HR Software Classifies AI Workers as Human Employees

 

Lattice, an HR database company, treat "AI workers" like humans because we're already just numbers. 

 

It can be said that there's been a lot of rash hype-man linguistic marketing silliness pumped out around AI tools and AI-generated content. But I can't imagine anyone was expecting – let alone actually asking for – someone to come out and say "What if we subjected 'Digital Workers' to the exact same bureaucratic protocols and employee review systems that we use for normal human workers?" 

 

But that's exactly what Lattice, a company that produce HR platforms, have done.

 

CEO Sarah Franklin (right) on July 09, 2024 announced that Lattice are making AI history. They're the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice. Digital workers will be securely onboarded, trained, and assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access, and even a manager. Just as any person would be. 

 

She explains the need to employ AI as responsibly as any company employ people, and to empower everyone to thrive working together.

 

Admins will be able to customize profile fields for digital workers, just like any other employee type.

 

Of course, the use of AI tools in the workplace should absolutely require human oversight at all times. 

 

On the other hand: tools are not workers – and you're also giving up the game by falsely equating the two. 

 

Is this an effort to humanize AI, or is it effort to de-humanize your employees? Why not both!

 

As Edward Zitron who wrote an opinion piece "Put Up Or Shut Up" published July 16 so succinctly put it: When you use ChatGPT or any of the other generative AI bots that Franklin listed, you're not using…them, you're accessing a tool that generates stuff. Why would you add ChatGPT to your org chart? What does that give you? What does it mean to be ChatGPT's manager, or ChatGPT's direct report, or for ChatGPT to be considered an "employee"? 

 

This would be like adding Salesforce, or Gmail, or Asana as an employee, because these are tools that, uh, do stuff in the organization. Does this also mean that ChatGPT can get paid? And if so, can it opt into healthcare coverage, or join a union? 

 

Zitron has a point there. The whole thing seems nonsensical to me. But I'm sure some CEO out there is going to eat it up all the same.