Amid the fifth industrial revolution, HR practitioners can collaborate with AI to attract and retain employees and nurture their development.
The most effective partnerships – whether between mentors and protégés, co-founders or trusted colleagues – unlock potential that individuals alone can’t achieve.
The same is true for the partnership between people and AI.
“Humans are good at doing certain things, machines are good at other things,” says scientific futurist Dr Catherine Ball, who will be speaking at AHRI’s National Conference and Exhibition in Sydney from 19-21 August. ”But when you have a human-machine pairing, you go to a new level of efficiency and insight. If it’s done well, that exceeds anything each could do on its own.”
Industry 4.0 drove technology such as automation, data analytics and improved connectivity to enhance productivity, decision-making and competitiveness. Currently emerging, Industry 5.0 will focus on a collaboration between machines and humans to boost productivity and efficiency, and prioritise human wellbeing.
Dr Ball says success lies in enhancing our abilities to navigate and leverage this technology effectively. However, AHRI’s recent research report, The State of AI in Australian HR, found three-quarters of the HR practitioners surveyed said they had no understanding of AI, despite the majority seeing its benefits in boosting productivity and performance.
“In this age of radical reskilling and upskilling, we need to look at our own skill sets before assessing the needs of others. Learning how frontier technologies work and how they can be applied to the HR industry is the very start of organising the syllabus required across the ecosystem.
“Where the first industrial revolution transformed machinery and physical work, this fifth revolution is transforming cognitive work. We can either be victims or active participants.”
Hear more from Dr Catherine Ball and other HR thought leaders at AHRI’s upcoming National Conference and Exhibition in Sydney from 19-21 August. Registrations are open now.
Using digital twins to enhance talent management
To get the best people on the team, HR departments need to know who’s out there. This is where digital twins – or digital doppelgangers – come in.
Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical objects, or AI versions of humans. They can be used to simulate how their real-life counterparts think and behave – which can be useful for companies when it comes to designing products or making better-informed decisions.
“It’s an AI system that can pull data from social media, resumes, qualifications, web histories, even photos. It’s constructing a version of them to infer their beliefs and behaviours,” says Dr Ball.
In 2018, the use of digital twins sparked controversy when British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica created digital twins by collecting Meta users’ data to shape political advertising campaigns.
The event caused an uproar around the safety of personal data because users didn’t give their consent. But with permission, and in the right context, digital twins can be valuable for HR and recruiters.
Job seekers could use digital twins – AI-generated profiles that showcase their skills, experience and job preferences – to signal when they’re looking for work and get noticed faster. Meanwhile, recruiters would have a detailed, real-time view of potential candidates, making it easier to identify the right match based on skills, values and job requirements.
“Job seeking will shift towards active employee seeking, which means we’ll see more employers target the specific employees they want rather than waiting for jobseekers to come to them.”
Companies worldwide are already creating these twins, such as Woodside, which is partnering with the University of New South Wales to create digital twins of human leaders, and Australian startup Reejig, which uses 3D digital skills mapping to help enterprises find, mobilise, reskill and upskill their workforce.
Other companies are scanning data to offer cyber forensic reviews of potential employees, she adds.
The cyber forensic review method will be especially useful when hiring for very senior positions like the C-suite or board directors, which require robust risk assessments.
“If you’re hiring for a seven-figure salary, you need to verify a candidate’s authenticity. A two-page resume is unnecessary; everything about their life is already online.”
But, of course, we must ensure AI automates decisions without bias.
Dr Ball advises companies to investigate scalable language models so they can craft their own methodologies for CV evaluation that align with company values, brand persona and specific needs.
“This prevents large open-source AI models from carrying all of these biases in through your front door.”
“Where the first industrial revolution transformed machinery and physical work, this fifth revolution is transforming cognitive work. We can either be victims or active participants.” – Dr Catherine Ball, Scientific Futurist and upcoming AHRI National Convention & Exhibition keynote speaker
Harnessing the power of data with generative AI
For employees who feel unfairly treated, struggle with tasks or face excessive workloads, AI can provide objective insights. By analysing location data, app usage and workplace interactions, it offers a clearer picture – helping organisations address issues proactively and create fairer, more supportive work environments.
“HR teams, with human oversight, can utilise data to monitor performance, suggest training or resources and identify stressed employees who might need support. Chatbots could facilitate these conversations, positioning HR as a partner in the process.
“It’s certainly a great opportunity to engage more with [employees], help keep them happy and healthy, and ultimately retain them.”
Providing tailored opportunities to upskill is key to AI-driven performance management. AI can even verify new qualifications and store them on a blockchain, removing the need for HR to manage certifications.
“A Web3 [or decentralised] blockchain could create a safe and secure record of skills gained throughout someone’s life. This eliminates backup needs and ensures people can take their skills with them wherever they go.”
While utilising AI-enabled technology in this way is “an incredibly powerful area of Industry 5.0”, it also raises privacy and ethical concerns, says Dr Ball.
“There are powerful tools out there, but should you use them? We’re in a moral and ethical grey area. Without corporate rules and regulations, it’s up to humans to discuss where these boundaries lie.”
While there is little doubt that this technology will fundamentally change the way we work forever, Dr Ball advises approaching it with equal measures of curiosity and care.
“HR practitioners handle incredibly sensitive personal information, so AI tools must adhere to best practices, prioritising cybersecurity and privacy.”
Savvy employers should do what they can to adapt to change, listen to the market, identify the problems and find solutions.
“It could be the humans or the machines that are adapting. But, ideally, it’s the humans collaborating with machines.”
Want to learn more about how to use AI to enhance your HR processes? AHRI’s GenAI Integration Essentials short course covers the fundamentals of GenAI technology, including how to apply it to various HR tasks, positioning its role in the HR value chain and addressing privacy and fairness concerns.
