[GALA Valencia 2024] Rage Against the Machine or: AI – Stay Away from People Management

Sometimes it feels like arrival of ChatGPT, and other generative AI has hit us like a sledgehammer. It seems to bring with it changes which even in our already fast paced world we can hardly keep up with. It is also seen as a quick fix to just about anything in our personal and professional lives. Do a bit of research in the areas of talent management and recruiting and you will find just about anything from “The best ChatGPT hacks for landing your dream job” to “Using ChatGPT for coaching and mentoring your employees” – wait, what? Using AI to coach and mentor? Whilst personally I am not looking forward to reading numerous applications “written” by genAI there is no doubt a lot of temptation to explore ways of making recruiting and people management processes more efficient. However, generative AI is highly problematic in areas where we have worked so hard and are finally starting to see change: encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion in language and in the workplace, increased diversity in specializations such as STEM subjects, in minorities being represented in what were previously seen as non-inclusive domains, …

GenAI is notoriously biased, perpetuating harmful stereotypes that we thought we have been overcoming one step at a time. Using AI when assessing CVs for instance currently means you will lose out on female or diverse candidates, as algorithms tend to select applications from males. This talk will encourage attendees not to ride the AI wave when it comes to talent management: from boldly offline initiatives to finding new and diverse talent and encouraging diversity in the workplace, to emphasizing the human aspect of leadership, we will look at strategies we can implement to counteract the biased sledgehammer that is genAI.

Let’s have the confidence and imagination to turn “the machine” into something that does not make us go back to times many of us agree are not worth reliving, but instead explore the road less travelled – even if sometimes it is a digital pathway after all.

Host organization: Globalization and Localization Association