CENTER FOR DATA INNOVATION 1
Principles to Promote Responsible
Use of AI for Workforce Decisions
By Hodan Omaar | August 9, 2021
As the global pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of the
economy, including by forcing many businesses to move to remote work,
more employers are accelerating their use of artificial intelligence (AI) to
support decision-making about the workforce.
AI-enabled tools can support workforce decisions by helping businesses
manage their existing employees, as well as recruit and hire new ones.
They can boost productivity among employers, such as by reducing the
time needed to hire new employees, increasing retention rates, and
improving communications and team dynamics among workers. In
addition, these tools may help employers reduce human biases when
hiring, decide on compensation, and make other employment-related
decisions.
To successfully deploy AI for workforce decisions, employers will need to
address potential concerns. These include ensuring that the increased use
of AI does not exacerbate existing biases and inequalities, metrics AI tools
produce are fair and accurate, increased monitoring of employees is not
unduly invasive, and processing of biometric does not reveal sensitive
personal information about employees that they may wish to keep private,
such as information about their emotions, health, or disabilities.
To address these concerns, several policymakers and advocacy groups
have called for new public policies that apply the “precautionary principle”
to AI, which says that government should limit the use of new technology
until it is proven safe. In short, they favor restricting the use of AI because
they believe it is better to be safe than sorry.
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But these policies do more
harm than good because they make it more expensive to develop AI, limit
the testing and use of AI, and even ban some applications, thereby
reducing productivity, competitiveness, and innovation.
Given the
transformative potential
of AI for workforce
decisions, policy
should tilt toward
enabling transformation
with this technology.
