AI and DEI are pillars of the modern workplace. It’s hard to ignore their collective impact on organizational goals and culture. AI (Artificial intelligence) unlocks new levels of productivity. While DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) boosts team performance by keeping employees satisfied.
Naturally, mixing AI and DEI practices can really help your company. The way they work together keeps changing, so we can see how leaders can use both AI tech and DEI efforts to get the best results.
And since AI and DEI are always works-in-progress, we’ll also look at some pitfalls to avoid.
A Brief History of AI
The earliest mentions of AI go back to the 1940s. It was a time that saw scientific interest in cybernetics technology, which unified mathematical theory, electronics, and automation. But, it was not until the 1960s that American computer scientists John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky formally founded the AI discipline in its modern form.
AI means any computer program that does tasks needing high-level thinking. It can learn, think critically, and remember things. At first, AI could do boring and repetitive jobs. This let team members concentrate on important tasks like helping customers and creating new business ideas.
As computers got better, AI became a powerful tool we use today. Now, you see AI in things like chatbots, speech recognition, virtual assistants, and natural language processing (NLP) in many big companies.
It didn’t take long for experts in organizations to see that AI could help make workplaces more diverse and inclusive. AI made it easier to use automated solutions instead of relying on people’s unintentional biases, which helped stop unfairness.
AI and DEI: Collecting and Assessing Diversity Data
Certain metrics play a key role in driving the success of your workplace DEI initiatives. An advanced AI solution helps your team compile and organize various employee information. So, you can make the most inclusive HR decisions without guesswork.
With AI-backed DEI dashboards, you can gather and save detailed info about employees, like how many stay, how much they get paid, who gets promotions, and who leaves. This data helps you see and fix any unfairness based on things like gender, age, or race.
Advanced AI solutions like Shaip help companies achieve data diversity via a systematic approach that includes:
- Gathering information from underrepresented groups (e.g., people with disabilities or from non-dominant religious groups).
- Accruing data from multiple sources, like internal HR directories, job board sites, and social media groups.
- Removing all job-irrelevant info from applications before hiring.
- Following the latest government and industry guidelines for compliance.
AI and DEI: Correcting Unconscious Bias With Data
Accurate diversity data enables you to monitor and manage unconscious bias in your company. NPR research shows that unconscious bias exists as a natural biological process for sorting through complex information so we can make snap judgments and decisions during emergencies.
Depending on our natural reactions can lead to unfairness and treating people unfairly because we often prefer those who are like us and avoid those who seem or act differently. AI uses a systematic algorithm to make things fairer and reduce unintentional biases. This algorithm usually does this by using special training models and datasets.
AI algorithms might also come with the risk of inherent bias. Your company should carefully vet AI datasets for exclusionary content within the algorithm.
For example, Amazon discovered that its recruitment software contained biases against females due to training data input based on its predominantly male workforce. Similarly, research has shown racial bias in AI-supported social media vacancy postings, where jobs with taxi companies targeted an audience that was approximately 75% Black.
Team Trust: A Catalyst for Innovation and Growth
Trust is a vital part of working together as a team. So, a team only becomes a true team when everyone can trust and support each other. Trust makes people feel safe and helps create a team spirit. It gives employees the confidence to take careful risks, move the company forward, and come up with new ideas – especially for leaders.
Google looked into what makes their teams successful and found that the ability to take risks, known as “psychological safety,” is one of the key things that sets high-performance teams apart.
Sometimes, it’s hard to make big decisions if you don’t think you’re qualified. So, even though senior leaders may seem the most experienced, thinking that managers always know best can create a barrier to being open, trusting, and collaborating. But that’s not always true. No matter how long senior leaders have been in the industry, they can make mistakes and benefit from new perspectives within their team.
Therefore, building trust in a team means getting rid of biases employees might have about their colleagues, like thinking someone is not good enough or always assuming senior employees are perfect. It works the other way around too – junior team members can bring value, no matter how long they’ve been in the industry.
Also, it’s easy to unconsciously let biases affect how we get along at work. It’s tough, but senior leaders must try to eliminate unconscious bias in the workplace. This helps create a positive work environment where everyone can do well.
Managing Workplace Performances with AI and DEI
AI’s gathering of diversity information helps your company give everyone the same chances, no matter where they come from. For example, the algorithm in an AI-powered HR system can highlight certain actions or choices that might hurt someone’s career growth.
Basically, AI helps companies look closely at how work culture operates. It can clearly show the reasons behind promotions, appraisals, and leadership choices. AI assists HR teams in finding differences in performance and behavior among people to uncover possible biases.
