Welcome to the 3rd quarter, 2021 issue of Workforce Solutions Review. For the last two years, it has been unavoidable not to have content focusing on managing the workforce through the pandemic. The theme of this issue is Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics. We are looking ahead to an uncertain future with tools at our disposal that are exponentially increasing in power, and have the ability to help or hinder us in profound ways.
There’s a lot of debate over what exactly is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and what isn’t. Sergio Mastrogiovanni leads off with ‘AI 101 – A Primer in Artificial Intelligence,’ which gives us a working knowledge of the state of the art, and provides definitions that are useful for the remaining articles.
Extended Reality (XR) is a combination of Virtual and Augmented Reality. We’ve seen it used for gamification, but it’s applications in HR for training can be very powerful. Pamela Jaber expands our reality with the possibilities XR offers.
John Sumser has written many thought-provoking pieces on AI. In ‘Pinning Jello to a Wall – Regulating AI,’ Sumser and Heather Bussing delineate the need and difficulty in regulating a technology that’s morphing way faster than the laws can keep pace. But consider the consequences of keeping it unregulated!
Talenguard’s Frank Ginac takes on the subject of algorithmic ‘The Impossible Goal: Bias-Free AI,’ and also de-bunks some claims vendors make. Bob Greene and Monica Lloyd describe an AI product that provides insights into performance management that would elude the casual observer. This highlights that AI has a bright future evaluating performance as well as accomplishing tasks.
In ‘The Art and Science of Predictive Analytics in HR,’ Helen Friedman, Anna Marley and Wendy Hirsch show that building predictive models is not only a technical task; judgement also plays a critical role. For organizations, one size definitely does not fit all. Jeff Higgins explores how analytics can be used to further DEI initiatives.
WSR does not often publish Op-Ed pieces, but after evaluating the conditions and likely outcomes, ‘AI is Leading Humanity Toward Dystopia’ was the result. Although a cautionary point of view, the article does point out that unwanted outcomes are not a fait accompli. Katherine Jones penned ‘While you were working at home Enter AI,’ showing the creeping influence of AI in our lives to round out the issue.
We hope you find this issue informative and thought-provoking. Remember: the future is what we make it.
