AI Won’t Solve Your Diversity Issues

It Might Be Making Them Worse

 

At an AmCham event on AI In HR, I touched emerging diversity issues:
Are leaders using AI as a quick fix for their own unconscious bias?

Companies are rushing to adopt AI tools, expecting quick results but overlooking the limitations. 

Understanding these gaps is critical for success.

Leaders assume that AI will handle the hard work of addressing bias, so the company can increase its diversity. 

But AI doesn’t think for you. 

It’s only as good as the data it’s fed.

If that data carries human bias, AI will simply reflect and reinforce those biases. 

 

AI Spreads (Bias) Deeper Into Your Business 

As we fuse AI tools to business processes, the biases within the tech take root, and grow into organizational norms.

This deep integration can add systemic prejudices and discrimination, which are challenging to uproot. 

The problem doesn’t stem from AI alone, but rather how businesses utilize it in practice.

AI doesn’t think for you; it processes data based on human input and design.

Whether it is a design, a code or a prompt – AI will inherit the inputter’s biases. 

If a leader fails to interrupt the unconscious bias in their team, products, or themself,  AI tools will simply amplify those unchecked biases – faster and more frequently.

AI can perpetuate ineffective processes and undermine your efforts to increase innovation & diversity.

And the warning signs are already clear. 

Research on employee experience indicates employees don’t trust how leaders use the technology.

 

 

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Of Course We’re Inclusive – We Have the AI to Prove It!

AI is a tool, not a solution.  

Using an AI tool & expecting it to solve your Diversity issues is like using a hammer to fix a cracked foundation.

 

Issues Retaining Talent?

The Cliched Response

“We have AI built into our performance reviews now,  so we are more objective in our assessments.”

Say a company has set targets for women in senior roles,  but it continually falls short of meeting them.
The AI-driven performance reviews that they invested in will not solve their talent development problem.

Sure the system now has a bunch of new engagement questions, and asks about diversity. And the data shows positive feedback about diversity & inclusion in the company.

Failing to capture the right data of diverse demographic experiences means you’re simply maintaining an illusion of progress.

 

Negative Measurable Results:

• Decreased employee morale: Team members may feel disillusioned and undervalued, when their specific diversity issues aren’t addressed.
• Continued poor retention: Diverse talent heads straight for the exit, and right over to the competition.
• Underperforming company:  Not reaching your targets in this area? What consequences do other company functions have for underperformance?
• Reputational damage: Diverse talent will steer clear of a company that pays lip service to DEI.

 

Struggling with Inclusive Recruitment?

The Cliched Response

“Our D&I roadmap focuses on building inclusive recruitment processes.  We have software that takes the bias out of our job descriptions.”

It’s been 3 years and the company is still having problems hiring diverse talent – even after they tried a SaaS inclusive language software (AI), in the talent attraction and comms departments. 

Inclusive language AI software helped them craft balanced job descriptions – but that’s it.

Recruiters will have more persuasive job descriptions,
but deep-seated biases and barriers remain along the rest of the recruitment process.
The companies continue to block the diverse talent they are attempting to attract.

 

Negative Measurable Results:

• Stagnant demographics: A lack of diversity will continue to plague your organization.
• Erosion of trust: Poor perception of the employer branding.
• Widening innovation gap: Non-diverse teams restrict the development of products that meet diverse customer demands.

 

 

Designing AI Products with Blind Spots?

The Cliched Response

“Let’s focus on product development for now; we can address diversity as we scale up.”

A start-up company in hypergrowth.
In a race to get their AI products to market.
From design phase to launch, the process goes so fast, as does the funding.
But the product sells –  until their discriminatory bias is exposed.

 

More diversity in the design and testing phases would prevent this common issue.
A diverse team can recognize and interrupt the unchecked bias early in the process.
However, the flawed product launched.
User experiences and reviews labeled the unconscious bias as racist and discriminatory. 

Negative Measurable Results:

• Compromised leadership: Crisis management & damage control land directly on the CEO.  
• Tarnished reputation: Customers /stakeholders lose faith in your product.
• Financial losses: Poor product reception can lead to decreased financing and revenue.

 

 

Using AI to Lead Your Company?

The Cliched Response

“ I’ll use CHAT GPT to message my different audiences.”

Leaders dabbling in ChatGPT..
Thinking of using AI to find the right message or tone to engage with staff? 

If you haven’t had strong engagement with indirect staff – STOP!!

Relying on AI for authentic communication will not get you far.

You definitely don’t want to look like this!

Negative Measurable Results:

• Loss of credibility: Among the staff.
• Noticeable Gaps in Leadership Skills: Exposed lack of awareness for Diversity & Inclusion principles.
• Missed opportunities: For valuable feedback (data) that comes from genuine engagement.

 

 

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Level-Up On Your Inclusive Leadership Skills

Know Your AI Tools: 

AI is ubiquitous. Countless services, apps, machines bleed into every aspect of life.
And like the air around us, we take AI for granted.
AI is far more than ChatGPT. Pay attention to the multiple touch points you have with AI during a work day,
AI technology isn’t a shortcut to D&I principles. The tools won’t do that work for you.

 

Next Level Leadership 

While it is necessary to build AI competencies to remain relevant (and in a job), the same can be said for inclusive leadership.  
AI won’t read the room.
AI doesn’t genuinely evaluate & adjust to team dynamics in real time,
Nor is it available for spontaneously shared personal experiences.

According to Deloitte, managers can strengthen the traits of inclusive leadership.
These are necessary skills to navigate uncertainty and the AI environment.

 

We carry unconscious biases that will shape our decisions and influence our teams.
It’s crucial to identify these biases and understand their impact on our choices.
Additionally, be aware that AI tools can sometimes amplify these biases if we don’t actively address them.

AI is not a proxy for Diversity & Inclusion, and
There is nothing artificial about inclusive leadership. 

 

Final thought

AI won’t solve your diversity issues; it might even make them worse.
Leaders who rely on AI as a quick fix for D&I, put their own credibility at risk.
Now is the time for leaders to build competencies in inclusive leadership.

 

Talk with us about connecting your D&I ambitions with measurable business results.

Schedule a call with Inclusive Matters