Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized many jobs, taking on tedious or repetitive tasks to make people more efficient. However, it presents ethical problems in many fields. Here are some reasons you should — or shouldn’t — use AI at work.
Use AI to Boost Productivity
Whether you’re a full-time writer or just send a few emails here and there, AI can probably make your job easier. While AI-generated articles often need extensive editing and don’t quite sound natural, AI shines at generating outlines, templates and lists of ideas. Use it to write basic emails — especially those which require minor tweaks — or create possible titles for subheadings.
AI can help with other repetitive jobs, including forecasting demand and sales, acting as a customer service representative and grading homework. It can free your schedule to let you work on things that matter more to you.
Watch Out for Bias
You might already use AI to screen potential candidates or pore through resumes if you are a recruiter. HireVue, a tool that analyzes and scores video interviews, experienced a 46% surge in use in 2021 compared to 2020. Undoubtedly, this kind of software makes your job easier, especially if you have to sort through thousands of applications. However, always remember that AI contains bias.
Software engineers that train AI algorithms feed them millions of images and phrases that might be biased. For example, if you search the word “man” in English on Google, most of the top results show men with beards. Although this result isn’t inherently harmful, it does illustrate that AI often has a narrow view of the world.
Algorithms can even influence their own data. More people click on photos on the front page of a search engine, creating a positive feedback loop where the AI algorithm recommends them even more. People can also deliberately manipulate data training sets.
These issues can present serious ethical problems in the hiring process. In 2018, Amazon had to stop using a recruiting tool that automatically penalized applications containing the word “women’s.” Whether it was programmed to do that was a moot point — the software was dismissing people who attended women’s universities or majored in women’s studies, preventing them from getting an interview.
Other people report AI software rejecting them for having traditionally Black or foreign-sounding names. A 2016 study found that GloVe, a word-mapping AI, was less likely to offer job interviews to candidates with names like Jamal, Kareem or Aisha than those with European-American names.
Therefore, be wary about relying on AI to do the bulk of your job as a recruiter. You should have the final say in whether to hire someone.
Double-Check Information
AI is notorious for generating false information, even going so far as to invent sources to back up its erroneous claims. If you use AI at work, always double-check the sentences it writes on a search engine. Most of them will probably be true, but some won’t.
In 2023, a lawyer used ChatGPT to cite six nonexistent court cases during a personal injury suit. When other attorneys pointed out the mistake, he claimed he didn’t know the AI tool could generate false information.
AI is fabulous for creating outlines and writing speeches. However, it’s best to fill in any facts or sources yourself. Use resources like Google Scholar to search for reliable information.
Be Aware of Plagiarism
The concept of AI plagiarism is murky. In some cases, the source material for AI-generated content is very obvious. This issue can make the original writer or artist — whose material helped train the software — feel cheated since they aren’t receiving credit for their work and didn’t give permission to use it.
Always use a plagiarism checker to ensure you aren’t copying someone else’s work if you use AI to generate writing. Be aware that AI-generated work doesn’t qualify for copyright protections when using it to create art. Therefore, you should still make your own if you want it to be legally protected.
The Changing Landscape of Work
Artificial intelligence has come a long way since its inception. Today, countless people use it to improve their work experience by boosting productivity and automating repetitive tasks. Although AI isn’t perfect, there are still ways to use it responsibly. The nature of work is about to look very different.
