Would You Replace Your Human Boss with an AI One?
The employment of an AI boss is becoming a reality, affecting workers in various ways. Let’s go back in time to 1956 when the term “artificial intelligence” was coined. The term was used to describe machine intelligence. Over time, AI’s use began to advance and dig deep into our lives, so much so that it now has the potential to become your boss.
Human and AI Boss in Action
Hannu Rauma, who was managing 83 employees at the Student Marketing Agency in Vancouver, Canada, couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed. His stress stemmed from regular conflicts within his teams, which affected his enthusiasm for bringing new clients on board.
Last November marked a turning point when the agency began using an AI manager developed by Inspira, a United States-based organization. This AI helps remote, flexible-hour employees manage their schedules, plan workloads, and track time. It reminds people about certain tasks, checks how much time someone is spending on official duties, suggests text improvements, answers inquiries about tasks, and informs everyone how well they are doing on a unified portal.
Rauma experienced a noticeable decline in his stress levels and enhanced productivity among employees. “I can now focus on the company’s growth and positive aspects,” he says. It also helped him develop better professional relationships with his staff, which are now less tense.
Not every employee at the agency has had the chance to use the AI manager yet. Rauma and 26 employees participated in a study by Inspira and several universities to compare the AI manager’s performance with that of human managers. The study divided participants into three groups: one managed by a human, one by the AI, and one by both.
The AI boss performed as well as the human boss in motivating employees to plan their workdays and log in on time. However, when the AI and human bosses worked together on a specific task, the rate of success for both increased.
At the End of the Day
One cannot live without human interaction and intervention, especially at work. An employee needs to joke, vent, have someone explain tasks, and many other things to keep their day going.
Imagine arriving at work five minutes late and have your AI boss give you a warning. Would you take it seriously? I wouldn’t, that’s for sure. I would rather see the facial expressions of my boss when I make a mistake or when I do something great.
These little interactions are necessary to keep an employee productive, and if the use of AI is a must, then AI should always be an aid and not in power of us.
If my boss is reading this, I just want to say that no AI can ever replace you.
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