Improving Morale (Remotely)
Working from home can make team members feel more alone and disconnected. This can be even harder for people who aren’t as represented. Advanced AI tech can help you keep an eye on how people communicate and interact online, so you can notice and address any early signs that someone is feeling isolated or unhappy.
You can easily check communication data in a place like a data lake or warehouse for smart decision-making. These databases can use special cloud analytics that help predict and get ready for expected results.
Recognizing and Rewarding Team Members
Modern AI technology makes it possible to show recognition and reward diverse individuals for their diligence. Consistency and transparency in employee reward programs can provide a boost to workplace satisfaction while meeting DEI goals.
For instance, the Bonusly platform empowers peer-to-peer rewards and recognition through direct reports and automated birthday greetings and celebrations. Users can also tap on the platform’s analytics feature to discover the professional strengths of each team member and give them the freedom to choose their preferred rewards.
Evergreen is another highly recommended AI-supported solution that enables you to recognize an employee’s contributions and reward them with trees planted in their honor. The unique platform can help you promote your company’s DEI efforts and environmental responsibility. Plus, Evergreen integrates seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams so you can frictionlessly share accomplishments in group chats.
Driving Assistive Technology
Assistive technology (also known as adaptive technology) functions optimally with AI, providing differently abled individuals with the necessary tools to fulfill their workplace duties.
Popular AI-driven assistive technology includes automated live captions and subtitling tools for the hearing impaired, and cognitive enhancement that offer real-time assistance with problem-solving and decision-making.
Assistive technology solutions may also pair with specialized input devices for enhanced technical support. These supplementary devices may include touchscreen displays, text readers, and screen magnifiers to optimize the assistive technology experience.
Hiring and Recruitment
Your hiring and recruitment approach can heavily influence an employee’s overall work satisfaction and career experience. 96% of recruiters consider unconscious bias a problem, which could result in wrong placements and the lack of quality candidates.
The good news is that AI hiring solutions can help attract your most qualified candidates through a fair and appealing employment process.
Using words that show bias might stop some of the best candidates in groups that aren’t well represented from applying for a job. This could make it harder to find the right people for the job.
Ongig’s AI-powered Text Analyzer software provides a comprehensive report of the biases found in your JDs and suggests inclusive replacements. Through AI-powered solutions like Text Analyzer, you can consistently post effective JDs, keeping biases at bay while broadening your talent pool.
AI and DEI Into The Future
More people working from home or in a mix of home and office means we need to think more about how AI and DEI work together. Employers and recruiters should use AI tools that are easy to use and made for different kinds of people to keep everyone interested.
While AI is useful, it can’t replace the need to address human bias. It should help, not take over. Biases might still be there even with advanced AI. So, leaders and team members must keep workplaces healthy by communicating regularly, respectfully, and openly.
As AI and DEI practices grow together, your organization will have more tools to make a culture where everyone feels included. Eventually, all team members will have the same chances to move forward, learn, and succeed in their careers, no matter where they come from.
Why I Wrote This
Ongig builds and develops advanced AI for optimizing recruitment and hiring practices. We achieve this through Text Analyzer’s specialized algorithm that identifies and replaces biased or boring text in job descriptions. Our team believes that raising awareness about the vital relationship between tech and people helps leaders make winning decisions with precision and confidence.
Shout-Outs:
- The Council of Europe – History of Artificial Intelligence
- Rachel Kolb, The Atlantic – Life Is About to Come With Subtitles
- Shaip – Diverse AI Training Data for Inclusivity and Eliminating Bias
- NPR – Understanding Unconcious Bias
- Kathy Baxter, InfoWorld – What is AI bias mitigation, and how can it improve AI fairness?
- Miranda Bogen, Harvard Business Review – All the Ways Hiring Algorithms Can Introduce Bias
- Claudio Buttice, Techopedia – How Technology Is Helping Companies Achieve Their DEI Goals in 2022
- Cengiz Acarturk and Baris Mucen, Springer Link – Performance in the Workplace: a Critical Evaluation of Cognitive Enhancement
- Jeffrey Dasdin, Reuters – Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women
- Agency Central – 96% of recruiters think unconscious bias is a problem, but can it be avoided?
- Troy R Weekes and Thomas C. Eskridge, SpringerLink – Responsible Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence for the Cognitive Enhancement of Knowledge Workers
- Wendy Gonzalez, Forbes – Three Ways AI Is Improving Assistive Technology
