Dear Human Resources

A warm welcome to our new regular columnist, Aidan Stoate, CEO New Zealand at Inspire Group, who shares his heartfelt insights into leading people.

The system goes online on August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defence. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 am Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. Skynet fights back. It launches its missiles against the targets in Russia because Skynet knows that the Russian counterattack will eliminate its enemies over here.

(Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

Thankfully, this bleak prophecy from the infamous 90s action movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day did not materialise. Although 1997 was not without major incident, nothing happened that would be comparable to an apocalyptic nuclear conflict resulting from humankind’s failure to control the exponential growth of artificial intelligence.

But why does the prospect of this technological advancement catalyse so much fear?

Perhaps the clue to unpacking this is inherent in the definition of our area of expertise: HUMAN resources. Humans, despite our significant complexities, fallibilities and idiosyncrasies, are more of a known quantity for most of usthan the concept of a pervasive technological entity that might manipulate us towards our eventual extinction (unless we find an equally adept Terminator to help us avoid this fate).

In the world of human resources, we typically encourage and celebrate the potential of learning, yet when we shift that context to AI, there would appear to be a collective apprehension about how this will detrimentally affect our workforces. This fear tempers the excitement about the proposed benefits and opportunities associated with this technological innovation. Perhaps also, despite the unsteady truce that most of us have with technology (great when it works, nightmare when it doesn’t), the fear stems from what we don’t yet know about AI and its potential. While other forms of technology have been relatively well established (and evolving) in most organisations for decades, they’ve rarely been perceived as such an existential threat to our livelihoods as under the current context of artificial intelligence.

Many of the organisations and people we engage with are naturally nervous about the prospect of AI replacing them. Not because of what it can do now but because of what it may be able to do as it continues to learn at a ‘geometric rate’.

We can’t fully eliminate this prospect – or the fear that it inspires – but we can support people through a process of change and uncertainty by focusing on what we’re best at: the human element. Any form of organisational (or technology) change will only be successful when HR and the structures that support them are focused on how to enable people to navigate a transition. The old rule still applies here: lead with empathy, care and compassion. Coach and mentor. Emotionally intuit the needs of your people and assess how and where they need your support. Building these capabilities in others. These are all things that AI cannot (yet) do anywhere nearly as effectively as we can.

Anyway, “I’ll be back” next quarter with more thoughts about how HR can help us in our battle against the machines or –more optimistically – how we can work together with them to make our organisations (and the world in general) a better place!

**This article was written the old-fashioned way, without the use of Open AI. Thoughts and opinions are, therefore, entirely my own, for better or worse!**

Aidan Stoate is the New Zealand CEO of Inspire Group, an awardwinning learning design consultancy that delivers world-class solutions to organisations globally. Aidan has a passion for helping organisations improve their culture and performance through innovative learning and development interventions. As an ICF accredited organisational coach, Aidan provides subject-matter expertise for the design and delivery of leadership programmes, while leading the Inspire Group New Zealand business across all projects and disciplines. Having led organisations and teams in the United Kingdom, South-East Asia, North America and Australasia, Aidan brings a nuanced perspective while promoting inclusive, engaging and contextualised solutions that drive genuine behaviour change and strategic benefits.