There is considerable tension between these two truths – There are many things to love about the potential of artificial intelligence. There are many things to loath about the potential of artificial intelligence. AI seems to be invading all parts of life. But it is important to remember that that is the one thing it cannot do…life. And this is precisely why having an optimized people development system can help relieve some of the tension caused by arguably one of the most amazing inflection points in recent history.
Stuff happens.
Life is filled with complexity, nuances, and a wide variety of unexpectedness. It is where emotions, traditions, ambitions, and a plethora of other variables blend with tasks, necessities, and expectations, and they all must somehow be managed.
At work, the systems we use to manage all of these include the people development system. Undoubtedly, AI will impact the PDS. In fact, it can improve all five functional areas – recruiting, onboarding, retention, performance management, and training. But for all its process, operations, and analytical capabilities, there are crucial functions it simply cannot do. Functions that require human finesse or just plain humanness. For example:
AI can’t capture and account for all the mental models of all system stakeholders, factoring them into decisions and plans. It can’t gauge the level of commitment by individuals to the PDS’s well-being. An AI entity can’t judge the exact time that stakeholders should perform certain system functions:
- Recognizing an unexpected opportunity to have a retention conversation with an employee.
- When and how to do opportunistic training that takes advantage of a teaching moment.
- It can schedule performance management activities, but it can’t sense the effectiveness through behavioral observations.
- It can help design a robust onboarding process. In the onboarding experience, it can’t communicate the level of excitement, pride, and commitment to quality that’s part of the organization’s DNA.
- It can certainly improve recruiting and screening. It can’t sell the company or evaluate the insights gained from person-to-person interactions that come into these initial conversations.
Can AI see the potential in someone as they go about their work? Can it observe the pep in their step, the tone in their voice, or their whistling while they work? Can it sense their attention to detail or the care they express for their team members in a shared moment at lunch? Can AI detect the level of influence of a person with a servant’s heart as they interact with the team? Can AI “read the room”- see the expressions on the faces of people in the moment and discern a next step? That is intuitive. That is still a human quality.
In real time.
The PDS is dynamic and influenced by perceptions, being both pro-active and reactive to different signals and situations. Many of its behaviors require in-the-moment recognition and decision making for the system to perform optimally. This means the humans involved with the system must learn to recognize these nuances by relying on their own humanness. In some cases, maybe many cases, this could require some retraining.
They must learn to think about how the PDS is behaving alongside how individuals are behaving. Systems thinking leaders will be able to connect the dots between these two and use those connections to serve both. Being able to identify intangible forces like mood, tensions, and influential energies can help in managing these varying behaviors.
The humans in the system will need to understand context. What is happening in the moment and why? What might be influencing how people are reacting? What is coming that will change things? What are the best decisions based on these contextual factors?
Optimize for people!
Will AI create more engagement? Maybe. Will it strengthen relationships? Perhaps. Will it recognize subtle changes in the system or among the people, or connect two seemingly disparate situations that are not so disparate? Probably not. However, as AI continues to advance, there is a need to look at how it will impact key systems within the organization beyond the obvious.
Whether you love it or you loath it, artificial intelligence is here to stay. In the case of this people-centered system, within each of the five areas that comprise the PDS, AI can help. But it shouldn’t fundamentally change the focus of the system – it is for and about people. This presents an opportunity for stakeholders to emphasize their place as important constituents, forces for optimization, within the PDS. Those elements that understand how life works and that use this unique knowledge and skill set to make the system work better for all.
Image by amyelizabethquinn from Pixabay
The Optimized People Development System 
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