The Irish technology company Workhuman built a business worth $ 1.2 billion, based, as its president Eric Mosley says, on “the basic human need to be appreciated and at the same time the need to express gratitude.”
The platform used to appreciate, where employees post praise for the work of others and can recommend relevant prizes, she received an update using AI last month. By clicking the pen icon, users can ask a virtual assistant for “training” to give a larger depth.
The tool called “Human Intelligence” (human intelligence) is one of many platforms to reward and appreciate employees with the help of artificial intelligence. It can improve the syntax of expression, capture inadequate formulations and analyze the data resulting from the emotional reactions of colleagues.
Workhuman admits that the personal nature of the message is crucial. The “Financial Times” cites the words of Adam Basilio, director of the product strategy, who said: “We do not want artificial intelligence to write these words of appreciation. Recipients should feel emotions, receiving such a message.
Artificial appreciation more and more in fashion
Other companies also introduce more and more advanced software. This year, the Benefit Platform Benifex announced that AI can personalize benefits and improve HR processes. In turn, Bonusly – an enterprise offering prizes for praise from colleagues – indicates that “skills focused on man, such as cooperation and communication”, become a “new competitive advantage” in a world where AI takes over routine tasks.
Workhuman users – including BP, Cisco and LinkedIn employees – can exchange praise for vouchers, gadgets or other awards. The new element of AI makes these activities more accurate, suggesting the appropriate level of prize under company budgets.
The benefit of managers are the collective data provided by AI – from identifying mentors with appropriate competences to indicate employees to stop in the company.
Kerry Dryburgh, Vice President for People and Culture at the BP Energy concern, says that Workhuman software was a “turning point” in enabling “continuous feedback”, which is why he plans to switch to the AI powered version.
“What really breaks the skepticism of managers is the data that begins to see,” says the president of Workhuman Eric Mosley. Thanks to Human Intelligence, they can talk to “the world's first language model created especially for recognizing and appreciating” about how to best use the conclusions of feedback.
The “Financial Times” also quotes Bruce Daisley, a consultant for work culture and former director of Twitter, for whom AI improvements intensify the existing risks associated with software for recognizing merits. “These tools of gratitude undoubtedly have advantages. It is worth looking for ways to show more kindness, respect, recognition. But We do not want to receive humanity with gestures flowing from the heart, and this is a threat“.
Feedback from the machine. And wants to be as effective as a man
Ai can be surprisingly empathic. In a study conducted by Harvard Business School published in March, scientists looked at how the teams used AI in cooperation. They discovered that people assisted by AI felt “positive emotional reactions” at a level equal or higher than teams without AI and came to the conclusion that technology could “partly play a social and motivational role, which is usually offered by human team members.”
Workhuman uses its own language model, trained on millions of employees from employees based on open AI models. This means that – as Mosley claims – AI provides “surprisingly accurate” information for managers. And “the more data, the higher the IQ of this AI.”
Perhaps it will protect us from the template HR jargon, although unfortunately did not stop the virtual assistant from being a patronizing. Standard phrases include “You do it great, I'm really impressed” or “It will really move everyone who sees it, good job!”
But whether the tool will bring a smile or embarrassment depends on who and how it uses it. As Daisley notes: “In some organizations it will be incredibly helpful, and in others, unfortunately, it will become another element of bureaucracy for show.”
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