Whether we view Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a friend or a foe, its increasing dominance in many aspects of our lives means that ignoring its existence is no longer an option.
AI has been quietly supporting our lives for some time, with tools such as Google Maps and real-time traffic suggestions, or social media tools being widely accepted and viewed as helpful supports.
AI’s increased usage and uptake has its own parallel sense of unease for many, with others describing distress, anxiety or fear about the impacts AI may have.
How do NZ workers feel about AI?
Aotearoa New Zealand may be at best a fast follower in the area of AI, yet it’s impact on our wellbeing and our workplaces is being felt.
We’ve been hearing about this in several areas, including:
- Threat to our work status, our competence, our professional identity
- Threat to our job, such as ‘Will my role be needed anymore?’
- Concerns around poorly-informed yet powerful AI agents having disproportionate influence, leading to undesirable and unpredictable outcomes
- Concerns about ‘Big Brother’, the invasion of privacy, identity theft, cybersecurity – or worse, use of deepfakes to misrepresent people
- Fears surrounding loss of human dignity, creativity, endeavour, scholarship, achievement and potentially the impact on our humanity.
These concerns are alive and well in our workplaces and we would do well to acknowledge and name that they exist.
How can managers respond to AI fears at work?
None of us can know just how AI will shape us, but what we do know is that the more we can support our people to have conversations about these fears, to normalise responses, and to be open about how workplaces are using AI, the better off we are.
AI experts advise us to view AI as a capability to harness and take charge of, and our iwi friends remind us that Artificial Intelligence is no match for Ancestral Intelligence. Both views empower us to lead with humanity.
For managers, this means creating opportunities to open safe, non-judgemental conversations about how AI is being used the workplace and the associated positive and negative impacts that this has for both work and staff. Encouraging curiosity, supporting learning and reinforcing the unique value that people bring can help reduce uncertainty and build confidence during times of change.
Our team at Vitae is also ready to support people where this is needed.