CAMBRIDGE, Mass., August 20, 2024 – From ChatGPT to advanced
industrial design AI tools, companies in every industry are turning
to generative AI to cut costs and increase productivity. But in the
rush to become early adopters, they often leave workers out of the
conversation — a dangerous oversight for both workers and the
organization’s bottom line.
Drawing on interviews with AI developers, business leaders,
labor leaders, and policymakers, a new report spearheaded by
the MIT Sloan School of Management offers organizations a roadmap
to integrate worker voice to maximize generative AI’s benefits.
"Technologies do not develop deterministically; they are the
product of the organizations and people that use them,”
said Thomas Kochan, the George Maverick Bunker Professor of
Management, Emeritus at MIT Sloan. “Research demonstrates that when
employees are involved in the development and implementation of new
technological tools, it can lead to more effective tools, improved
job quality, and increased productivity.”
Kochan’s co-authors are Ben Armstrong who co-leads MIT’s
Work of the Future initiative; Julie Shah, the H.N. Slater
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT who leads the
Interactive Robotics Group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); Emilio J. Castilla, the NTU
Professor of Management and professor of Work and Organization
Studies at MIT Sloan; Ben Likis, MIT Sloan MBA ‘24; and Martha
Mangelsdorf, director of strategic communications at MIT’s
Institute for Work and Employment Research.
Old work problems meet new technology
The report reveals a troubling trend: many AI initiatives
prioritize replacing — not augmenting — workers. The
researchers further found intense competition between departments
often discourages developers from incorporating worker feedback,
and many organizational leaders use a top-down approach to choose
where and how to use AI. The result? Workers are left feeling
alienated and unheard.
“This is where old workplace problems meet new technology,
a finding that fits within a broader historical pattern in which
investors typically reap the financial rewards when new
technologies enter the workplace, often at the expense of workers,”
said Kochan.
The researchers point out that organizations benefit from
technological tools and uniquely human skills and knowledge.
To maximize both, they noted the benefits of incorporating a
“bottom-up” approach to AI design and implementation that
integrates worker voice from the start. For example, workers can
help firms identify tasks where generative AI can be used
effectively.
“However, there’s a delicate balance,” Armstrong said. “A
bottom-up, worker-driven approach to deploying the technology might
emphasize narrow use cases, whereas managers are looking for bigger
applications than workers on the front line can readily
identify.”
In their report, Kochan, Armstrong, and their coauthors make the
case that companies don’t have to choose between an exclusively
top-down or bottom-up approach to generative AI development and
deployment. “The bottom-up and top-down approaches are not mutually
exclusive but can be two complementary aspects of identifying the
most promising ways of using generative AI,” they write.
Consider these five steps:
Co-create AI tools with business leadership and
employees.
The report recommends tapping into the expertise of those who
will be using the technology. By involving employees in the design
and testing phases, the result is more effective tools and insights
into daily business operation.
Example: A large retailer enlisted store
workers to help design a generative AI chatbot that assists retail
associates. In the rollout process, the questions associates asked
the bot offered valuable insights for both the tech team and store
managers.
Target AI solutions to employee pain points.
Identify the tasks that frustrate employees and leverage AI to
alleviate those burdens. Kochan and Armstrong noted that this can
result in increased efficiency, boosted morale, and freeing up
employees to focus their efforts where they made the biggest
impact.
Example: Summarizing patient visit notes is a
headache for busy physicians — so one large healthcare organization
is pairing doctors with technology vendors to develop AI-based
systems and aids to simplify the process.
Use AI to unlock career advancement
opportunities.
Companies can transform roles by looking for opportunities to
replace mundane tasks with higher-value activities that can help
employees move up the ladder.
Example: A technology company deployed an
AI chatbot to handle routine HR questions and tasks, freeing up HR
associates to move into more technical and better-paying roles.
Reward employee contributions to AI innovation.
Workers may worry that by helping train AI tools, they’ll
eliminate their own jobs — business leadership must make it clear
this isn’t the case with communication and incentives for
contributing to solution design and development.
Example: One training company runs
crowdsources AI innovation that includes challenges with cash
bonuses for employees who offer the best ideas.
Address workers’ concerns head-on.
Concerns about job loss are real and valid, and corporate
transparency is key to building trust. Regularly scheduled
open dialogues with employees about the potential impact of AI on
jobs encourages feedback and questions. In unionized workplaces,
union leadership can play a role to help structure fair
negotiations, and, when necessary, to create transition plans for
affected employees.
Example: When the writers’ and actors’
strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill in 2023, concerns about
AI were a major sticking point. Ultimately, the writers’ and
actors’ guilds negotiated a deal with major entertainment companies
that placed guardrails around the use of AI, protecting livelihoods
as well as studios’ intellectual property.
“The rise of generative AI is a real opportunity, but making the
most of it will demand a new approach to decision-making, as well
as a new focus on worker training, fair transitions, and effective
policy,” said Kochan. “We need to involve as many stakeholders as
possible to ensure no one is left behind.”
- Old Workplace Problems Meet New Technology
Casey Bayer
MIT Sloan School of Management
914.584.9095
bayerc@mit.edu
Patricia Favreau
MIT Sloan School of Management
617-595-8533
pfavreau@mit.edu