What Public Sector HR Professionals Need To Know About Generative AI

ChatCPT burst onto the AI scene in 2022, instantly changing how we gather information on the internet. It wasn’t long before Microsoft launched Bing Chat and Google followed with Bard. AI-generative models are rapidly changing how we work, and HR professionals are finding new ways of using artificial intelligence in human resources.

While AI tools offer tremendous benefits to HR professionals in the public sector, we also need to be mindful of certain risks associated with them. These tools can help you execute HR tasks more efficiently, but there are some drawbacks to be aware of.

What HR Tasks Can the Latest AI Tools Support?

Artificial intelligence in human resources is not new. Resume scanning, gamified training courses and chatbots are already used in HR. But what HR tasks can the latest generative AI technology help you do?

1. Create Job Descriptions

Using AI in the hiring process can help speed up recruitment. One of the HR tasks that AI can do for you is to draft job descriptions that are more informative in less time than it would take writing it from scratch More targeted job descriptions could attract candidates that are better suited to roles.

Another way AI can make the recruitment process more dynamic is to generate more critical interview questions. This can help you find higher-quality candidates.

2. Draft Better Communication

Internal communication is an important aspect of HR but not all HR professionals are prolific wordsmiths. That’s where language-generative tools can help. They can help you construct HR announcements, write emails and create content on an intranet or knowledge base.

3. Perform HR Research

HR departments need to be on top of data such as salary scales, public sector HR statistics and employee trends. AI generative search engines can pull information from various sources quickly, minimizing the time you’d normally spend scanning numerous websites. The information you find can help you spot negative trends in the sector that need addressing to improve workplace culture.

4. Develop Training Content

Developing training content can be time-consuming. Imagine how much faster you could compile training manuals using generative AI technology. It can also help with the onboarding of employees by creating welcome messages and employee induction packs.

5. Create Employee Surveys

Employee engagement is often directly related to workplace culture. The more positive employees’ feelings are towards their job, co-workers, manager and the organization, the more engaged they’ll likely be.

But how will you know how they feel if you don’t ask them? Generative AI tools can help you create employee surveys to gauge employee satisfaction levels and test employee sentiment on transformational changes the organization is considering introducing. The feedback can also help you identify areas of concern, such as early signs of toxic work culture, so your organization can quickly address them.

What Are the Risks of Human Resources Using AI?

AI-generative tools can make you more productive by reducing the time you spent creating HR documents and communication. This will free up time to focus on more strategic work. However, you need to be mindful of the limitations and potential risks of using AI in HR. Here are a few pitfalls to be aware of:

Providing inaccurate information: Artificial intelligence software is becoming smarter, but it’s not perfect. There is the risk of generative AI systems returning incorrect information. Always check that information is relevant, from a credible source and not outdated.
Perpetuating negative biases: Artificial intelligence is only as good as the historical data it references. It can’t distinguish between negatively or positively biased information, such as racial or gender biases. For example, an AI-generated job description may be gender-biased if the job role was previously dominated by men.
Taking the wrong tone with sensitive communication: Public sector organizations need to be careful how they communicate employee reductions, terminations or organizational restructuring. AI-generative language could take the "human" out of human resources and come across as cold or indifferent. Rewrite the communication to soften the tone if necessary.
Infringing on data privacy laws: Some sources referenced by AI tools may contain data privacy laws. If you infringe upon these laws, you could serious consequences. In addition, some states are starting to regulate the use of AI in recruitment and employment. California, New York, Illinois and Maryland have already introduced laws around AI-assisted employment processes, and more states are sure to follow.

Key Takeaways

While artificial intelligence is an excellent supporting tool in HR processes, it doesn’t replace human intelligence. AI-generated content is often generalized and subject to inaccuracies or irrelevant information. Always double-check information, edit the communication if necessary and make sure you’re not breaking any data privacy or state laws.