The Human Resources Department in most companies today looks a lot less human. Many of the tasks that past HR workers were filling their time with have become physically obsolete. For a business of any size, the average frontline worker:

• applies for jobs online
• clocks their hours with a digital machine, and
• views their work schedule in an app.

And that’s only outgoing information from the department. KPMG International, a firm that creates reports on corporate operations, found only 5 out of 21 roles in HR that couldn’t be automated. Employee relations and business strategies aren’t formulaic enough for a robot, but the AI systems that run your work payroll get smarter every day. If your current work doesn’t involve their virtual assistance, you could find yourself working with an automated system soon. Let’s get to know:

• the strengths of AI,
• the flaws of AI, and
• the harmony a healthy AI relationship brings.

The combination of decision-making and information output in AI makes interaction with it feel like a cyborg: software with a little bit of a brain. Benefitting from an automated HR system takes understanding it with a human sensibility.

You’ll Love AI’s Focus

You can’t schedule an interview to get to know it, but the strengths of AI technology are best understood like a person: they love to work on repetitive, data-related tasks. Where a human would fight boredom sifting through an Excel spreadsheet, AI creates their own and can systematically deliver information and trends from them at lightning speed. The efficiency with data, especially repetitive data, makes AI attractive for an HR system. Other kinds of general tasks like vendor ordering, application processes, and onboarding stay organized with technology in charge.

You can even automate the collection of HR information through digital forms. Eliminating these tasks from the workload will make human tasks more managerial, focusing on making employees feel connected and planning new directions.

You Won’t Like When AI Breaks

Even with all the advances in technology, computer models are still far from perfect, especially when it comes to the human concept of justice. After several years of attempting to craft the ideal resume scanner, Amazon’s specialists abandoned the project. The effort was hopeless; somehow, the system had associated masculine vocabulary choices with excellence, leading it to begin blacklisting female applications altogether.

Flaws in automation will continue to appear, no matter how much the systems improve. The nuances of our everyday lives often create challenges for the direct data approach of AI. Not to say that the technology is useless; like any other coworker, it takes a little time in the office before producing the right kind of results for the department.

Harmony with a Machine

Co-working with AI brings benefits to an HR department but also a new source. How do you keep your workday from becoming long hours frustrated at a computer screen?

The first step is to embrace your complexity as a human. Think about the decisions you make throughout your workflow.

• What decisions are nuanced or based on human interaction (hiring, business strategies)?
• How much yes/no data do you collect (attendance, on-boarding)?
• How much numerical data do you document (time-clock, payroll, analytics)?

Give your automation tasks that play to its strengths: numerical and binary (yes/no) data input. Not only will your task load lighten, but you’ll be putting the AI in its state of flow, bringing better collaboration along with it. Working in harmony with technology may seem unattainable to you, but a healthy level of cooperation and smart delegation with automated systems can make your workday simpler and stronger.