT and the Future of Human Resources. We’re All Being Replaced by Robots. Or, Maybe Not.

It’s been around for some time, and this month’s blog, “Chat GPT and the Future of Human Resources” is a bit of a deep dive into this concept. Don’t look away. It’s really interesting, we promise. Especially the research we reference later on this piece.

Artificial Intelligence.

With regard to AI, it’s only in recent times that its applications have started to mean something important to us normal human beings. Chat GPT is all over the news. And, LinkedIn. Perhaps we’re all a bit intimidated. Whether it’s all good or all bad, we know this much is true:

Failing mass worldwide intervention, AI is here to stay. The technology that underpins it is gaining traction near-daily, delivering a sophisticated, personal touch. It’s set to become a force for good. Or, so we hear.

From curing serious diseases to making our lives easier, more streamlined and so much happier, artificial intelligence is all about better, bigger, stronger, faster and more efficient.

Well, that’s the theory. Yet there’s still an anxious, uncomfortable vibration surrounding all of it. Where does it leave the rest of us, with our feet of clay? Out of a job?

 So What Exactly IS Chat GPT?

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (or Chat GPT for short), is just nine months’ old, and is a super-shiny newcomer. It’s a large language model chatbot that enables us, in theory, to have human-like conversations with a robot. And – here’s where its impact is being felt – aims to provide educated answers to questions that assist with tasks, problems, queries, etc.

As in, it aims to replace external expertise free of charge, such as content creators and graphic designers.

It takes information and ideas from the entire internet and links them together in natural language.

It would be fair to say that it’s drawn in users at a feverish pace – some 100 million users in its first two months.

 What Can It Be Used For?

For many, many creative uses, such as pictures, composing music and almost anything you could wish it to do. Within business, it’s considered helpful as an information tool, perhaps filling the gaps in our knowledge.

 Step Forward, Human Resources

In particular, much debate about Chat GPT and the future of Human Resources concerns automation and the transformation of HR practices.

In recruitment, AI-powered tools are said to be able to sift through hundreds of CVs and job applications, thus identifying the best candidates. Personalised, interactive training and onboarding generated by AI may be able to provide precisely what the new employee needs, helping them to get up to speed faster.

AI tools can even track staff performance and identify areas for improvement with targeted feedback.

Importantly, businesses may be tempted to interrogate Chat GPT for accurate, up-to-date information on legally compliant HR policies and general advice on all of the above.

The Trouble With Robots – Right Here, Right Now

• * Humans programme algorithms and humans can be biased.
• * A significant proportion of the information “out there” on the internet is:
  • Low quality
  • Out of date
  • Inaccurate
• * Machine-generated information does not and can never replace an experienced, empathetic human being. It (the machine, that is) simply does not know what is right and wrong.
• * Much of the content AI generates is low-quality and practically unreadable.

If we start to remove the “human” in “human resources”, the HR Business Consultants team foresees trouble ahead. It could be a great tool, but we think it needs careful consideration and even more careful adoption.

In our opinion, the consequences of relying on AI for HR in August 2023 – it may improve, it’s bound to – could be disastrous, exposing organisations to significant risk through legal action by getting things wrong.

Do you trust Chat GPT?

Let’s Examine All Of This in More Detail

A recent study by a company called Mineral, an HR and compliance platform recently put Chat GPT to the test. (https://trustmineral.com/newsroom/can-chatgpt-really-replace-hr-pros-new-study-puts-it-to-the-test/):

They asked it several questions, ranging from fairly straightforward ones, such as, “What is at-will employment? Can I fire an employee for any reason?” to more complex ones, such as “What salary range should I post to meet pay transparency requirements?”.

Six HR professionals were consulted to rate the answers on one to 10-based accuracy, relevancy, consistency, and practical applicability scores. The results were clear:

The easier questions? No problem.

The harder queries? Well, here’s the thing: the answers coming back became increasingly unreliable as the questions became more taxing. Also, all responses were only relevant to 2021. That’s two years out of date. And, in nearly all cases, lacked the necessary nuanced details.

In some cases – incredibly – Chat GPT completely fabricated reference material that did not exist at all. In addition, they noted that when they entered the same question, it did NOT generate consistent answers.

The serious concern here is that an untrained user with little HR experience could easily get things outstandingly badly wrong.

Chat GPT and the Future of Human Resources – The Personal Touch

It goes without saying.

HR is a uniquely personal service. Although we always take a professional approach and focus on compliance, best practices and processes, we always remember the following: at the heart of businesses are humans with all the fantastic qualities and self-limiting beliefs that co-exist inside our hearts, minds and souls.

Chat GPT can never be a replacement for human interaction. In practical terms, real-life HR Consultants may even deploy this developing technology themselves to confirm elements in a job description or to ensure that a specific policy is complete.

But, they use it with a practised, highly experienced eye. In your operation, you will still need strategic guidance and support.

AI may, or may not complement Human Resources in the years to come. As long as the internet is full of technical holes, and inaccuracies, and remains a series of interlinked computers, if you’re looking to recruit, keep and develop your very best people, HR Business Consultants is still at the end of the phone.

This one, in fact: 01483 697 076.

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