Amidst the jitters created by investment bank Goldman Sachs’ prediction that artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300-million full-time jobs worldwide, the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica (HRMAJ) says it will take a cultural shift for Jamaicans to come to terms with having their business handled by bots.

According to HRMAJ head Lois Walters, there are several important questions and issues to be addressed before there can be full integration of AI in work processes here. This, she said, will take time.

“We have a lot of work to do. Long before we reach to the point to say we are going to incorporate AI, we have to know what our landscape is and what we need to put in place. Because we are still coming out of a plantation society, we are still in a low-trust society. If people don’t trust each other can you imagine introducing AI into the space?” Walters argued Monday in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“I think we probably would have to do surveys to see what level of integration we have. We have AI, but what types? How it is used in human resource management. How do we govern that? What is the governance arrangement around HR information, how do we integrate the laws. Do we have policies in both public and private sector to look at how HR information is handled?” Walters questioned.

She said there are also legal and ethical questions to be answered.

“We have to pay attention to our laws. Our data protection law speaks to the fact that no decision can be based solely on the processing of personal data by automatic means; and that includes somebody’s performance, conduct and reliability at work. So, clearly, we have to know the basis on which we operate,” she stated.

“Ethics again is a big thing. How are you using my data? How are you collecting it? What are the laws that govern information-sharing across the world? Do the same laws that apply for me apply to someone using my data in another country?” the HRMAJ questioned further.

Earlier this month, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission Cordel Green, in an interview with the Observer, said Jamaica must, as a matter of urgency, craft legislation and create a framework to regulate the use of AI, while warning that the “mistakes” experienced with the advent of social media must not be replicated.

On Monday, Walters said “this is something we have to look at as a country to see how AI will be handled, and handled responsibly, including HR”.

She said while AI has its benefits and will assist in relieving employees of routine tasks, she cannot see it taking the place of a flesh and blood employee, much less an HR officer.

“I can see a robot doing some routine things, you might have a platform, for example, calculating leave, instead of calling somebody and asking them how much vacation leave they have; you could have a machine doing that if people are comfortable. What that would do for you is ensure that the HR person operates at a more strategic level, but we should not be aiming for machines to take over. We should be aiming for more human-centric organisations. One of the things we quarrel about is that people are taking the human out of human resource,” she said.

According to Walters, “AI shouldn’t take people out of things; the organisation should say how can AI help us to serve our customers better. Otherwise, we are going to have rebellion.”

In the meantime, she said there was no space for complacency on the part of workers.

“We have to realise that with AI we have to evolve, we have to upskill. But we also have to recognise that there are some things it cannot do, no matter what. AI doesn’t have intuition, AI can’t show care, and they can’t show certain types of creativity/flexibility and innovation. There are some things [robots] can’t manage,” Walters said.

She, in the meantime, noted that HR managers have to be prepared to unlearn and relearn and help the organisation become a learning organisation.

“In the workplace, we will have people at different levels, — the baby boomers, the Gen X, the millennial, and the Gen Z — so different generations and different levels of people being digital natives. So how do you, as the workplace, help those persons; do you throw somebody out and say AI knows all you do and if you don’t upskill we don’t want you? You are 65 years old and we are sending you away,” she said.

Walters said HRMAJ, which numbers 300 in membership, will be exploring the issue at its conference in November.

“One of the things I saw was that top performing companies spend significant time communicating with employees and educating them, so they know how the machines make their job easier but not obsolete,” she said while questioning the plans for mass education for citizens.

“Nobody is panicking yet; I think this is because different organisations are at different levels. It’s going to be a process, some people are not willing. It’s going to take some time. AI is something people have to absorb and think about and trust,” she noted.

Walters, in the meantime, emphasised that there will be a need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of automated processes to ensure that the job function is being done in alignment with the goals of the particular organisation.