Companies quickly adopted AI, in the hope of increasing productivity and reducing their costs by eliminating part of their workforce.
This is why, two years ago, IBM reduced 8,000 human resources jobs and replaced their routine tasks with its Askhr system. The KLARNA financial technology company also dismissed 700 experts in customer service, hoping that AI tools would do the job.
Nevertheless, a few years later, Klarna CEO Sebastian, Siemiatkowski, admitted that AI agents without human support were not the “good adjustment” for his business. Empathy, smiles, innovation and critical thinking – brought by real employees – are always necessary. Klarna had to rehthe humans. And it is not the only group to rediscover the virtues of human touch.
A recent survey of 1,163 leaders in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, published by the provider of efficiency planning software, Orgvue, revealed that 39% of these leaders thought that the deployment of AI would make a large number of obsolete employees. However, 55% of these same leaders regretted dismissing people.
“Businesses learn the hard time that people’s replacement by AI without fully understanding the impact on their workforce can go wrong,” notes Oliver Shaw, CEO of Orgvue. With Askhr, IBM has automated repetitive tasks, but has introduced delays in problem solving, ethical dilemmas and the low morale that prompted the company to fattening other branches of the group, such as engineering, strategy or customer engagement, to humanize Big Blue.
McDonald’s also had to go back its automation thrust. The rapid giant has tested AI orders in 100 American restaurants. Internet users always make fun of videos on Tiktok showing customer misadventures. A young woman asked for caramel ice on several occasions, but the machine continued to add stacks of butter to her order. Another customer had hundreds of dollars of chicken chips added to his order. Last year, McDonald’s admitted defeat and withdrew automated orders. However, the company was still playing with AI. McDonald’s recently passed from traditional hiring to Olivia, an AI job system. The hackers were intrigued and quickly found the personal data of millions of candidates. It is not so easy to eliminate the human touch.